dmanthree

I recently posted a thread about the Michelin Power Road tires, and how much I like them, etc. I mentioned that I don't normally get more than about 1,500 miles out of the rear tire. I lied. On today's ride I hit some road debris, sliced the rear tire, and broke a spoke when it got sucked up into the rear wheel. Had to walk a bit to get home since the tire wasn't fixable.

Side note: I took the wheel to one local shop who told me they'd need to send to Italy for the replacement spoke and it might take a month. Right. It's a Fulcrum Racing 3db. Went to a second shop and it was fixed while I waited. Pays to shop around.

eduskator

Sounds like a bad LBS! Sending a wheel oversea to repair it?

I am not sure if the Power Road was at fault here, but the debris you rolled on could have sliced any other tires. You may have just been bad lucked.

dmanthree

Yeah, not blaming the tire! I think any tire would have been sliced. I've got a third tire I'll mount later on. But that LBS was a "brand name" shop, and while they didn't say it needed to go to Italy, they did say the spokes needed to be shipped from there. Yes, total nonsense.

eduskator

It was most likely a nice way to say they didn't want to help you.

dmanthree

True. The Fulcrums can be a pain *if* you aren't familiar with the wheels. The tech who fixed it took one look and said he'd do it right away. Anyway, I know where to go for bike service now. This was the first time I've needed service in Naples, so now I know.

eduskator

Tech was either ignorant or incompetent (or both!).

I had flat last year (tubeless setup) and didn't have time to go back home to clean the tire and fix it so I brought it to a few shops that same day hoping for a quick fix. 3 of them told me that 1) tubeless tires could not be patched, and 2) tubeless tires were a pain in the arse. Those 3 recommended I switch back to tubes. It was clearly easier for them to install a tube than to remove the tire, clean it, remove debris, put a patch if needed and sealant back inside!

I almost fell for it, but after taking a step back, I realized that they were simply too busy with the COVID and didn't want to properly repair my tire.

(I don't want to start a tubed VS tubeless debate)

Litespud

this is the downside of an ever-expanding range of proprietary prebuilt wheels and brand-centric LBSs. The good general LBS that seemed to have one of everything buried back in the stockroom is a dying breed IME. Most of the shops near me seem to be Specialized- and Cannondale-heavy, with endless rows of branded parts and accessories in clamshells, so the likelihood of them having the requisite spoke and nipple for, say, a Campag Zonda wheel in stock is unpredictable at best. The best approach as I see it is to buy a couple of spokes for your prebuilt up front and have them available in the event that you need to take your damaged prebuilt in for repair. Or install the spoke yourself and have the LBS true up the wheel