Riding with broken spoke

pak-man

Hi all, just after your collective advice.

I had a spoke break on my 3 yr old but relatively low mileage rear Fulcrum 3. I've had it fixed so all OK on that front but I wonder what your views are on cycling with a broken spoke? I was only about 6 miles from home when it happened, and just on a training ride, so I attached the broken spoke to another spoke so that it wasn't loose, turned around and went home. Could I have safely carried on for 30+ miles with no concerns?

Thanks

dgunthor

yes, could have carried on

the more you ride with a broken spoke, the more stress on the rest of them and the chance they too might break

i've raced 25miles with 2 broken spokes in the past (wheel trued ok after).
i've also ridden 20 miles on a flat tub (rim needed filing down a bit after but wheel ok)

pak-man

Thanks, good to know.

Bobbinogs

I would urge real caution, particularly if the spoke was in the front wheel as any sudden decelerations due to front wheel lock due to the spoke coming loose and fouling in the brake bridge can be either very comical or very painful!

If I was close to home I would cable tie a broken spoke up and return home whilst taking it easy...if I was out on a longer ride then I would stop, remove the tyre/tube and see if the spoke could be completely removed from the wheel before proceeding.

Low spoke count wheels will start to go out of true fairly quickly after a spoke break. I was riding in a group where someone broke a spoke a few weeks ago and the wheel was so bad that the wheel had rotation issues even with the brakes completely backed off. The wheel was clearly rubbing on the carbon forks which were beginning to show signs of wear, not good!

pak-man

Thanks for posting Bobbinogs, and sorry for delay in acknowledging (think I forgot to check the 'keep me updated' box!).