Torpantau Saturday
bprice
Posts: 61
I decided to do a long ride on the weekend so it was off to Brecon via Merthyr and back.
The route I wanted to do was Cardiff along the A4054 to Merthyr then to Cefn Coed and on to Pontsticill. Over the top at Torpantau and along the side of Talybont reservoir and on to Brecon.
I arrived at the top of Torpantau after about 35 miles with little difficulty. As I was about to descend the 20% hill my problems started.
Wondering why my bike had developed an unusual rubbing sound; I dismounted to discover that my rear wheel had completely buckled due to one of its spokes being totally ripped from the rim.
If any of you knew this area, you would quickly realise how remote it was. Twelve miles from Brecon, no houses in the vicinity and no mobile phone reception things were starting to look bleak.
Fortunately someone was looking down on me. Within twenty minutes of it happening along came a Mini-bus with Christ College Brecon written alongside it. I quickly flagged him down, explained the problem and I was on my way to Brecon.
I was dropped off Just inside the College grounds, the bike shop being 200 yards away over the Usk bridge .
The guy in the bike shop had my bike repaired and waiting for me within an hour of me popping off to find a cafe.
Thankfully, I always take my debit card with me when Im going on long rides. So after chipping and pinning £50, I was on my way with a brand new Shimano WH R 500 under me.
I was back in Cardiff by 4.30
Alls well that ends well!
The route I wanted to do was Cardiff along the A4054 to Merthyr then to Cefn Coed and on to Pontsticill. Over the top at Torpantau and along the side of Talybont reservoir and on to Brecon.
I arrived at the top of Torpantau after about 35 miles with little difficulty. As I was about to descend the 20% hill my problems started.
Wondering why my bike had developed an unusual rubbing sound; I dismounted to discover that my rear wheel had completely buckled due to one of its spokes being totally ripped from the rim.
If any of you knew this area, you would quickly realise how remote it was. Twelve miles from Brecon, no houses in the vicinity and no mobile phone reception things were starting to look bleak.
Fortunately someone was looking down on me. Within twenty minutes of it happening along came a Mini-bus with Christ College Brecon written alongside it. I quickly flagged him down, explained the problem and I was on my way to Brecon.
I was dropped off Just inside the College grounds, the bike shop being 200 yards away over the Usk bridge .
The guy in the bike shop had my bike repaired and waiting for me within an hour of me popping off to find a cafe.
Thankfully, I always take my debit card with me when Im going on long rides. So after chipping and pinning £50, I was on my way with a brand new Shimano WH R 500 under me.
I was back in Cardiff by 4.30
Alls well that ends well!
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Comments
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I nearly had this prob once. Luckily it happened 3-4 miles from the end of a long training ride. I loosened the back brake to stop it rubbing and nursed it home, taking it easy on the front brake.
Ever since, I've had some spare spokes stuck to my downtube with some insulating tape. I've never had to use them, but they've got others out of trouble. As long as it's not the cassette side, it's easy enough to fit a new spoke and tighten it up enough to get going again until you can get to the LBS to get it fixed right.
The wheel must've been pretty bad to require a new one. My local LBS just fitted a new spoke, re-tensioned the others and trued the wheel for about a tenner.A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject - Churchill0 -
Crapaud wrote:I nearly had this prob once. Luckily it happened 3-4 miles from the end of a long training ride. I loosened the back brake to stop it rubbing and nursed it home, taking it easy on the front brake.
Ever since, I've had some spare spokes stuck to my downtube with some insulating tape. I've never had to use them, but they've got others out of trouble. As long as it's not the cassette side, it's easy enough to fit a new spoke and tighten it up enough to get going again until you can get to the LBS to get it fixed right.
The wheel must've been pretty bad to require a new one. My local LBS just fitted a new spoke, re-tensioned the others and trued the wheel for about a tenner.
The wheel was rubbing against the frame. Infact when I put my hand on the wheel it was hot!
It wasnt as simple as changing the spoke. The bit where the spoke screws into had actually broken away from the rim, making the wheel totally useless.0
