URGENT HELP! 1 Broken spoke in remote nicaragua

ollie cb

i am on holiday in central american and am riding a mountain bike approx 100km per day to get around.

unfortunately a spoke snapped last night in the rear wheel when being taken(thrown) off a ferry.

the rim is a 32 spoke mavic x317 disc.

the gearing is deore XT.

so i have never had a snapped spoke before, never replaced a snapped spoke, don't have a spare on me and no kind of tightening key to install a new one.

i am of course able to remove the broken spoke so it doesn't catch in the chain etc but further than that, i am a little stuck.

if i am by some chance able to find a bike repair place that has a spoke, what is the most important factor....is it length? or diameter?

i have checked all other spokes for their tension and they are all perfect bar one which is 3 spokes along from the broken one which is ever so slightly less taut - it could have been like this before.

so basically, is it safe to ride on either;
the wheel with one spoke missing
or
the wheel with one very poorly matched spoke but one that is tight? who knows if i can get it on anyway considering cassette removal without the correct tool may be nigh on impossible.

thanks in advance and please tell me if you need more info to answer

The Rookie

Length is the only thing that matters......

Very easy to get the tension right, but yes the cassette will have to come off to fit it.

Will probably last for ages with one broken spoke but keep an eye out for the tyre rubbing the frame!

ollie cb

thanks for your reply.

using a calculator, i require 255.4mm so 255 it is.

i have removed the broken sṕoke and on doing so, the rim is clearly slightly buckled in a few places. of course back home i would replace with but that is simply not an option here.

question is, will replacing the broken spoke and having the wheel back to how it was (fully functioning even though ther are a few dents) be a waste of time due to the dents?

craker

ollie cb wrote:

question is, will replacing the broken spoke and having the wheel back to how it was (fully functioning even though ther are a few dents) be a waste of time due to the dents?

Not at all, spokes are cheap, wheels are expensive. Especially as you're on a disk brake so a bit if a wobble isn't much of an issue. Can you source a spoke key? An experienced wheel builder will have that thing straight in no time.

ollie cb

I found a chap in a house in the middle of nowhere who repairs bikes. I'm on Isla de Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua so he has called someone on the mainland who will be bringing a spoke of the correct diameter (all the ones he has are extremely fat) tomorrow. And he has a crude home-made spoke key.

I will take photos off all this as it may be of some amusement. Thank you both for your help so far.

My final question is, if the spoke doesn't fit tomorrow (ie is too fat still), should drilling the hole in the hub ever so slightly to widen it cause any issues? I appreciate that once back to more civilised parts, it may mean that the correct spoke will not be able to be installed in future.

The Rookie

For the purposes of getting the bike going, you could drill it as any spoke is better than no spoke, but you'll then have scrapped the wheel for whn you get back, I'd rather ride with a spoke missing than do that.

ollie cb

Everybody loves a happy ending. I should have had faith in the bike repairer... Just as he promised, the replacement spoke was in his hand at 7am on Sunday. All went back together and tension is perfect two days later after some testing terrain.
Thank you to those who helped and if I remember, I will
L put photos up on my return.

paul.skibum

Nice one - my mate cycled through much of south america and found people to be fantastically friendly and helpful. Keep rolling.

thelonegroover

ollie cb wrote:

Everybody loves a happy ending. I should have had faith in the bike repairer... Just as he promised, the replacement spoke was in his hand at 7am on Sunday. All went back together and tension is perfect two days later after some testing terrain.
Thank you to those who helped and if I remember, I will
L put photos up on my return.

Did you get a spare spoake and a key? this could happen again.

ollie cb

I have 2 spare spokes and nipples. No key but I only have 100km to do today on good roads until I get to Granada which is a big place.

ollie cb

So I did promise some photos a long time ago. Well, here they are!

This was the puncture repair machine. Yes, that's the plate off an iron! Plug into mains electricity, get patch and punctured inner tube, use the vice to add pressure and hey presto... The iron heats the glue to stick it on.



This is the chap who fixed my puncture just doing some work on another bike. Spot my wheel...



At work:


The workshop:



His kids were interested in the camera:



Anyway, overall, I had a great trip. Only a couple more punctures and no real issues. Would definitely do it again. Perhaps I'll have to do a write up at some point but this workshop section isn't the best to do it in

cooldad

Useful LBS. If a bit remote.