Bicycle Mechanics - Shimano Spokes

Ok, I busted a spoke on the drive side of my r540 paired spoke wheels. No store around here has any of the shimano spokes that will work. They say they can use a regular spoke just as a 'you can still ride it at least' measure. Am I looking at possibly having to send back the wheel from shimano or get a spoke special ordered? Are these spokes expensive? Should I just get new wheels? :D

I did a little web searching-order the spoke from Shimano.
None in the country.
Order a few, seems to be very common with this design.

My bike shop put on a regular spoke as something just to get me on the road. Another bike shop said the shimano area rep comes through this week and might have a spoke. I might build up some new wheels, while the bike shop guys were putting the new spoke on I was asking about wheels and we had a nice long discussion. Gotta love you LBS!

I like Swiss DT spokes, I think the design of these wheels cause the spokes to fail.
Totally nice looking wheel, but maybe the more traditional spoke crossing and more of 'em.
But pick up a few spare if you can, the web had a few comments on failure and difficulty locating replacements.

You're lucky you have a shop that will work on these wheels. Some don't touch them I have heard due to them being a real hassle, in particular the truing of the wheel afterwards. Do you know the weight of these wheels?

Brendon

according to the weight weenies website the actual weight is 1941 g. In other words heavy compared to almost anything else out there. Shimano claims 1870g.

I still insist on at least 32 spokes, in a traditional cross-laced pattern, per wheel.

The only cogent argument in favor of reduced-spoke wheels is slightly reduced wind drag. The design requires a heavy rim and specialized components and is inherently less truable and less reliable than a conventional wheel. For the tourist, commuter, or typical cyclist, a traditional wheel is a vastly superior choice.

They really are pretty durable, we have a 240 pound rider (He freerides, 20 foot drops doubling staircases and rides his road bike almost as hard) and he has only broken one spoke in two years.

I have rebuilt two (one crashed one runover with car) and the build is not to bad, altho I would rather do a regular wheel. Spokes are a couple of bucks? come with the little end to fit in the rim. They have changed the new wheels to use regular spokes.

Look at the Mavic wheels. Mavic is offering the MP3 program. It is kind of like no fault insurance. You pay eight percent of the retail price as the premium and (almost) no matter what happens to the wheel Mavic will repair or replace, including backing over it with the car. You will have to get the wheels from a LBS no mailorder on this deal.