Riding with a spoke missing

hammerite

Got my first tri of the season tomorrow.

Just did a pre ride check and noticed my rear wheel was a bit wobbly, went round checking the spokes and one of the pinged off, the thread was all worn. I've removed the offending spoke, and adjusted the ones either side and it's now running pretty well.

Should I risk riding with a spoke missing? The bike leg is only 15 miles, undulating, most of the roads are pretty good, but one part of a few hundred yards is quite rutted.

If the answer is "no" then I do have another bike, but it's brand new (ridden 3 times) and I didn't really want to unleash it on the carnage of transition during a sprint tri in case it gets knocked by people removing/putting their bikes in.

ThanksBye

Could you swap the rear wheel?

Wappygixer

What would you have done if it happened miles from home? Probably ridden it.
If its running true I'd probably ride it.
It does depend on the quality of the wheel and how many spokes it has.
If its 28,32 or 36 you will be fine

hammerite

Wappygixer wrote:

What would you have done if it happened miles from home? Probably ridden it.
If its running true I'd probably ride it.
It does depend on the quality of the wheel and how many spokes it has.
If its 28,32 or 36 you will be fine

Thanks for the replies.

The quality of the wheel isn't great (Alex Rims), I've had more spokes snap on these wheels than I've had punctures!! It's a £500 bike and they are the wheels which came with it. I'm not sure of the number of spokes, I think it would be in the 30's.

But you are right if I was miles from home I would've ridden it, and I'd be riding it had i not got an alternative bike.

Unfortunately swapping a wheel isn't an option either. The old bike is Shimano, the new is Campag. The swapping parts over logic didn't enter my mind when I fell in love with the Wilier.

Wappygixer

If spokes are snapping its probably due to poor spoke tension and or cheap spokes.
I'd look at either getting it rebuilt with new spokes which would probably cost around £30-40 with labour or get a new wheel set.
Remember if a spoke went on a decent when under load it could be quite a nasty acident

hammerite

Wappygixer wrote:

If spokes are snapping its probably due to poor spoke tension and or cheap spokes.
I'd look at either getting it rebuilt with new spokes which would probably cost around £30-40 with labour or get a new wheel set.
Remember if a spoke went on a decent when under load it could be quite a nasty acident

Cheap spokes according to the bloke in the LBS.

I was thinking of getting a new wheel set, but won't now I have the new bike. I think I might get the wheels rebuilt as the old bike will be my fair weather commute and winter bike.

Lagavulin

Sounds like the cheap wheels that came with my Allez. A waste of time. They didn't shed or snap spokes but the rear was just constantly out of true. I've if I'd been built like a prop forward then fair enough but I'm only 70KGs. I kept the rear for the turbo and now have Aksiums and Racing 7s for the Shimano-equipped bike. The Aksiums have been bombproof through two hard winters and at £110 I view them as money well spent.

The old bike is Shimano, the new is Campag. The swapping parts over logic didn't enter my mind when I fell in love with the Wilier.

It means you get to buy more wheelsets which is fun!

Bhima

The quality of the spokes makes a huge difference!

My 16-spoke wheels are about 4/5 times stronger than my 40-spoke ones, with cheap spokes. Bladed spokes will give you another 2-5mph when rolling downhill at 40mph too.

You'll be able to ride on a wheel with a lost spoke if there are more than 24, but you'll decrease the lifespan of the wheels and it means that there's more stress on each individual spoke that's left - so there's more chance of a 2nd spoke going... and a 3rd, 4th, etc... Get it fixed asap if you care about the wheels!

DomPro

Bhima wrote:

Bladed spokes will give you another 2-5mph when rolling downhill at 40mph too.!

Really? Is that in your own experience or some other source? I've often wondered what kind of difference bladed spokes make, if any. Deep section rims definitely have an aero advantage though.

Hammerite: Just ride on it mate. Whats the worst that could happen? Be sure to get back to us!

Bhima

DomPro wrote:

Really? Is that in your own experience or some other source?

I did tests with a wheel in a windtunnel my mate has access to. You'll get an increase of 5mph over normal spokes if you run 20mm tyres and an increase of 2mph if you run 28mm tyres.

I proved the wind tunnel tests right by rolling down the same hill in the peak district without pedalling using the four different wheelsets. (Same wheels, just different tyres/spokes). It was this descent, so I had 4 miles to pick up speed: www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=7181

Spent a whole afternoon doing it. Can dig out the exact numbers if you're interested.

richa

Should be ok. I rode Marmotte last year on Fulcrum 3's with a spoke missing as one snapped in Alp d'huez at 6am on the way down to the start line. Taped the loose spoke to a neighbour and descended with the wheel rubbing the blocks. The Mavic repair van taped it up good'n'proper, trued the wheel up and I made my way to the start. Held out fine for the following 10+ hrs.

DomPro

Bhima wrote:

I did tests with a wheel in a windtunnel my mate has access to. You'll get an increase of 5mph over normal spokes if you run 20mm tyres and an increase of 2mph if you run 28mm tyres..

Interesting, ta.

Wappygixer

Bhima wrote:

I did tests with a wheel in a windtunnel my mate has access to. You'll get an increase of 5mph over normal spokes if you run 20mm tyres and an increase of 2mph if you run 28mm tyres.

I proved the wind tunnel tests right by rolling down the same hill in the peak district without pedalling using the four different wheelsets. (Same wheels, just different tyres/spokes). It was this descent, so I had 4 miles to pick up speed: www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=7181

Spent a whole afternoon doing it. Can dig out the exact numbers if you're interested.

But what about the speed you lose in a cross wind when the larger surface area gives the wind a larger sale?

oldwelshman

hammerite wrote:

Wappygixer wrote:

If spokes are snapping its probably due to poor spoke tension and or cheap spokes.
I'd look at either getting it rebuilt with new spokes which would probably cost around £30-40 with labour or get a new wheel set.
Remember if a spoke went on a decent when under load it could be quite a nasty acident

Cheap spokes according to the bloke in the LBS.

I was thinking of getting a new wheel set, but won't now I have the new bike. I think I might get the wheels rebuilt as the old bike will be my fair weather commute and winter bike.

No point in getting those re built, just get a cheap pair of shimano wheels for winter.

Bhima

Not sure. Didn't do tests like that.

Although, I would have thought that it wouldn't slow you down more it would just push you to one side more.

By the way, the differences are a lot lower as you decrease speed. So 25mph on normal spokes would probably only equal 26 on bladed spokes, 18 would become 18.4 and 10mph would probably become about 10.1.

hammerite

DomPro wrote:

Hammerite: Just ride on it mate. Whats the worst that could happen? Be sure to get back to us!

I rode the new bike, set up with a friend next to me who was riding his best bike for the first time this year (saving it for the good weather) and had a rack post the other side - so all was safe.

Rode the course 2 mins quicker than my best time last year too, so all is good. Got to be down to the new bike, I'm fit at the moment but not bike fit as I've hardly ridden during marathon training (thankfully that's over now!).