Broken spoke - OK to ride

Trev71

Well, I was cleaning the bike for the first time in about 2 months tonight and realised that I have a broken spoke on my back wheel; I've no idea how long its been like that. It seems to have snapped just inside the nipple. I'm not going to be able to make it to my LBS until next weekend, is it OK to ride on it until then or is the bike best left alone until I can have the wheel repaired? The rim in question is a DRC ST19 on a Deore XT hub with 36 spokes.

Cheers

Trev

whyamihere

If it's true, it'll be ok to ride. Do bear in mind though, the wheel will be weaker, so be extra careful about any potholes.

wgwarburton

whyamihere wrote:

If it's true, it'll be ok to ride. Do bear in mind though, the wheel will be weaker, so be extra careful about any potholes.

+1... though it's worth wondering what caused the breakage.

Generally, 36-spoke wheels are more tolerant of issues like this than lower spoke counts. The spoke tension is lower and there is more redundancy. Personally, I think this is worth remembering, especially on winter commuting bikes...

Cheers,
W.

ride_whenever

Just keep an eye on the trueness of the wheel.

You'll find you're stressing the other spokes more around the broken one so ideally you'd get it replaced as soon as is possible, but i wouldn't loose sleep over it.

nyanza

though it's worth wondering what caused the breakage.

Agreed. It might be a warning sign that the spokes generally need re-tensioning and the wheel a good true. 10 quid down the LBS should sort you out. Spokes don't spontaneously break for no good reason.

Ride around slowly in a quiet place - do you hear any pinging (where the spokes are slack and rubbing)? If so - definitely spend 10 quid.