Bike "failed to proceed" today.

[Globalti]

Set out with GtiJ to ride to Otley to watch the start of day 2 of the Tour of Yorkshire and after only 3.3 miles a spoke snapped with a bang in my rear Ksyrium. Instant wobble and end of ride. In explanation I did unclip inwards about 3 weeks ago, catching the heel of my shoe sharply on the spoke and bending the spoke by about 5 degrees, so I wasn't surprised that it gave up today.

Jumped on GTiJ's bike and shot back to the car, picked him and my bike up and raced on to Otley just in time to find a parking spot and see the group whizz past.

Walked to Chevin Cycles where I got the expected sucking of teeth and the bad news that my spokes might be obselete and anyway, that rim's pretty worn and the freehubs don't last forever on these.... better send it back to Mavic.

So off we go and I'm already scheming on how to buy a new set of wheels but on the way through Ilkley we decide to stop at Ilkley Cycles where Joe, the mechanic, delves into his secret stash of Mavic spokes and after about five false starts, succeeds in finding the right length (there are many, very similar in length) and fits it, tightening the nipple and trueing the wheel. Happily it regained its trim because most of the nipples are now pretty much rusted to the spokes with road salt, inevitable no matter how well you clean the bike. At least Mavic spokes are easy to replace though, with no need to remove the cassette.

The charge for this? A fiver! Top marks to Joe at Ilkley Cycles.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Set out with GtiJ to ride to Otley to watch the start of day 2 of the Tour of Yorkshire and after only 3.3 miles a spoke snapped with a bang in my rear Ksyrium. Instant wobble and end of ride. In explanation I did unclip inwards about 3 weeks ago, catching the heel of my shoe sharply on the spoke and bending the spoke by about 5 degrees, so I wasn't surprised that it gave up today.

Jumped on GTiJ's bike and shot back to the car, picked him and my bike up and raced on to Otley just in tim to find a parking spot and see the group whizz past.

Walked to Chevin Cycles where I got the expected sucking of teeth and the bad news that my spokes might be obselete and anyway, that rim's pretty worn and the freehubs don't last forever on these.... better send it back to Mavic.

So off we go and I'm already scheming on how to buy a new set of wheels but on the way through Ilkley we decide to stop at Ilkley Cycles where Joe, the mechanic, delves into his secret stash of Mavic spokes and after about five false starts, succeeds in finding the right length (there are many, very similar in length) and fits it, tightening the nipple and trueing the wheel. Happily it regained its trim because most of the nipples are now pretty much rusted to the spokes with road salt, inevitable no matter how well you clean the bike. At least Mavic spokes are easy to replace though, with no need to remove the cassette.

The charge for this? A fiver! Top marks to Joe at Ilkley Cycles.

Glad there are still bike shops around that can be bothered to actually fix stuff rather than try and up sell you, I have been to Ilkley Cycles when they were JD Cylces and they have always been helpful. Here in Harrogate Ace Cycles has closed his doors and gone mobile in a van which is a shame because he was handy and always reasonably priced, there are quite a few other bike shops but some of them are not really interested unless you want to buy an expensive bike.

 

[Tim Hall]

Obsolete spokes? Wow.

 

[Gatters]

Obsolete spokes? Wow.

yep, all you need is the right length, what a load of old tosh

 

[Globalti]

Have you seen a Mavic spoke? They are not like ordinary spokes. Both dealers told me that there's a huge variety of lengths and Mavic don't keep the ones for wheels over five or six years old.