TDHudson

My wife and I have a Trek T900 tandem with over 10,000 miles on it. Yesterday our ride ended normally but as we pulled into our driveway we had some strangeness in the chain -- turns out we had a spoke break at the rim and it flopped into the chain. I took the wheel off and the spoke next to it was broken at the hub.

Took it to Erik's bikes and they weren't sure they had the right spoke and that it might take around 2 weeks to fix, which is untenable. We don't want to not ride for that long.

I also noticed that the Bontrager H2 26x2.00 tire needs replacing -- a couple worn areas down to the cord, so I want to get a new set.

A visit to the Trek website shows that these tires are no longer available. This is worrisome. Online tires for this size seem to be hybrid or mountain bike tires -- not heavy duty road tires for tandem use. Suggestions?

I'm taking the wheel to another local shop (Wheel & Sprocket) to see what they say about the spokes and tires. Should all the spokes be replaced? I worry that they may have metal fatigue. Get a new wheel? I could probably handle replacing a couple spokes if I can find the right size -- are tandem spokes heavier duty than others? Any suggestions on where to get spokes for these 26" wheels (alexrimsTA19)?

We discussed maybe getting a new bike, which we'd rather not do if this one can be fixed up and something as fundamental as tires will be available.

Lots of questions; thanks for your input.

TDHudson

Hmm. Looks like there are H2 Hard Case tires in 26x2.00 listed on Trek's website, which didn't show up on my phone search last night -- so that's not an issue -- and they may be available at my local shop.

curbtender

I'd find a wheel builder in your area. They could tell you the condition better than us. Shops around here take forever to get to repairs. I'd say two weeks isn't bad.

TDHudson

Great news - I went to the local bike shop (Wheel & Sprocket in Milwaukee) and the service tech checked out the wheel -- only the two bad spokes, and he had replacements on hand. He couldn't do the repair right away but I've replaced spokes before (same thing happened about 7 years ago) so I bought those. He didn't have the tires at his location but the one in Bay View, 8 miles away, had 4 on hand, so I ran down there and picked up new Hard Case tires and tubes.

Should be back on the road tomorrow!

bwilli88 

Sounds great, My J Henry is hanging in my shop on the waiting list to be built.

TobyGadd

Always good to find a bike shop that knows what they are doing. Support them by making as many future purchases as possible from them.

bwilli88 

I have a couple near me that are real good. One that knows newer bikes, Hush Money bikes(Lancaster, PA) and one that knows everything, Shirks (Blueball, PA).

PromptCritical 

Schwalbe makes heavy duty 26” tires if you’re still looking for tires. Available on Amazon. As much as I like supporting my LBS, they don’t stock much beyond the latest fad, so I’m forced to scrounge for my bikes (all vintage or near vintage).

bwebel

Continental also has some good tires in 26, maybe the Contact Plus or Contact Urban. Most shops would be able to order those if they don't have them in stock. I don't know any reason to particularly favor Trek tires for the bike. Trek probably just contracts out the manufacture to a company that does tires.

With regard to the spokes, it's not uncommon that once one goes, more will follow. So probably worth having some sort of plan in mind for a new wheel if that happens.