Bicycle Mechanics - Fixing Broken Spokes

Although I have been riding for just over a year and do the routine maintenance myself, cleaning, lubing, etc., I haven't attempted any real wrenching.

Today I broke a spoke on my rear wheel and one of the others was very loose. I took it to my LBS and it will cost $12 to have the spoke replaced and the wheel trued.

Replacing the spoke is easy, but what are the steps in truing the wheel when you don't have a truing stand? Can it be done? How can I check my spokes to tell if they are the right tautness? Is there a gauge or something so I can start doing this myself?

You can usually use your brake shoes as an improptu truing gauge, and get the rim laterally true to within 1mm or so. Vertical (roundness) truing is a little harder, but fortunately isn't as frequent an issue for the home mechanic doing spot repairs.

Tensionometers exist; the new Park costs about $55, and it's the cheapest one. You should have one if you plan to build wheels, but for repairs and individual spoke replacement you can tension "by ear." Go around plucking the spokes on the affected side of the wheel and listen to the musical pitch. Get them all close to each other, and then true. Don't forget that on a rear wheel, the drive side spokes are shorter, and therefore under higher tension.

RichC

If your wheel was in true before you broke the spoke, replacing just one spoke should be pretty easy. However, if you are starting to break spokes because of tension imbalances, you may want to pay the $12. Over time, your spokes will endure metal fatigue, the hub flange holes will deform, and your wheels will become progressively less reliable.

Thanks! It was a one time affair. When it comes back trued and tuned, I am going to take your advice and do some spoke strumming just to hear what they should sound like.

By the way, Rich, I notice you ride a Roubaix Pro. How do you like it? I had the Roubaix and Roubaix Pro on my list for a new roadie, but was warned that they weren't that dependable, especially some of the Ritchey components.

What has been your experience with it? The 2003 is a darned beautiful bike!

The only "questionable" Ritchey components are the wheels, and that's mostly because, like most machine-built wheels, they arrive under-tensioned and not stress-relieved. Taking care of that before riding has resulted in trouble-free wheels so far. The quality of the rims, hubs, and spokes themselves isn't really an issue, just the build quality.

I've used Ritchey components -- bars, seatposts, headsets, stems, even pedals -- for years, without a single problem of any kind.

As for the bike itself, it's sweet. For my purposes -- a lightweight bike to do 30-60 mile hilly training rides on nice Sundays -- it's perfect. Just what I need to get out of the rut of doing the same 13-mile commuting ride ten times a week.

I bought it "new in box" off ebay last fall for $700, knowing it would need a bike-shop type build-up, an opportunity I welcomed.

RichC

Over time, your spokes will endure metal fatigue

Not necessarily true. A spoke (or any stressed steel unit) will fatigue only if the stresses on it exceed the endurance limit, and then only after a certain number of cycles, depending on the stress endured. A properly built wheel shouldn't have a problem with fatiguing spokes.

I just went to pick up my bike and learned I had six, not one, broken spokes. There was not a scratch on any of them, no apparent fatigue, and no apparent twisting. The head wrench said he was baffled. As to how it happened.

I asked if one or two being very loose and one broken and being ridden on for 5 miles might have done something, and he said, "Of course, you didn't do that, did you?" I had to admit, I did.

Originally posted by TrekRider
I asked if one or two being very loose and one broken and being ridden on for 5 miles might have done something, and he said, "Of course, you didn't do that, did you?" I had to admit, I did.

but you have to get home! so of course you rode on it. this reminded me of a fix-it article i saw at bicycling.com, it talks about how to make it home with a busted spoke and not trash your wheel.

http://www.bicycling.com/qanda/0,5110,235,00.html?category_id=365&article_type_id='qa'

I think you would know if you had six broken spokes. You would not have been able to ride because the wheel would have been so far out of whack. One broken spoke can gradually cause four or five other spokes to *loosen* as you ride. It's a really weird sensation (happened to me on a big Canberra-Melbourne dash last August).

Have you overshifted the chain past the big cog on the rear so its ended up in the spokes? I did not so long ago and ruined nine spokes in one second. A couple broke, and those that didn't were badly cut about. I didn't know the full extent of the damage until I removed the cogset.

By the way, avoid assuming replacing a spoke is easy. Getting the right length and gauge spoke is a starting point. Then if the broken one is on the drive side, you have to remove the freehub/freewheel... you will need the tools and knowhow to do that before anything else. Even replacing a non-drive-side spoke is difficult because you have to thread the spoke around and past the cogset (and that's going to require bending the spoke -- a scary experience the first time!). And you need to be confident of getting the right "under-over" pattern for the spoke (2, 3 or 4 cross). Then there's getting the right tension, but you've got some good advice on that. And within all that is getting the right dish.

There's a well-known saying that a spoke-key in the hands of a novice is a disaster waiting to happen. Beware the "it's easy" attitude. You'll learn that a bicycle is a complex piece of machinery that needs a deft hand to set up properly. That includes the wheels.

Jobst Brandt's book has both the technical and practical sides of wheel-building. His method for setting up the spokes on a hub and rim from scratch is probably the easiest of all to understand. Barnett's Manual, available on BikeForums, is a great read. It tends to make the wheel-building side of things a bit more complex. If you're interested in doing your own bike maintenance, start reading Barnett's now.

FWIW

R

Rowan and Rippo, thanks for the advice and the Biking article. I sure learned my lesson. I had thought that perhaps replacing a spoke would be an easy proposition. Perhaps it might be on the front, but on the back, it was worth the $24 it costs to replace the 12 spokes and true the wheel.

By the way, my bottom bracket was also about shot, so I had them replace that, too. It was probably my own fault. For about the first 6-8 months I was riding, I didn't have a clue about how to shift properly, and probably spent too much time on bad ring/cog combinations.

Today, it felt like a new bike. Plus, as an added bonus, they adjusted my front and rear deralieurs (I can't spell French words for beanz!) and it is like it was when I first got it. I am a lot more careful on gear selection now.

hey no prob, glad to help.

as for replacing the bottom bracket...seems a bit early for that. i'm not the most technically saavy person for bike-related stuff, but i would think your bottom bracket would last longer than a year. might just need some maintenance. what'd they do to it and how much did it cost?

as for shifting, unless you're abusing your bike with violent shifts every five minutes, this doesn't seem related. but perhaps someone with more experience can answer this. i just wanted to point it out because it seems peculiar. (i'm somewhat skeptical of all repair technicians, whether it be my LBS or my local car mechanic.)

but hey, $24 for the wheel, that sounds like that part was worth it!

with 6 broken spokes, I think that by now, you can safely assume that none of the spokes are worth saving. This wheel should either be rebuilt or junked.

Hi TrekRider! Glad to read that your bike is like new again.


My bottom bracket was also about shot, so I had them replace that, too. It was probably my own fault. For about the first 6-8 months I was riding, I didn't have a clue about how to shift properly, and probably spent too much time on bad ring/cog combinations.

Are you/is your LBS sure about that? Like Rippo, I have my doubts there. I would not think that riding ‘bad’ gears will ruin your bottom bracket. Your chain will suffer perhaps, as well as the front derailler cage (if you don’t ‘fine-shift’ in order to prevent the chain from rubbing it). But the bottom bracket?

I run a 2x9 Ultegra drive train and feel comfortable using all the chainring/cog combinations available. I stay out of the extreme cross-shifts mainly because I don’t need them.

The bike I am riding is not one of very high quality. It is mid-level Trek comfort bike, a Navigator 300 that was $450 new.

The LBS has always been straight with me and when they first told me the bottom bracket needed replacing, I was a little skeptical. I said the same thing you did, that one year seemed awfuly quick for one to go bad.

They asked me about how I ride and if I spent a lot of time in odd ring/cog combinations, and I had to admit I did. They said that will do it. Funny thing, I have had my chain checked by two master wrenchs at other bike shops and they said there is nothing wrong with it.

From what I have been able to determine, the Navigator series was not designed for the use that I am giving it. It was designed for tours around the neighborhood, trips to the store for a quart of milk, and generally leisurely riding.

I have put a lot of miles on it in the 14 + months I have had it, just over 6600 right now. For at least the first half, I was in all manner of weird combinations trying figure out what I was doing.

The bracket was $35 and the labor was $12.

The wheel is the second one. The first one kind of "jumped apart" all by itself. I was flying along down a long hill, rounded a corner, and there was a pot hole I could not avoid. I managed to keep my front wheel out of it, but the rear hit soild, ruining it.

That was about 4 months ago, and I haven't had any previous problems with it.

I should have been checking the spokes during my weekly maintenance, but wasn't. So I can only blame myself.