What I think happened was either just one spoke was broken by a sideways knock (no idea when), which led to three others breaking, or one of the potholes was just too much.

They were replaced with cheap straight gauge spokes (290’s instead of 292’s) in a shop in the south of France, so it’s not surprising that a couple more broke after that. The rear wheel confounds me a bit more, but there again, that’s where the (fairly normal) load is.

Martin, my mechanic is rebuilding both wheels with all new spokes. He had a hard time believing it was caused by anything other than sideways force.
The whole premise of these wheels is “bombproof”, so maybe I should check with a geiger counter 😆

My brakes on the new bike are mechanical Hayes CX PRO which were original on the Volpe Disc.
That business card trick is awesome (except that I haven’t seen a business card for a decade at least!)

I’ve ordered the Knipex Cobra XS wrench that elcruxio recommended. I think that’s a great solution as I don’t need an adjustable wrench otherwise.

Thanks BF people!