thanks for the link cycleheimer, ill definitely look into that site
I was riding the bike yesterday when I hit an unexpected bump in the road and slightly tweaked the rear wheel.. upon inspection it turns out I broke a spoke where the bump made contact, as I tried to bend it back a bit before adjusting the wheel literally popped in my hand and taco'd before eyes!
a few of the spokes poked through the wheel so I'm sending it to the shop for repairs. I really hope they can.. the mechanic saw the wheel and said "i've never seen a 40 spoke wheel before. "