The Chainlink

Broken Spokes

On my bike this morning and noticed my rear tire woobly. Second time this has happened. I have 2 broken spokes now and I'm in downtown. My ride to the bike shop is about 7-8 miles back.

Do you think I'll be able to make it back by just riding at a normal relaxed speed?

Views: 138

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael A on July 21, 2011 at 9:07am

Riding on broken spokes can cause further damage to the wheels. If you have had spokes replaced on this wheelset before you may want to look into either having the wheel rebuilt and retentioned properly, or look for a replacement. Make sure to remove or secure the broken spokes, open up your brake and that it does not rub on the frame. Baby it home and you should be fine

 

Good luck

Permalink Reply by steve rulz on July 21, 2011 at 9:38am

I have been breaking spokes like it's going out of style this summer. Riding on a wheel like that kinda weirds me out. You might be best off stopping some where near by work or on your way home. I'm not sure where you are or where you are headed but here are some places near down town which might  be able to help you out. Depending on how busy they are and how messed up your wheel is you could be in and out in 15 minutes.

 



811 S. Desplaines, Chicago, IL 60607
1118 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605

 

738 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60661
239 East Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601-6530
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on July 21, 2011 at 10:11am
Your closest options are Upgrade or Mox. You need to go to a shop that actually stocks spokes.
Permalink Reply by dan brown on July 21, 2011 at 11:16am

ride easy and avoid potholes. no climbing out of the saddle and no hammering (yeah right...in this weather?) and you will likely be OK. I am currently riding on 1 broken one and need to re-tension it

this saturday at WTB.

 

DB

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 21, 2011 at 12:26pm

If you are breaking spokes with any regularity you need to look into the issue beyond just replacing them.  good rule of thumb is four broken spokes, total, not just at one time, and you need to either rebuild or replace a wheel.

 

I would suggest riding on it as little as possible.  Without the two spokes that are broken you are putting a greater strain on those that remain around them.  Breaking spokes on a regular basis is a sign of, in my opinion, at least one of four other things.  1. The wheel is just rode the hell out.  It happens; maybe it's old, maybe it's low quality, maybe it was built poorly.  2. Riding it with missing spokes has damaged others.  Regardless of age and quality the wheel is now compromised.  3. The wheel is not being maintained properly or the spokes were not replaced properly.  When spokes get replaced the tension needs to be checked the whole wheel over.  4. You are exceeding the weight carrying capacity of your wheel.  28 spoke 2 cross is not the right rear wheel for the bike you use to carry kitty litter.

Permalink Reply by Eric B on July 21, 2011 at 8:06pm
Have you added a shelf to your bicycle?  I have folding baskets attached to the shelf on my bike which I used to carry all sorts of heavy things.  The original wheel had spokes which were never designed to carry such loads and the spokes were breaking at the connection in the center of the wheel.  I'm happy with the new wheel, the mechanic who did the job at Uptown Bikes said the brake pads will wear through the sides of the wheel before the spokes wear out!
Permalink Reply by steve rulz on July 21, 2011 at 9:46pm
Nice, I added a front rack to my bike which makes it harder to bunny hop the curb sized lip at the top and bottom of the hump right next to the bridge just south of navy pier. That fucker has been the bane of my existence this summer. I have had my steamroller since 2008 and never had a problem until this summer. I have broken a spoke on the front and back wheel. Amazingly I have yet to have a single flat since I bought this bike and commute from lake view to hyde two or three days a week in the summer. As well as ride sloppy to and from the bar on a regular basis.

Eric Barnes said:
Have you added a shelf to your bicycle?  I have folding baskets attached to the shelf on my bike which I used to carry all sorts of heavy things.  The original wheel had spokes which were never designed to carry such loads and the spokes were breaking at the connection in the center of the wheel.  I'm happy with the new wheel, the mechanic who did the job at Uptown Bikes said the brake pads will wear through the sides of the wheel before the spokes wear out!
Permalink Reply by S on July 21, 2011 at 9:55pm
I agree about the lip.  Is there anyway we can ask the city to put some asphalt on the lip so that there's a bit of a ramp?  Is the ATA the right people to talk to?

steve rulz said:
Nice, I added a front rack to my bike which makes it harder to bunny hop the curb sized lip at the top and bottom of the hump right next to the bridge just south of navy pier. That fucker has been the bane of my existence this summer. I have had my steamroller since 2008 and never had a problem until this summer. I have broken a spoke on the front and back wheel. Amazingly I have yet to have a single flat since I bought this bike and commute from lake view to hyde two or three days a week in the summer. As well as ride sloppy to and from the bar on a regular basis.

Eric Barnes said:
Have you added a shelf to your bicycle?  I have folding baskets attached to the shelf on my bike which I used to carry all sorts of heavy things.  The original wheel had spokes which were never designed to carry such loads and the spokes were breaking at the connection in the center of the wheel.  I'm happy with the new wheel, the mechanic who did the job at Uptown Bikes said the brake pads will wear through the sides of the wheel before the spokes wear out!
Permalink Reply by David Ramos on July 21, 2011 at 10:01pm

I appreciate all the feed back. I made it to the bike shop like nothing was wrong with my wheel. Walked in and they fixed in 15 min. That was awesome! what made it even sweeter is that they gave me a discount and are going to order me another wheel at regular price but they are really nice people. They just won all my future business.

 

thank you once again for the input and I'm excited to be part of this.

 

Looking to ride with a few ppl before and after work

Permalink Reply by steve rulz on July 21, 2011 at 10:02pm
This will be a topic on it's own. Lets not hijack this thread.

S said:
I agree about the lip.  Is there anyway we can ask the city to put some asphalt on the lip so that there's a bit of a ramp?  Is the ATA the right people to talk to?

steve rulz said:
Nice, I added a front rack to my bike which makes it harder to bunny hop the curb sized lip at the top and bottom of the hump right next to the bridge just south of navy pier. That fucker has been the bane of my existence this summer. I have had my steamroller since 2008 and never had a problem until this summer. I have broken a spoke on the front and back wheel. Amazingly I have yet to have a single flat since I bought this bike and commute from lake view to hyde two or three days a week in the summer. As well as ride sloppy to and from the bar on a regular basis.

Eric Barnes said:
Have you added a shelf to your bicycle?  I have folding baskets attached to the shelf on my bike which I used to carry all sorts of heavy things.  The original wheel had spokes which were never designed to carry such loads and the spokes were breaking at the connection in the center of the wheel.  I'm happy with the new wheel, the mechanic who did the job at Uptown Bikes said the brake pads will wear through the sides of the wheel before the spokes wear out!
Permalink Reply by steve rulz on July 21, 2011 at 10:11pm
Good to hear you were taken care of. What shop did you go to?

David Ramos said:

I appreciate all the feed back. I made it to the bike shop like nothing was wrong with my wheel. Walked in and they fixed in 15 min. That was awesome! what made it even sweeter is that they gave me a discount and are going to order me another wheel at regular price but they are really nice people. They just won all my future business.

 

thank you once again for the input and I'm excited to be part of this.

 

Looking to ride with a few ppl before and after work

Permalink Reply by David Ramos on July 21, 2011 at 11:05pm
I went to Roscoe Village Bikes. A+++

steve rulz said:
Good to hear you were taken care of. What shop did you go to?

David Ramos said:

I appreciate all the feed back. I made it to the bike shop like nothing was wrong with my wheel. Walked in and they fixed in 15 min. That was awesome! what made it even sweeter is that they gave me a discount and are going to order me another wheel at regular price but they are really nice people. They just won all my future business.

 

thank you once again for the input and I'm excited to be part of this.

 

Looking to ride with a few ppl before and after work

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service