Hybrid Bicycles - Broken spoke Trek 7100

I'm new to biking and bought my 7100 used a couple of weeks ago.......I'm really enjoying the experience and ride each day. Yesterday a spoke broke on my back wheel and I had a lengthy ride to get back home - when I got here I noticed that the wheel is out of true.

Can you guys give me an idea of what I'm going to hear at the repair shop tomorrow as relates to price? Also, is this a common occurance or an isolated one? Thank you!

If spoke replacement is all that is necessary, along with wheel trueing, it should be less than $20.

Certainly the spoke should be replaced. I hope it's not an indication of a problem with the wheel. A rim that has been bent a little can be drawn into line by adjusting the tension of the spokes, but this can cause spokes to break. If you keep breaking spokes, you might need a new rim.

I had to replace the rear wheel of my 7100. I had a broken spoke on the drive side one year which I had replaced then two more broke the next year. I inquired about having the hub and rim completely respoked but the bike shop said it was a lot cheaper just to get a new wheel - which is what I did.

I went many a mile on my 7100s before going through a rash of broken spokes, I bought extra spokes, along with wheel tension/truing tools since I wanted to avoid the hassle of taking the bike to the LBS every time a spoke had broken. I also bought a new rear wheel after wearing out the side rim on one of them, but found that the tire size that I used did not want to mount properly on it, and I had to use a rear rim off one of my other 7100s.

My 7100s have given me plenty of usage, but I'm gradually phasing them out with some stouter rides.

When you break a spoke riding your bike can be one of the worst things you can do as you can make a minor problem a major one. Modern wheels run at much higher tensions and have far more dish so when a spoke breaks things can go to hell pretty quickly.

I have seen older wheels with 36 and 40 spokes come into the shop with numerous broken spokes and the old steel wheels have not gone out of true. They are heavy and stiff and can lack the braking an alloy wheel does but they do hold up to serious abuse and were designed with some redundancy.

I was actually explaining the physics of new vs old wheels to a new mechanic and he insisted that I was wrong... right at this time a fellow rolled in on an ancient Raleigh that had 4 broken spokes in the rear wheel and it was still straight and repairable.

The guy had been riding the bike like this for a long time too.

I guess I'll learn a lot tomorrow when I take the bike in for repair, but I've already learned a lot from you folks here on the forum. Thanks for the informative replies......they are greatly appreciated.

warranty?

I didn't think about the warrantee.......the bike is about 3 years old and I bought it second hand. I suppose I should check it out just in case.

Thanks!

I just checked the Trek site for warrantee info - the warrantee is good only to the original owner and not transferable. It was unclear as to whether the spokes would be covered anyway......but I appreciate the suggestion none the less.