Getting spokes fixed

Shadow78

I have a Boardman comp hybrid and was out last Sunday and broke a spoke. Went back to Halfords with it on Monday and was told it would be fine to use missing one spoke and they would order one in as they had none in stock. Today when I was passing out of all things a sheep I went to accelerate quickly and heard a ping. Got home and sure enough a second spoke has now bent slightly and become very loose. Rang Halfords, they now have 1 black spoke in and reckon I shouldn’t use the bike till they replace the spokes but couldn’t commit to how soon they would be in a position to have it sorted by between them only having one spoke and their bike mechanic being flat out putting bikes together for Christmas orders.

Now the weather looks good this w/e so was hoping to get out both days and clock up some miles. So I was wondering does anyone know if it is a big job to get spokes fixed? Should I hound them to fix it with any colour spokes they have? Or any ideas on how much it would cost if I was to bring it to a local bike shop instead?

Thanks

carthoris

It is not a large job to get them fixed at all but they are probably pretty busy considering the time of the year. Another shop could do it, probably for a small enough amount.

If the bike is new and you have already broken two spokes it could indicate a problem with the wheel and it could do with a rebuild. This would normally be done under warranty. The problem is that if you get the spokes replaced by another bike shop then the original bike shop might use this as an excuse to avoid a full wheel rebuild.

ednwireland

some spokes can be a b*tch to get (shimano ones esp.- personal experience )

SurferDude41

Boardman bikes are top class:) Unfortuneately Halfords are useless, when it comes to even basic pre-purchase safety checks:(

I used to be a cycle mechanic, worked in shops in the Uk and Ireland.
The broken spokes will affect the structural integrity of your wheel. If you have been riding it with missing spokes, the wheel rim may have developed a permanent hop....no ammount of work with a spoke wrench, will make it perfect again.
Hopefully you may only need the spokes replaced, and the wheel trued on a wheel jig.

My advice is bring it straight to your local bike shop, although they are very busy at this time of year...they may be able to sort it for you.


Hope this helps.

Happy Cycling:)

doozerie

Breaking a single spoke could be bad luck or it could indicate a problem with the wheel. Generally you assume the former until proven otherwise - a second spoke coming loose doesn't really tell you anything about the state of the overall wheel as in the absence of the broken spoke to even out the tension there is a much greater risk of some spokes either coming loose (specifically the adjacent spokes to the broken one, going to the opposite side of the hub to the broken spoke, but perhaps others on that same side of the hub too depending on how much you rode the wheel with the broken spoke missing) or other spokes breaking (the nearest spokes to the broken spoke which go to the same side of the hub as the broken spoke). So I'd assume that the second spoke issue is a direct consequence of the missing spoke rather than an indication that the wheel itself is damaged.

Re the bent spoke, if it's not badly bent then you might get away with not replacing it - the tension on the spoke should straighten out minor bends but you'll only be able to restore even tension once you replace the broken spoke. Replacing the broken spoke is usually quite easy (although if it is on the cassette side of the hub then you may need tools to remove the cassette in order to run the new spoke in) - the only caveat here though is that the longer you rode the wheel with the broken spoke missing, the more the other spokes might have lost tension so the greater the number of spokes that you may have to re-tension. Install the new spoke, oil the spoke threads, and tighten the nipple until the spoke is of a similar tension to the other spokes on the same side of the hub. Now that you have a loose spoke(s) too you'll also have to tighten it/those to similar tension to the spokes on its/their side of the hub. Unless the bent spoke is badly damaged/kinked, or the rim is damaged, with a relatively new wheel it shouldn't be very difficult to bring the new, loose, and bent spokes to appropriate tension (subject to caveat above) . "Measure" the tension of a single spoke by plucking the spoke and compare its tone to others on the same side of the hub. As you tighten the spokes spin the wheel occasionally to keep an eye on whether it is pulling to one side or the other and check that you are not pulling it into an oval - so long as you don't over-tension the spokes that need tightening though, you shouldn't have either problem to any great extent.

If you are going to do this, then its worth getting a decent spoke key. I like the Park Tool ones and they are not expensive (under 10euro) - just make sure you get one of the right size.

kumate_champ07

a temp fix would be to adjust the tension on the surrounding spokes, but that might not be possible if its a low spoke wheel. would be fine on 32h or 36h wheel


tighten both spokes adjacent to the missing spoke, the spokes coming from the same side of the hub.


spokes shouldnt break so you may have a badly built wheel

tomasrojo

When I had a hybrid, I used to break spokes on the back wheel all the time (about three or four a year). I didn't bash the wheels up off kerbs or anything like that either. I think it was because the wheels were cheap.

Still, gave me a lot of practice changing spokes.