robow

Wix.com FiberFix Spoke created by morrisonmary41 based on Consulting Com

MiRoLa

New link and an photo here:

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fiberfix.php

alan s 

Ty0604 - Permanent - Sock of banned member

djb

Despite thread ressurection, I still think it's great to remind people about this product. Mine has been in my daily tool kit fur years now and luckily haven't had to use it yet.

mev

I had occasion to use it in Argentina in August 2017.

Not for my bicycle, but a bicycle of Alex, a German cycle-tourist where we periodically joined up along the way (first in Baja, later in Argentina).
Alex had broken a spoke and didn't have the proper tools to get to putting a new spoke so we used my fiber spoke. We were near Hualfin Argentina and it was going to be a while until he got to a shop. Best I know he rode with the spoke for several hundred kilometers. He needed to periodically tighten it again, but otherwise it worked.

Digger Goreman

Thank YOU, for the resurrection!

mstateglfr 

Ha, i remember the debacle that was Ty. Forgot about him. Good stuff.

Papa Tom

I wonder how long these things last in a saddle bag? I bought one about five years ago after breaking two spokes on two consecutive mini-tours. Of course, I haven't broken a spoke since. At this point, I don't think I'd remember how to use the kit if I had to, but these posts reminded me to be glad I carry it anyway!

djb

They aren't tomatoes, no reason in 20 years it won't be good. Imo of course

djb

I do like that it comes in that little self contained capsule thing, so not to loose the bits and bobs.
and I freely admit that I will have completely forgotten how to use it also, and will have to read the instructions.

pdlamb

I bought one before my 2009 tour. It's still there, in its plastic bag along with the instructions in case I ever need it.

Compared with the difficulties of doing an emergency road fix on rear DS spoke, it's a great 15 g insurance policy.

Tourist in MSN

I never bought one. But, if I had one I would keep the instructions packed with it, probably double zip lock bagged to make sure that the instructions stayed dry and readable. Since I built most of my wheels I had spare spokes of the proper lengths.

Occasionally I think about buying one, I did not build the wheels on my road bike so I do not have spare spokes for it, do not know the lengths on those wheels so now I have an excuse to buy one.

Papa Tom

Until these two broken-spoke incidents, I did not even realize there are so many different sized spokes! I figured a 26" wheel had a certain size spoke, a 27" had a longer one, etc. Why does it have to be so confusing?

Tourist in MSN

Every hub is different. Every rim has a slightly different effective rim diameter. Rear derailleur wheels usually have a different length for the drive side than the non-drive side.

The last time I built up a wheel with a dynohub, I was going to use that wheel on a fork with rim brakes but I thought it made sense to buy a hub that could take a disc in the event I wanted such a wheel years from now. Then I realized that a disc front wheel with that particular dynohub would have different spoke lengths on one side of the wheel than on the other side. Thus, even some front wheels will have a different spoke length on one side than on the other.

What I find more frustrating is that I usually use Wheelsmith Spokes, they are sold in a bag of 50. A wheel usually takes 32 or 36, if you want a couple spares that is 34 or 38 for a wheel. Why would they sell spokes in a bag of 50? And i usually use Sapim Polyax Brass Niples, why are they sold in bags of 100?

Papa Tom

And why do they sell hot dog buns in packs of eight and hot dogs in packs of six?

Wiggle

Was not aware of this product until this thread came back to life. Seems very useful.

mev

I carried one for at least seven years prior to handing to another cyclist to use in 2017. It came in a little capsule with instructions and at the time we needed it, we looked up the instructions and followed them. It was a not very populated part of Argentina and I believe that cyclist rode several hundred kilometers with this emergency repair before fixing his wheel properly.

robow

I always carry two of these fiber fix spokes anymore just in case someone else I'm touring with needs one. It's relatively cheap, lightweight, easily packable insurance. And even though I built my own wheels and have spare spokes, it's just easier to carry these and not worry about having to match my or someone else's proper spoke length. And btw, these things can hold up for a very long time, hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of miles.

DanBell

Like others I have one of these in my far-from-civilization touring tool kit. I haven't had to use it, but it's a cool little failsafe.

I always thought this thread was a bit suspect. Not one, not two, not three, but four people had so much desire to test this out that they all went to the trouble to remove a spoke and install the FiberFix then go on a ride with them. I can see one person wanting to do it to test out something they may need to rely on in the middle of nowhere, but four people on a group ride all deciding to do it seemed off. I would think most people would be happy for someone they were riding with to test it out. I'd be fine to just see someone else's experience first hand. But then most of what Ty posted didn't pass the smell test for me so I just didn't reply.

john m flores 

In 1997, I used my mountain bike (with 26" x 1" high pressure tires, rear rack with bags, front handlebar bag, and Spinacci bars) on a loaded PCH tour from Oakland to LA. Somewhere along the way, a rear spoke broke. I replaced with a Fiber Fix spoke and finished the trip. When I returned home, I put mountain bike rubber back on and rode trails. Somewhere around 2007, the bike became my in-town grocery getter with fat slicks and I'd often hop off curbs with it.

After reading this thread, I went into the basement and took this photo. It's still tight and the wheel still true.

djb

John, that is both totally awesome and goofy, all at the same time!
And rather amazing that the material has stood up so well to uv
exposure and temps and dirt.

can't believe you never got around to getting a real spoke put in, but a fantastic test of the materials, that's really impressive isn't it?
thanks for chiming in.

Digger Goreman

Thanks, again, to all! Mine arrives in the mail today

john m flores 

LOL at some distant point in time the thinking went from, "I should really get this fixed" to "let's see how long this will last!"

djb

that's wonderful! And something I and most of us could relate to.
perhaps a contributing factor is that your 26in wheel was a god solid wheel to begin with, so the fiber fix is not having to put a lot of pull into it, but it's still amazing that the material hasn't significantly deteriorated over time, even if it's nor been laying out horizontally in the sun for 20 years, but riding vertically so less direct sun and stored indoors...