Broken Spoke- Why?
 

My rear wheel took a hit in a crash and went out of true. I took it to the shop the next day and they trued it. Somewhere around 150-200 miles later I was going up an overpass and I broke a spoke.

Could a spoke be weakened in a crash such that the wheel could be trued yet the spoke remains weak? Was it just not trued correctly? Is it impossible to know without more information?

Is it worth it to try to rebuild the wheel? (At a different shop, I assume.) It's not an expensive wheel in the first place and I could replace it for ~$100. I definitely don't like the idea of having it fixed only to break a spoke again.

Sure it could be weakened without failing - that's the normal fatigue process. Could be just that one was very adversely affected, or maybe not. I would say one more spoke breakage in a short period would be an indicator that it's time for replacement.

The spoke probably was tensioned too tightly because of the truing. The wheel went out of true because the rim is damaged and the shop had to tension the crap out of that spoke and maybe some each side of it to bring the wheel back.

If the shop did that find another shop. One does not have to overtension spokes unless one does not know how to relieve bends in a rim before truing. A wheel that has been physically bent in an accident must be bent back in line "as good as possible" before any truing is done. If you get a wheel back and there are spokes on either side that are much tighter or looser than the others on that side, or there is a large flat spot where it was out of true then the shop did not do a proper job.

I'll be right back, my popcorn is burning......

Enjoy

Yes, check the spoke-tensions on the "fixed" wheel. If you find that tension varies drastically, first too much tension on one side at a certain spot surrounded by too-loose spokes, then there's a bend in the rim that that wasn't removed before they trued the wheel. You can only do so much with spoke-tension and a better way to do it is to loosen all the spokes and bend back the rim to reverse the damage from the crash. Then tension up all the spokes evenly.

Even then, it wouldn't be as good as unlacing the wheel completely and straightening the rim so that it's perfect flat (use a glass coffee table to test). Then re-lace and re-tension evenly. Of course, for this effort, you might as well replace the rim. Would end up saving you a lot of trouble and headaches...

Which is just starting for the OP. You're gonna break more spokes and have that wheel go out of true more times in the future. Back and forth to the shop over and over again. At some point, they're going to recommend you buy a new wheel.

Thanks, Danno. This is exactly what I want to avoid. Wheels are one of the few things I don't work on myself, but I may change that after this experience.