Greetings, Commies. On the ride home tonight, I dunno what happened, but I heard a noise on my back wheel. I stopped and checked it out, I broke a spoke. The wheel had a pretty good wobble, but I rode it home slowly.

This is a 21 year old 27 inch wheel (NOT 700cc), and altho it's old, it doesn't have a ton of miles on it (sorry, no idea how many). I'm wondering, would it be better to replace the wheel rather than repair it? (I'm not up for repairing it, I'd pay the LBS.)

I want something rock solid for commuting, so if this is the beginning of the end for this wheel, I'm thinking it might be a good time to replace it. Recommendations for wheels??

Normally, I'd never recommend replacing a wheel for a single broken spoke. And I don't think that metal fatigues from age, only from use.

But are you looking for an excuse to replace it? If so, you have my permission.

Replacing a spoke is easier than replacing a tire. You hardly need the LBS to do it, but you do need to know the spoke length. If you take the bare wheel in, they will probably charge next to nothing and let you watch. Than grab a few spare spokes and ride the wheel for many more years.

Thanks, I guess I just have bad memories as a teenager with broken spokes... Replacing the spoke is trivial, but then truing the wheel, I dunno, I guess I kept tightening the spokes too much, cuz I'd keep getting more broken spokes. I reckon the frugal thing to do is replace this one, and if more start breaking, then start talking about new wheels.

Any suggestions for 27 inch bomb proof wheels?

See, you knew the answer all along. You were just playing with us.

I think this is your best option unless you want a new wheel. Its likely your wheel will last a long time and if it doesn't its not that much money you are out.

As for good wheels I would recommend getting a 700c wheel. The difference is only 4 mm in radius so it will likely fit with your current brakes. In the 700c size there is a good selection of rims and tires. 27" rims and tires are mostly cheap with a few exceptions. My previous commuter was a 27" bike that I used 700c wheels in with out much difficulty.

Craig

It's funny. I broke a spoke yesterday. I took it into my local bike shop, and they asked if I could wait until the next day because they were swamped. I said "sure". After I left, I thought, "I should learn how to replace those myself", especially since I'm dumb enough to ride an occasional century. So I think I'll call them today and ask if they will show me how to make a roadside repair in the event of an emergency. I'll offer to pay them for their time.

I'm with everyone else, though: no need to replace a wheel just because you broke a spoke. Unless you want to use that to justify new wheels....

I got a set of replacement 27" wheels for my old Schwinn free. Goodwill always has plenty of old bikes cheap around here. I bought one with the wheels I needed, stripped it and was able to sell the frame on Craigslist for what I paid for the bike.

I kept breaking spokes, got them replaced at the LBS, then got a new wheel. A year later, they started breaking again. I'm not that heavy! Anyway, my LBS does not charge 'next to nothing'. I decided I needed to learn how to do it, and I did it. It's a little difficult replacing drive side spokes on the rear because you need to remove the cartridge to make room, but after doing it once, I figured it out. It takes a few minutes now and it's a lot cheaper to do it yourself.

I've noticed that broken spokes sometimes come in bunches. If you had wobble, you probably had years of uneven tension and more than one spoke has weakened.

On the replacement note, I like using 700's where 27's used to be. It leaves more room for fenders and larger tires.

breaking spokes generally means the wheel is poorly tensioned.
A competent shop should charge no more than $30 or so to true and tension a wheel.
But if you wanna, go ahead & replace them