Bent spoke on this wheel
10-06-21, 01:11 PM
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Bent spoke on this wheel
I noticed my wheel was out of true, took it to the shop to my amaze they trued it and said "oh yeah and you have a bent spoke" I'm surprised they didn't fix it. Is it still a problem to have a bent spoke?
10-06-21, 01:19 PM
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Dont fix whats not broken
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If it were my wheel, I would replace that spoke. Couple minute job and you'll have peace of mind.
10-06-21, 01:37 PM
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I have just straightened spokes before truing many times. In theory a bent spoke will act more like a spring then a tensioned cable. Andy
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10-06-21, 01:42 PM
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Bent spoke on a front wheel is an easy fix...
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10-06-21, 02:33 PM
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IMO, it should have been straightened or replaced before trueing the wheel.
The fact that you have such a visible bend makes me wonder what spoke tension you have there.
Admittedly, on a front wheel with that spoke count, you don’t need much. But that’s still a suspisciously obvious bend to me.
The fact that you have such a visible bend makes me wonder what spoke tension you have there.
Admittedly, on a front wheel with that spoke count, you don’t need much. But that’s still a suspisciously obvious bend to me.
10-06-21, 02:51 PM
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Interesting, so its like is a mini suspension? Does it only work when the spoke is lined up at the ground?
10-06-21, 03:29 PM
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I have a few bikes with spokes bent like that. Things happen when you load your bike on an old schoolbus with 50 other bikes, drive one way across a state, and then ride back the other way with 20,000 other people on the road. 
They (the bent spokes) are left in place as a long-term durability experiment that is going so well I generally forget that I'm running it.
They (the bent spokes) are left in place as a long-term durability experiment that is going so well I generally forget that I'm running it.
10-06-21, 10:01 PM
#9
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It probably isn't likely to significantly affect the ability to true the wheel, and isn't particularly more likely to fail, but it doesn't look great. Personally, I'd probably replace it when convenient and not worry too much about it until then.
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10-06-21, 10:57 PM
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If I had that same spoke on hand, I'd replace it next time had the tire off. If not, I'd straighten it best I could.
Now, this is where more spokes are better. 36 - you can break one and you probably have to do no more than open the brake up. 32 will almost certainly rub and want a spoke wrench. Fewer and it gets progressively harder to true the wheel enough to get home. You might even lose some fork paint. Too few and things get scary. You cannot pin a number on how bad a wheel is going to be with a broken spoke based just on the number of spokes. Spoke tension matters a lot. (More is worse.) Rim stiffness side to side matters a lot.
I once lost 8 consecutive spokes on one side of a front wheel. It was the wide version of the Weinmann Concave; probably the stiffest side to side rim ever made. 36 spokes. In those days I ran my spoke tension on the loose side. At the time I was going 30+ mph. The wheel wobbled massively and rubbed the fork paint to bare steel but I rode the bike to a stop.
Now, this is where more spokes are better. 36 - you can break one and you probably have to do no more than open the brake up. 32 will almost certainly rub and want a spoke wrench. Fewer and it gets progressively harder to true the wheel enough to get home. You might even lose some fork paint. Too few and things get scary. You cannot pin a number on how bad a wheel is going to be with a broken spoke based just on the number of spokes. Spoke tension matters a lot. (More is worse.) Rim stiffness side to side matters a lot.
I once lost 8 consecutive spokes on one side of a front wheel. It was the wide version of the Weinmann Concave; probably the stiffest side to side rim ever made. 36 spokes. In those days I ran my spoke tension on the loose side. At the time I was going 30+ mph. The wheel wobbled massively and rubbed the fork paint to bare steel but I rode the bike to a stop.
