Hello, I have a question. If you just want to replace the spokes on your wheel with the same size spokes can you just measure the spoke from the inside elbow to the point where it enters the nipple and add 12mm (assuming a 12mm nipple)? At $25 a spoke to have replaced / trued at the local shop (I have had a couple break) I just want to replace all the spokes individually then bring the wheel to have it trued. My thought was to “pluck” the spokes using an electronic guitar tuner to measure the “pitch” of the spoke tension and replace them one at a time? I figure that should get it fairly close, to which I would then take the wheel to my local bike shop to have the wheel trued. Sound plausible? Thanks in advance!

Spoke length is defined as the distance from the inside of the J-bend to the end of the threads. If you are going to completely respoke the wheel why not just remove one intact spoke and measure it's overall length? If this is a rear wheel, remember the drive side and non-drive side spokes are probably not the same length so you will have to measure one from each side.

For future reference Park Tool makes a ruler that measures spoke length as well as bearing ball and crank cotter diameters so it's a useful one to have:

https://www.parktool.com/product/spok...er-gauge-sbc-1

To the second question- While you could just replace each spoke, one at a time, and tension it up to about the level of it's adjacent friends this will be a lengthy and tedious method. Additionally you'll be only repeating the current spoke tension conditions without considerations to what this tension condition is doing for, or against, the wheel's overall stability and lifespan. Lastly without gaging the rim's tensionless condition (does the rim have any bends or flattened sections that the spokes will need to be worked to get round and straight) you won't really know if the respoking will do the long term job that you probably think will be achieved.

When you bring this "virtually completely tensioned" wheel (but with new spokes) to the shop, if they're well motivated, they will need to detension to a degree that will let them gage the rim's condition then ramp the tension while truing and dishing the wheel. (Because if they don't and just true up a wheel with a bad rim the next incident/problem will be blamed on them). At the shop i work at, this would run close to the full wheel building labor cost.

Now if you were to do your own detensioning (basically loosening each spoke the same amount, maybe 4 or 5 turns), then see how straight and round the rim is, you'll have a better feel for whether only the spokes need replacement or whether the rim should be too. If you brought a respoked but loose tensioned wheel into the shop, AND the rim was fairly good in it's untensioned state, we'd charge less labor. More then a simple spoke replacement but less then a complete build and you learn about your rim's condition.

So I suggest that you untension the wheel, look at the rim's condition with out the spoke tension pulling it one way or another. Then make a judgment as to whether you want to live with the rim's condition after going through the cost and effort to respoke and true/dish.

As an aside- i find this type of question or hope is often driven because the rider has but one bike that they are dependent on. So their need for a fast repair pushes them to think of ways to minimize the shop down time. This motivation has it's cost, especially over the long term as the choices made to quicken the repair down time often shortens the reliability and life span of the repair. So too the drive to minimize the cost of the first repair.

When broken spoke wheels come into the shop we usually have a conversation about the history of the wheel (is this the first break, has any incident happened, how is the bike used?) and about the future of the wheel balanced against the customer's expectations and needs for reliability. If a wheel has had more then 2 broken spoke repairs we start to suggest a replacement wheel/rim&spokes for the best long term results. Andy.

First, you are correct to replace all of the spokes once a few have broken - IF the wheel is worth it. Both hub and rim should be in very good shape, and the cost of the spokes should be well under what an entire pre-built wheel of similar quality would be.

Secondly, your method is terribly labor intensive and has some flaws. First, there's no reason to pretension if you are going to take it to a shop. They are not going to charge you any less, and perhaps may have to charge more if you try to give them a "head start." Secondly you don't know if the rim is itself straight and round.

I would suggest you make sure the rim is round as it sits, with no high/low spots, and that there are no areas where the spokes on both sides are much tighter or looser than the rest of the wheel. Then remove the freewheel if one is installed and one spoke from the drive and non-drive side for measurement purposes (note whether they end at the bottom of the nipple flat and adjust accordinging) then cut out all the spokes. Lay the rim on a flat surface to see if it is warped at all. If it is not flat or was not round then replace the entire wheel. If OK then re-lace from scratch. Turn the spokes down until the thread just disappear into the nipples. Going by full then 1/2 turns, tension all spokes until they are no longer rattling. THEN take it in for true and tension.

Yes, this is a perfectly valid way to measure if you want the spoke to end at the top of the nipple. You might subtract 1mm targeting for the top of the slot, and to allow for tension elongation, but don't have to with double wall rims.

As for the rebuild technique, it's the long slow way. Start by loosening all the spokes slightly to avoid distorting the rim. Then mark the the hub and rim at ends of one elbow out spoke from each flange with a dot using dry marker (use 2 colors so you know which is which), and note the number of crosses. This is all you need to know to repeat the lacing pattern exactly, so you're now free to disassemble the wheel. Now you can use any tutorial on wheel lacing and building to do the job right.

Thanks! The wheels are 700c Bontrager SSR's off of a Trek 7.6FX frame that is about 5 years old. I ride 6-800 miles during the outdoor season, so the wheels have around 3000-4000 miles on them and have broken a couple spokes last summer. My LBS guy told me that they are just getting worn out. The wheel itself is in great shape, just getting to the point it needs to be respoked. They quoted me almost $200 to respoke it, and I know I can get Wheelsmith spokes for both wheels for $50 online, so I was just trying to figure the most cost effective way to re-do my wheels. You are correct that it is my only bike, and I am currently training for Ironman 70.3 New Orleans in April, so I am riding on a Kinetic fluid trainer several days a week..I wish I could afford a second set of wheels, but that's not going to happen before the race! I am an aircraft mechanic and have plenty of mechanical aptitude, just want to do it right at the least possible cost..

Unless you are very heavy or are an abusive rider, 4000 mile is very early to have spoke breakage. I have to think the wheel was very under tensioned from the beginning and the LBS you bought the bike from either didn't catch it or didn't bother looking.

yes, it's doable. it'll take some time, but i think i would forget about the guitar tuner. just use your ear.

i'm sure you have the wherewithal to tell if two pitches are close together. if not, just leave the nipples finger tight and take the wheel in. they probably don't care how tight the spokes are to begin with. i wouldn't...

I'd prefer to see a bit of thread above each nipple so I can tell exactly where they're at.