Bicycle Mechanics - Carrying spare spokes

Do any of you folks carry spare spokes with you when you ride? Given that I have Mavic Ksyriums which require non-standard spokes, I've lately been very conscious of the fact that breaking a spoke means I can't just walk into any nearby bikeshop and get it replaced. They're unlikely to stock them. So I decided to order a few spares and carry them with me on my rides. I guess this is the price one pays for "one of dem new-fangled wheelie-thingies". I also have to carry along the Mavic spoke tools in my seatbag. However, I couldn't think of a convenient and elegent spot to carry the spokes. I know many people who do carry spares end up taping them to their seatstay. This works pretty well for standard spokes but Ksyrium spokes have large round ends and the nipple is captive which doesn't lend itself to making the spokes lay nice and flat against a surface.

So after much thinking, I decided that the best place to stow my spokes is in my seatpost. The problem is that the seatpost is shorter than the spokes and the spokes are of course much thinner than the seatpost. How was I to keep them in place? I could have taped them to the inside of the seatpost but I know that over time, the adhesive is likely to degrade and I really didn't want a bunch of spokes floating around at the bottom of my seat-tube. The solution was to make a plug. I decided to wrap the spokes with some old pieces of innertube. The rubber of the innertube would be enough resistance to act as a plug and has the added benefit of keeping the spokes from rattling around.

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very good idea!!!

Great idea!!! The new wheelset I just had hand built by SpeedGoat came with several extra spokes. I thought about carrying them, but didn't know where to put them. I used to tape them to one of my seatstays, but that doesn't work really well. Plus they tend to make cleaning your bike harder.

Great idea!!! The new wheelset I just had hand built by SpeedGoat came with several extra spokes. I thought about carrying them, but didn't know where to put them. I used to tape them to one of my seatstays, but that doesn't work really well. Plus they tend to make cleaning your bike harder.

My other problem is that I have curved seatstays and chainstays so I couldn't put them there even if I wanted to. I guess I could have taped them to my downtube or top-tube but then of course they don't lay very flat either. I felt this was a cleaner setup.

To paraphrase Bono, that's bucking frilliant!

My luck, however, has been that the only spokes I've ever busted in the field were rear drive-side spokes. Now, if there were only a cool place like that to stash a chain whip and lockring tool....

khuon++

The drive side is where you are most likely to break a spoke, unfortunately. I only carry spare spokes on a tour, along with the tools needed to replace a drive side spoke. For local rides, I just bring a spoke wrench with the idea being that on a 36 spoke wheel, I could adjust things well enough to get home, especially if I released the brake so it wouldn't run on an out of true wheel. This may be less of an option with a wheel having fewer spokes; I don't know.

I used to carry a spare gear cable, a spare brake cable, and a couple of spare spokes. I generally attached the latter to my full length Silca or Zefal pump, with rubberbands or tape.

To paraphrase Bono, that's bucking frilliant!

My luck, however, has been that the only spokes I've ever busted in the field were rear drive-side spokes. Now, if there were only a cool place like that to stash a chain whip and lockring tool....

You know, there's a way to take a lockring off in the field without a chainwhip--used to be something called a "hypercracker" which went out of production, but now there's a replacement:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/stein-mini-lock/

a touch pricey at $20 but for a long unsupported tour you shouldn't go without.

Andrew

The "DIRTY TRICK" for putting a drive side spoke is this:

1. Get the longest spoke you can find, probably 310mm
2. Find out your correct drive side spoke length, and mark this point on your long spoke.
3. Bend the spoke a hard ninety degrees at this point, then bend it back ninety leaving a kink a little wider then the hub flange thickness. It may take a little practice to get the bend at the right point.
4. Snip off the spoke a couple of mm past the final kink. You now have a spoke you can put in from the inside of the flange. This may not be ideal if you break an outer spoke, but remember: This is the stuff you do to get you home, not make a permanent repair. If you wanted a perm. repair you would have a little trailer with a tool box and trueing stand :)

P.S. You can bend the heck out of a spoke with out hurting it as long as you do not put a hard kink in it and then try to bend it back.

I agree with Sakarias. You guys with your 18 spoke rims are going to have a long walk home if one them break and you have no way of field repairing it. But if you one of those Shimano 7701 with their paired spoke idea and broke a spoke on one of those the wheel will just taco, so a spare spoke won't do a bit of good for those.

There is a fiber spoke on the market made just for such emergencies, it just folds up and fits in a seat bag; no hassle with taking the seat out and pulling out a steel spoke then finding it difficult (to some) to get the spoke into the hub then to the rim.

So like Sakarias, he and I don't have those worries. I also ride on 36 spoke rims and only once did I ever break a spoke and I didn't even have to adjust the wheel nor release the brake; I just twisted the spoke around another spoke and rode 25 some odd miles back home.

Spoke breakage with at least higher spoke count rims are very rare, so I don't prepare for that kind of thing. I do prepare for the common problems like a unfixable tube or tire, mini tool and mini folding needle nose pliers, along with the usual tire irons, a Quik Stik, as well as a device called the VAR, plus some cash just in case.

The Shimano wheels don't pop that far out of true when a spoke breaks. You need to open the brake release but the wheel will pass thru ok.

The Shimano wheels use a conventional J-hook spoke. The J is inserted thru a alloy "spacer" that fits in the cutout in the rim. It can be hard to get the old spoke out as they use something like an epoxy to hold the head in place, but if you get the length right it works ok.

Mavic Ksyriums don't require the special spokes. You can get the low level Ksyriums with normal spokes, and can use one in a pinch on a wheel with bladed spokes.

Mavic Ksyriums don't require the special spokes. You can get the low level Ksyriums with normal spokes, and can use one in a pinch on a wheel with bladed spokes.

Umm.. how is that possible? I looked at the two different spoke designs and how they mount and can't see how regular spokes would work in a Ksyrium SSC hub and rim.

The Revs "dirty trick" is the one ,it works a treat but if you have no spare spoke I've used the following method :If the spoke has broken at the flange you can slacken the nipple right off ,twist the broken end as tight as you can around the crossing of the adjacent spokes (on the same side as the broken one) & re-tension the spoke , with a bit of slacking off of the 'otherside' spokes either side of the broken one an "all-day" ridable wheel is achievable, although as we know it will still bug you all day !before riding off check that the twisted end does'nt foul the sprockets or chain, Ive only tried this on regular spokes !