_ForceD_

I'm almost afraid to post this here because of the ridicule I know I'll receive. I broke a spoke and don't have any of the correct length on hand. I think the LBSs are still closed on lockdown as non-essential in my area. So, I cut the head off one that's somewhat longer, bent the cut end around, and laced it in. I tensioned it up and trued the wheel. It's working. For how long I don't know. On one hand, I'm ashamed to have to resort to such measures. On the other hand it gives me comfort to know that I can use "gun deck" repairs (Navy lingo) like this to get things operating.





Dan

HillRider

Under the present circumstances, whatever works is perfectly acceptable. I'm not sure of the long term durability but it should last for many miles.

dabac

There actually used to be a special plier to put a z-bend at the head end of a spoke. This would allow the installation of a replacement driveside spoke w/o removing the freewheel/cassette.
When I simply had to get a bike rideable with what was at hand, I installed one spoke from the hub, another from the rim. Cut them off with some overlap and used a cable crimp to lock them together...

blamester

Nice work. If it tensioned up good it should last a long time.

dsbrantjr

I don't see any reason for it to fail any sooner than the others; I cannot see it coming loose.

Dan Burkhart 

No ridicule from this quarter, and I've built wheels in the thousands. The only thing that concerns me is, being a bladed spoke, how close to the transition from round to flat the bend is. If you showed a photo from the back side, we could make a fairer judgement.

cyccommute 

Whatever works. If you were to suggest that everyone do it on every spoke because it’s “better”, we’d ridicule you. But for an emergency fix, it’s suitable.

Joe Bikerider

Bravo. Just don’t forget about it a year from
now! When you are wondering why that wheel seems a little lose. Just ride baby!

veganbikes

I would reach out to whatever schmuck is running the show where you live and fight hard to get those LBSs open. If cycling is not essential then hopefully other forms of transportation aren't as well and they are on super lockdown. I know plenty of people who are traveling to work by bike these days because public transport is too risky and plenty more who need the bike for mental and physical health.

_ForceD_

I'm not sure what you're getting at. The wheel is laced with blade spokes...aside from a couple others I've had to replace. None of the LBSs in my area have blade spokes in the length I need. So, I have to use round (and I know I could order online). The Jury rigged spoke is round. The lacing is a 2-cross pattern, and where they cross I suppose that the round vs. flat would cause the existing spoke to tension just a bit more. But, as I said I did true it and some of the spokes (includeing that existing cross spoke) had to be loosened. This is actually like the 5th or 6th spoke that has had to be replaced on that wheel. It's a good wheel, and I love it. But for some reason it breaks spokes somewhat more frequently than all the other wheels on all my other bikes.

Dan

_ForceD_

Of course you know I will!!!

Dan

Homebrew01

I doubt you'll get more than 20 years from that.

Russ Roth

Still exists and useful for touring when there's 5 different wheelsets, wheelfanatyk sold some for a while but you can still get them through hobby shops and small engine repair places. Just use the tool, install properly and forget it, never need to bother with it again.

Time to have the wheel rebuilt with all new spokes, expensive but the hassle usually isn't worth it.

sjanzeir

Wouldn't a good ole regular wire cutter work for that? Put the jaws' blades where you want the bend to be, apply just enough clamping force to maintain grip, and then twist?

And kudos to the OP for creativity. Any issues with clearance between the newly minted spoke head and the cassette?

79pmooney

Good work! Now, remember, every mile on that wheel from now one is a free one, so enjoy them! (I love creative solutions.)

Ben

Dan Burkhart 

OK. It looked at first to be a bladed spoke with the flat portion extending out of sight behind the flange. Anyway, that qualifies as an excellent field repair, and will probably hold till you decide to rebuild the entire wheel.

cpach

Nice hack! I suspect it'll last a reasonable while, and a broken spoke isn't the end of the world if it doesn't. Were it me I'd probably go buy a spoke online though.

Moe Zhoost

I'm glad you decided to post this. Fantastic solution under the present circumstances. The NC lockdown restrictions exempted bike shops as essential activities; however limited their business to repair only, with curbside drop-off and pick-up. The logic behind this was that these shops were no different than auto-repair shops, i.e. an essential part of our transportation system. Bummer that RI did not see it this way.

cyccommute 

For future use, consider getting a Fiber Fix spoke.

_ForceD_

Yeah, not sure why RI didn't let bike shops remain open...especially since department stores have had a run on bike purchasing (meaning more repairs will be needed). I was in the local Walmart the other day for the first time since lockdown, and the bike rack was empty except for one little kid's bike. I just double-checked the RI list of essential businesses...and LBSs are on neither the essential nor non-essential list. Liquor stores and gun shops are on the essential list, sporting goods stores are non-essential. So who knows???

While we're on the topic of spokes...since I have six bikes that I keep going...meaning more frequent spoke replacement than the average single bike owner...I'm considering the purchase of a spoke threading tool. I thought they were much more expensive...I was wrong...some are less than $100 new. It looks like the two 'go to' brands are the Cyclo, and the Hozan. Can anyone comment on which they find better, and why.

Dan

Moe Zhoost

I have more bikes than you, and while I rarely break a spoke, I frequently build/rebuild wheels. Over the years, buying boxes of 50/100 spokes resulted in me having quite a collection of spare spokes. A few years ago, I had a hankering to do a 650b conversion and instead of buying yet another package of spokes, I decided to buy a Hozan tool. I figured the price would be offset by allowing me to use my existing stash of spokes. To date I have used it to roll new threads on 4 sets of wheels so well over 200 spokes. The rolling head seems to be holding up well (I do use cutting oil liberally.) I will say that the whole process is tedious. You have to cut the spokes to the correct length, de-burr the cut end, mount it in the tool, apply oil, roll, test against a nipple ... 72 times for a pair of 36 spoke wheels. This tool is certainly not for production work. What it is good for is being able to size and thread a spoke blank to repair a wheel with a popped spoke. I can see a bike shop or co-op investing in one for these one-off jobs. I'm happy with my decision because I saved the price of 200+ spokes.

This thread reminded me of the 1886 account by Thomas Stevens, in his book Around the World on a Bicycle, of having to rely on local Afghani gunsmiths to repair 11 broken spokes on his Columbia Ordinary. They were able to heat the broken spokes to stretch them and then rethread. In his words, the result was entirely satisfactory.

dabac

I haven’t tried on a bicycle.
But:
- spokes are at risk of fatigue failure. I’d be wary of holding one with a plier with a cutting jaw. Seems like the nicks created by the jaws would be great starting points for fatigue cracks.
- BITD when I was heavily into R/C Model airplanes, I used z-bend pushrods. And putting those bends in tight enough to work well took a bit of doing. And that was on wire that was easier to bend and less stressed than spokes.
- I’ve tried using a cheap plier for crimp-on cable connectors, but the sideways pressure warped the jaws and caused a ”slack” bend.
That was when I went to the 2-part jointed spoke instead.

davidad

You said that you break spokes on other wheels. If you don't mind my asking how much do you weigh and are the other wheels low spoke count. I built 25 or 30 wheels for myself and friends and have had very few spokes breaking even with a couple of 250+ pounders.

_ForceD_

I tip the scale at 195-200 lbs. Most of my bikes are running wheels with 24 spokes on the rear. Really, I have the most problems on that bike/wheel in my OP. I've had maybe six or more (different) spokes break on that one. I haven't broken spokes on the others anywhere near that frequency. That particular wheel set is like 4 +/- years old. All the bikes get generally the same use (all road bikes). I think it just may be that particular wheel was perhaps over-tensioned when it was originally laced.

Dan

davidad

Most likely under tensioned.