Originally Posted by
BikingGrad80
So now I am looking at replacements but it freaks me out that one broken spoke could strand me. I have 32 spoke traditional wheels where a broken spoke just meant open the brake and make your way back. However, my carbon frame seems to also have very narrow clearances for the wheel/tire. I also should not have trusted the wheel since it had 12k miles on it but showed no signs it needed to be replaced. My friend has a Ksryrium hub crack at 4k miles but fortunately was close to home.
I guess my question is what should I replace it with so that I am not in that position again?
Seems like you already answered your own question. With my 32 or 36 spoke wheels it's never been hard to continue a ride despite a broken spoke. Even with very tight clearances a bit of tinkering with a spoke wrench gets things true enough.
For the case of a broken spoke as opposed to your rim issue another solution is to carry a FiberFix spoke. It works to replace a broken spoke of any length and is flexible so you can install it on the DS without removing cassette/freewheel. Never actually had to use one on my own wheels but have helped other riders with it. Intended to be a temporary fix until the proper replacement spoke can be obtained and then the FiberFix Kevlar spoke can be reused. Mine is currently on loan to a friend who's on a short tour and has had some recent spoke issues.