Bicycle Mechanics - Bent spoke Change it now?

Hey guy's, While cleaning my '05 Roubaix yesterday noticed a bent spoke on front wheel. I'm on vacation right now and wanted to concentrate on riding and losing a few lbs. Today I went for a ride and with the bent spoke and had no problems, can I ride on it like this say 5 more times before I take it in or should I bring it in right away. i'm just concerned that it might take a few days to get the bike back and there goes my vacation weight loss plan.

It's hard to predict. If a spoke is visibly bent, it may mean other spokes are not tensioned right and may break or the wheel may go "out of true", where part of the rim gets bent a little to the side. Preventive maintenance is almost always better and cheaper than corrective maintenance. I would take it in and see if they can assess and fix the problem while you wait.

The wheel is still true? No cracks in the rim?

Go ahead and ride it.

Thanks , just found out I can't ride tomorrow so I'll just take it in and see if they can replace the spoke while I wait.

Ask them to check the spoke-tension on the wheel while you're at it. If they say it's bad - I'd let 'em fix it (if I didn't know how).

Just got back from lbs and they said it's not a problem. The spoke tension was fine and checked trueness of wheel. Wheel was slightly out of true but this could've been from 5 years of riding on it. The guy trued the wheel free of charge, gotta like that!

Give him a 6 pack of Guinness

Give him a 6 pack of Guinness

I wish my LBS would accept gifts like that. much cheaper than 15 dollars /hour