PatrickGSR94

So I finally got a lock ring tool and chain whip this past week, so yesterday I got after removing the cassette and the rest of the drivetrain from my KHS bike. It had years and years of caked up grease, dirt, and grime all over it. Look at the thing wrong and you'd end up with grease stains on your pants or other clothing.

So anyway, after removing the cassette, I noticed a slight bend in a couple of the spokes near the hub, and a few rust spots on the free hub itself. Should I be concerned about it? I cleaned off the rust as best I could, and everything was dry when I put it back together.











Wish I had taken pics before I started, but here is the end result:

Mr. Fly

Rust spots: Don't worry about it. Put a thin coat of grease on the freehub body before you install the cassette if you're really concerned.

Bend spokes: Replace before they break, and they will break, even the unbent but notched ones. Looks like someone dropped a chain in between the cassette and spokes before...

Cyclist01012

How does one go years with out taking a cassette off? For that matter, how does one get years out of a cassette?

LesterOfPuppets

I get years out of cassettes but I have 8 bikes and spread the love around

Stealthammer

+1 ......and make sure that you check the rear derailleur's inside limit screw adjustment when you get it back together. If the limit screws are properly adjusted, it is nearly impossible to have the chain slip between the low cog and the spokes.

Also, go ahead and put a thin coating of grease over the freehub splines (not the hub) when you reassemble everything because that part is steel and will rust if exposed to moisture. It probably won't cause any real issues if it rusts a bit, but why not treat it properly as an enclosed steel part?

cryptid01

I've ridden many miles with spokes chewed up worse than that. Also I would advise against greasing the outside of the freehub shell, which will collect loads of crud and put you right back where you started. Wipe down with a light coat of rust preventing penetrant and rock on.

dminor 

^^ Good advice as always from teh cryptid one.

Others will no doubt disagree with me but I would not worry about replacing the bent spoke yet. Stainless steel is pretty tough, resilient stuff; I'd grab onto it with my pliers and straighten it as best I could so that it can once again be tensioned decently. Then ride it.

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I bought this bike back in 2006 but haven't ridden it much up until May of last year. I'm not even sure the chain has ever been replaced.

When I bought it, it did not have any kind of spoke protector disc, and I have never personally shifted the chain into the spokes. So whoever bent that spoke did it more than 7 years ago.

ColinL

if it's a cheap wheel keep riding unless you can re-lace it yourself. (OTJ training? ) I would not bother paying someone to re-lace a cheap wheel that you could just replace or upgrade.

I like permatex anti-seize. Use it sparingly.

PatrickGSR94

The rims are Powerbeam double-wall, if that says anything.

Burton

And the spokes are Wheelsmith - looks like a decent wheel to me.

Sixty Fiver

A new spoke costs 1.50 and would take 10 minutes to replace it... bent spokes can be straightened but badly scored and bent spokes need to be replaced and bet the wheel is not as true as it could be because of this.

Risk is that badly damaged spokes will create stress risers, fatigue prematurely, and break.

ColinL

It would take me way, way more than 10 minutes to replace the spoke and retension all of them. Replacing it alone is 10 minutes, but that's not an ideal, or even proper fix. That's something you do on the road when you find a busted spoke and want to get home.

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I know zero about wheel building, not really something I'm prepared to take on right now. It's been trouble free for many years, though so I'll probably just ride it until something breaks. Might end up replacing these wheels anyway at some point if I did some kind of 700c wheel conversion.

dminor 

Shucks, if you want to get home, you twist it around its neighbors and just ride it. One spoke doth not a wheel make. Now, four or five might be a 'nuther matter.

Sixty Fiver

It might very well run for a very long time and not cause any problems... or it might fail when it is least convenient but as dminor said, one spoke does not make a wheel.

Sixty Fiver

Ideal is to replace the spoke and to tension check and true the wheel.

It is one of those jobs that usually rates a .5 on our hourly shop rate (which is a minimum rate) unless you bring cold beverages or tasty snacks.

Dannihilator

My previous wheelset always had a slight wobble to it. Until I accidentally bent a spoke due to getting a stick lodged in the wheel, spun it with the bent spoke and it was not as true as it was. It was truer. Built the current wheels and still have the old wheel as a backup.

DiscTruckerMF

Since when do we call replacing 2 spokes RE-Lacing a wheel? OP, it's super easy to do, the hardest part is knowing what length spoke you need and if you don't have a spoke wrench, you will need one. A good spoke wrench is 10-15, spokes are 1-2 bucks. Take it to your local shop and ask them to do it and true the wheel, it should still only be a $20 job.