Today I got lazy

Early this afternoon I broke a spoke, hardly a difficult situation to remedy I would've thought. Just take it to the LBS, they replace the spoke & true the wheel, pick it up later this arvo. But that is where I got lazy & thought I'll just duck up the road to the closest bike shop instead of my trusted usual LBS which is about a 15min drive. It seems they don't have the required spoke in stock & bike won't be ready until later tomorrow meaning no Scuzzi ride tonight or WOMGIE tomorrow morning. My wheels are Alex R500, hardly top end limited edition stuff, so would've thought the average bike shop should be constantly in stock. Maybe I'm expecting too much but sure do wish I'd gone to my usual LBS, then I'd be out riding instead of having this rant!

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Permalink Reply by Terry C on July 10, 2012 at 20:12

I keep a few spares of each size - - they are not expensive.

Permalink Reply by Torsten Bunge on July 10, 2012 at 20:19
I've been thinking of that over the last few weeks, what spares to keep at home just in case. The wheel however has a nasty buckle & the art of truing a wheel is something I have not yet mastered.
Permalink Reply by Terry C on July 10, 2012 at 20:24

With three bikes, and over fifty years of riding, I have enough spares to build several more bikes !

Permalink Reply by Torsten Bunge on July 10, 2012 at 20:40

Next time might just come around your place. :-)

Permalink Reply by Terry C on July 10, 2012 at 21:01

Trouble is, there is about 250 km o

Permalink Reply by Mike Brisco on July 11, 2012 at 0:01

Truing such a wheel yourself, might not be that bad... just think of it as a tug of war with 18 per team, equally matched. Remove a man from one side, there is pull that way.

if the wheel was true before - and all that happened is one spoke broke - the buckle is due to the spokes on the other side, pulling the rim that way. The missing spoke used to keep things balanced, but now it is gone.   Rims have some springiness, and will return to their original shape, provided the forces on both sides are equal.

What I'm saying, is you might need only replace the missing spoke - then tighten it up - and the wheel should true up reasonably.  At Bikes for Refugees volunteers have done that, many times... .

The adjustment of tension, goes in steps of 1/2 turn, or maybe 1/4 turn. Need to have the rim next to a fixed point, e.g a brake block, or a wheel jig. With the replaced spoke, right next to that. That way, you can see the rim pulling back into place, away from one block or towards the other, as you turn. . & if you turn  the wrong way -  which everyone does now and then - you can tell at once!

Sometimes the wheel doesnt true up. You know then, it had a lot of force,  and the metal was bent permanently. Just like a spring - put enough force on it - it no longer springs back - it is permanently out of shape. Can happen in a crash or fall.

Often, it's still possible to pull the wheel back into shape, by adjusting tension on several spokes. Other times,  no matter what you do the wheel stays bent - there is just not enough adjustment on the spokes, to correct it. Time for a new rim.

So worth trying the one spoke first - see if that solves it.

Wheel trueing is not hard to learn. At  the Bike Workshop, takes people 30 min to get the hang of it on the wheel jig. It takes time at first - maybe up to an hour - but with practise, they speed up very quickly.. Spoke keys cost $10.

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by heather on July 10, 2012 at 20:49

You could keep some spare spokes to provide the LBS when out of stock.

Permalink Reply by Torsten Bunge on July 10, 2012 at 20:54

There's an idea, might go into business.

Permalink Reply by heather on July 10, 2012 at 21:02

Torsten, I meant storing some spare spokes for your wheels. Last time I looked, I had some spokes that I purchased prior to a camping trip.

Permalink Reply by VeloAvenger on July 10, 2012 at 21:33

Or go to an old school shop with a spoke cutting tool.

Permalink Reply by Don (Who's lost?) Nairn on July 10, 2012 at 21:33

I wonder if this business owner will be grizzling about hoe customers show no loyalty after this attempt at "service"?

I suppose the real proof will be when you get the wheel back and fid out how good a job they did and how much they charged

Permalink Reply by rossmg on July 10, 2012 at 21:34

Whilst not for the faint of heart truing a wheel is not so difficult - replacing the spoke is obviously the first step and can involve a bit of effort removing the cassette, tyre/tube and rotor if you have a MtBike with disk brakes. I've replaced many MtBike spokes :-)  However, TBH, my current road bike I have only broken 2 spokes (so far) and the first time I got the LBS to true the wheel after I replaced the spoke - I was concerned I would be able to true it perfectly. The next time around budget was that tight so I carefully marked the new spoke with blue-tac and adjusted till the wheel was true - I only had to touch the new spoke bringing it back to the same (I guess) tension it had been. Maybe a 30 minute job if you have a spoke at hand and at $2 each (my low end wheel set) it's easy to purchase a couple for each side.

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