Popped a spoke

englander

Sometime during the night, a spoke on my rear wheel popped (was fine when I got home last night, and was borked when I went to investigate my chainrings this morning...)

So I suppose I have two options:
1. Repair it
2. New wheel(s)

They are 32h Alexrims S500 which came as standard on my Allez. I've glanced around for replacement wheels, but I'm finding it almost impossible to find 32h rims in my price bracket (cheap). I value longevity over weight, so the more spokes the merrier.

In terms of repairs, would it be worth taking it down to Evans? Is it possible to estimate a ballpark figure of what that would cost?

Thanks for reading.

EDIT: And one more quick qeustion: is it safe to ride? I've loosened the adjacent spokes and have places to be this afternoon. Is a (slow and cautious) 12 mile round trip asking too much?

dgunthor

as in spoke snapped? if so, just replace the spoke, £1 to £2 spoke, £5 to £10 labour to fix or DIY.

fine to ride briefly, just make sure the wheel doesn't rub the brake

wishitwasallflat

I would respectfully beg to differ - not wise to ride a wheel with a broken spoke even less wise re

Englander wrote:

I've loosened the adjacent spokes and

. You risk turning a relatively simple job - replace one broken spoke - into an epic! Once a spoke goes those around it are under extra unusual strain you don't want to be riding it until its fixed if at all possible.

ugo.santalucia

Get it fixed... it is a simple and inexpensive job... if you take it to someone who knows what he is doing, he might be able to check the wheels as well

englander

I think my plan at the moment is thus: drop it to Evans to have a look after lunch and hopefully they can get it fixed by tomorrow. I'll have to do the unthinkable and take the Tube this afternoon/evening. How I wish for n+1..!

ugo.santalucia

Englander wrote:

I think my plan at the moment is thus: drop it to Evans to have a look after lunch and hopefully they can get it fixed by tomorrow. I'll have to do the unthinkable and take the Tube this afternoon/evening. How I wish for n+1..!

Evans... mmmh, they can hardly tie up their shoe laces... where are you based in London?

englander

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Englander wrote:

I think my plan at the moment is thus: drop it to Evans to have a look after lunch and hopefully they can get it fixed by tomorrow. I'll have to do the unthinkable and take the Tube this afternoon/evening. How I wish for n+1..!

Evans... mmmh, they can hardly tie up their shoe laces... where are you based in London?

Just off Fulham Broadway. I know of Evans and Cycle Surgery around me.

dgunthor

wishitwasallflat wrote:

I would respectfully beg to differ - not wise to ride a wheel with a broken spoke even less wise re

Englander wrote:

I've loosened the adjacent spokes and

. You risk turning a relatively simple job - replace one broken spoke - into an epic! Once a spoke goes those around it are under extra unusual strain you don't want to be riding it until its fixed if at all possible.

yup, with you - best not to ride it but I rode a front wheel in a race once for 25 miles with two broken spokes, no issues

wishitwasallflat

I've done it too - once when I didn't notice spoke was broken until I got home and once when the only alternative was a very very long walk in a nice pair of carbon soles and new speedplay cleats.

englander

Update:

Strolled down to Evans with the wheel, who told me that their workshop was busy until the end of next week. The chap on the front desk suggested I go home and whip the spoke out to show it to the workshop guys who'll give me an individual spoke, which I did, and which the workshop guy gave to me for free (usually a pound!). I screwed it in yesterday and set about truing it up a bit. The result is a very rideable back wheel, with relatively little effort and zero expense. I'm glad I did it myself in the end as now I know I can do it again in the future. I'm tempted to get somewhere to re-tension it/true it properly in due course, but for now it's just fine.

Thanks for the pointers everyone.

ugo.santalucia

Englander wrote:

Update:

Strolled down to Evans with the wheel, who told me that their workshop was busy until the end of next week. The chap on the front desk suggested I go home and whip the spoke out to show it to the workshop guys who'll give me an individual spoke, which I did, and which the workshop guy gave to me for free (usually a pound!). I screwed it in yesterday and set about truing it up a bit. The result is a very rideable back wheel, with relatively little effort and zero expense. I'm glad I did it myself in the end as now I know I can do it again in the future. I'm tempted to get somewhere to re-tension it/true it properly in due course, but for now it's just fine.

Thanks for the pointers everyone.

So, we'll see you in the Buying advice section for a chat about wheel truing stands...

slowbike

ugo.santalucia wrote:

So, we'll see you in the Buying advice section for a chat about wheel truing stands...

Or if you've got a turbo trainer you can jury rig that ...