on 6/21/10 7:13 AM, jandrews_nyc at jasonaschwa...@gmail.com wrote: > After some slightly rough riding and shifting last night, I broke a > spoke on > my Hillborne. It's on the rear wheel, drive side. I've never broken > a spoke, and am wondering > if this is something I can attend to myself or should I take it to a > shop? Does a wheel need to be re-trued after a broken spoke? I don't > have a truing stand, so that may make my decision for me. Naturally, > I'd like to fix it myself unless you all advise against it. Seems like > a mighty useful skill to have.
My bias is to do everything yourself. It demystifies things when you are far from home, scratching your head over an unforseen mechanical situation. If you know you need to do "X", then you can often times figure out a number of ways to get there. Driveside spokes are probably the worst to bust, as you will generally not be able to get them out without removing the cogset. One benefit of freehub designs is that this can be a little easier - single tool and wrench rather than a bench vise. The other issue is if you broke the spoke through "rough shifting", you may want to check your derailleur limit screws. If the chain got wedged between the low sprocket and your spokes, there may be some gouged spokes which did not fail. If you run a cotton ball or q-tip along the spoke, you'll see which one's have gouges pretty easily. As long as you have the cogset off, I'd probably replace all the damaged spokes. If it is more than one spoke, you probably want a competent retruing - using a real stand and tensioning the wheel back up evenly. If it's only one spoke, you can usually make it work, though stress relieving can be problematic and should probably be checked after a ride or two. Decent spoke wrenches (as opposed to multi-tool "cutouts") are a good investment. Truing stands are pretty vital, but you can get pretty close using the frame, brake and another solid reference point. Hope that helps, - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Gallery updates now appear here - http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com "Nigel did some work for some of the other riders at Allied, onces who still rode metal. He hadn't liked it when Chevette had gone for a paper frame." -- William Gibson, "Virtual Light" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
