Spokes-frustrated

OK, so on Tuesday I was out for a ride on my fairly new bike (six weeks old) and got my first busted spoke. The good news was, I was only a block and a half from a bike shop. The bad news was, the rear wheel wouldn't turn AT ALL, so I had to hold up the back end of the bike and basically carry it all the way to the bike shop. Suddenly a block and a half didn't seem so close. Got the spoke replaced.

Two days later, I'm out again, working on a 60-mile ride and at mile 57.5 bust another damn spoke. Once again, rear wheel won't turn and I'm about a mile from my car. Luckily, I was by the airport and an employee driving by saw me and pulled over. When she heard what my problem was, she called one of her co-workers, who she claimed was an avid cyclist and could fix anything. About all he could do for me was remove the busted spike and remove the rear brakes so I could at least ride it to my car.

Took it to my LBS to get fixed. My question is, what the heck causes this anyway and how should I be prepared to deal with this next time it happens when I'm on the trail and in the middle of no where? At this point, I'm pretty much afraid to get back on and ride again (not to mention frustrated as hell).

I don't know *knocks on wood* I've never had a busted spoke but.........

you say the bike is only 6 wks old?? what does your LBS think?? have you talked to them about it?? what brand is your bike?? You might also try emailing the manufacturer - see what they have to say.

I've had two busted spokes in my almost year of "serious" cycling

Fortunately, both have been on my training wheels (multi-spoked) rather than on race wheels (considerably less spokes) and because they have been training wheel spokes, I have been able to conitune and finish the ride because the wheel has not been too far out of true.

Its just one of those things and is greatly influenced by the type of wheel you have in combination with your weight and the stress you put on the bike (eg how hard you push your bike/self at speed or up hills)

My partner kept breaking spokes at the rate of 1 every 1-2 weeks for a while - veeery frustrating, but at over 6'3" he and the LBS decided he was just too big for that wheel and since changing wheels he has fewer probs...

I'm gonna agree with CorsairMac. Sure never hurts to ask.

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Originally Posted by CorsairMac

I don't know *knocks on wood* I've never had a busted spoke but.........

you say the bike is only 6 wks old?? what does your LBS think?? have you talked to them about it?? what brand is your bike?? You might also try emailing the manufacturer - see what they have to say.

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Well, when I went in yesterday, explained the problem and said "clearly something isn't right," they just said, "Did we fix it last time?" I said that I'd had another shop fix it since I was close to them on the trail. So my thought about their unspoken comment was that the other bike shop didn't know what they were doing and that now that THEY were fixing it, it wouldn't happen again.

We'll see.