Last summer they were widening the road in front of my work place, so I was riding on some very rough roadways all summer. One morning I noticed that I was feeling very slow and awkward. Even though I did look at my spokes I didn't find the offending one until I actually got to work. The cross lacing held it in position, but the head was broken off. That is the first spoke I've broken in nearly 11,000 miles of commuting. It did give me a chance to try out the Fiber-fix spoke I've carried for the past 4.5 years. It worked well, truing my wheel enough that I could ride home. By the way, I'm so tone-deaf I can't test my spokes by sound. Other than buying a tensionometer, does anyone know of a way to check with out plucking the spokes?