Broke a spoke; Bike is 30 years old... best to get wheel rebuilt?

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

One of the spokes in my rear wheel let go climbing a 5-7% gradient today. There's no visible corrosion on the rear wheel's spokes but some surface corrosion on the front wheel's spokes.

If the bike were only a few years old, I'd probably replace the spoke. But given it's nearly 30 years old, common sense would be getting both wheels re-laced with new spokes, for peace of mind? Especially as this is my utility bike - at the time I was towing an unladen trailer having delivered a wooden pallet to the other end of town.

I've done most extensive bike repairs short of brazing or welding anything - but I'm thinking I'm best farming this out to someone that knows what they are doing. Any recommendations for wheel builders in Staffs?

 

[Big John]

Have you any idea how much that would cost? If you do what you're suggesting it would be cheaper to buy a cheap wheel set. Take a look around the internet and see how much a bog standard 2mm straight gauge stainless steel spoke costs. Multiply that by the number of spokes in the wheel or both wheels if you want both doing. Then the cost of each wheel build. And all that because you've bust a spoke? Measure the spoke and get one from your local bike shop or buy a couple in case you break any more. Take a gander at YouTube, get yourself a spoke key and away you go. You'll maybe, after thirty years, need a new rim tape (or insulation tape) as well as a spoke. I once thought fixing a bust spoke was a dark art and building a wheel was only for NASA scientists. You don't have to be a master wheel builder to fix a spoke or build a wheel to passable standards.

I'd take a look at the rims if the wheels are that old. A bust spoke might just be the least of your troubles.

P.S. I'm in Staffs and I build wheels and even I think you'd be better off having a go yourself.

 

[Gillstay]

What he said.

 

[All uphill]

If you do decide on new spokes on an older bike you should check rim wear and hub condition first.

No point putting new spokes on worn out rims.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Rims are fine. They have plenty of meat left on them (about 1.6mm at their thinnest)
Hubs are in good condition too - I've recently stripped, cleaned and regreased them both. They have minimal signs of wear.

I last serviced the bike 300km ago and at that point the wheels were perfectly true and none of the spokes were lose. This is a bike that's often used heavily laiden and with the trailer. If I was using it for leisure/pleasure/credit card touring, I'd have a go at building the wheels myself and learn on the job. But this bike transports me to meetings which I can't afford to be late for, takes me on 50 mile round trips when I'm caring for my mother. Is also used for hauling stuff around. I don't want to be messing around replacing spokes and re-truing wheels in the pouring rain in the middle of winter when I need to be somewhere else.

As I said, there's no corrosion of the rear spokes. And the overall condition of the bike suggests it didn't see many miles before I bought it 10 years ago. Over the last 6 months I've been using it more and more as I get myself back into gear and it's covering greater distance each and every month. Often loaded up. So I figure either I had one bad spoke with a material defect or, as is probably likely, I'm asking too much of it.

I've also dealt with the freewheel - the grease in it had solidified causing the freewheel to not engage. If I buy new wheels, for 7 speed, I suspect I'm going to end up with hubs made of cheese. I've got some identical new-old-stock hubs which are unused - but the grease is solid and I've no doubt the freehub will have the exact same problem. But as you can see, my plan is to get many more miles out of this bike yet.

Yes, it would be cheaper to buy a new or nearly-new bike but my experience of factory wheels on bikes at the price point I could justify for a bike regularly left unattended and locked up is not great.

Today I was lucky - I was almost home. I was able to true the wheel up enough to push the bike home without the tyre rubbing on the mudguards or the chain stay. With the load I had in the panniers and the trailer attached, I didn't trust it enough to carry on cycling.

So yes, if the cost is not other-worldly exhorbitant, I'm happy to pay for them to be rebuilt with better spokes. It's got some fairly decent hubs and fairly decent rims, but straight gauge non-stainless spokes which I suspect is one of the places the original manufacturer saved themselves a few quid.

 

[Ajax Bay]

The hub and rim have to be of a pretty good standard to be worth paying someone to lace them up (and yes: replace all the spokes - I had this and having replaced a couple, another one went, and another one - as they approached the fatigue life (average)).
I'll assume that it was a right hand spoke that went. You could just replace that side (16/18?) as they have been under much higher tension all their life.
Otherwise (see advice above) you'll get just as good an end result by buying a new wheel.
Unless . . you relace it yourself in which case it's just the cost of (SS plain gauge) spokes: the cheapest few hours recreation (swidt) you can buy.

 

[fossyant]

Definately need to replace with stainless. Any sign of the rim being cancave on the breaking surface - probably best building the hubs into new rims. I've done this myself with two bikes - best bike had original Dura Ace hubs and I had they rebuilt many years ago into new rims. Then last year, bought period XT hubs from the 90's and built them into new rims myself (I didn't do wheel building 15 years ago).

 

[albion]

Replace and carry a spare. That spoke is likely the main point of friction, so the rest could in fact have 50% plus life left.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Replace and carry a spare. That spoke is likely the main point of friction, so the rest could in fact have 50% plus life left.

That's an option, but. 30 year old spokes owe you nothing.
Could you share what you mean by 'main point of friction'? Friction between what and what?
Edited (while you were responding!): "the rest could in fact have 50% plus life left": facts are not the issue here: ante hoc the issue is probability and risk.
Why 50%? Why not 5%? Clearly there'll be a spread if fatigue life is the issue: one spoke parting is always the first (of many).

 

[albion]

That's an option, but. 30 year old spokes owe you nothing.
Could you share what you mean by 'main point of friction'? Friction between what and what?
Why 50%? Why not 5%? Clearly there'll be a spread if fatigue life is the issue: one spoke parting is always the first (of many).

That one would likely have had loosness. Pure fatigue breaks are certainly extremely rare. Friction it will be.
5% if 'pure fatigue'.

 

[Ajax Bay]

That one would likely have had loosness. Pure fatigue breaks are certainly extremely rare. Friction it will be.
5% if 'pure fatigue'.

Supposition.
If the spoke which broke had been "loose" then the OP wouldn't have had to "true the wheel" after the spoke went, would they?
Fatigue breaks are rare (in instances per mile) because, in a decent wheel, either the rims or the hubs go first. But once one goes it's a harbinger.
I ask again: "friction" between what and what?

 

[albion]

Why wouldn't he? Think.

 

[biketrailerguy]

at the time I was towing an unladen trailer having delivered a wooden pallet to the other end of town.

As another 'trailer tower', just curious what you've got (diy / commercial ?) and what sort of loads you typically carry?

 

[Fredo76]

I assume the spoke broke at the head, and that the cause is metal fatigue from the heavy loads. If this is the case, others are ready to break, too.

36-spoke Wheelsmith 7-speed wheels with 14 ga. (2mm) stainless steel DT spokes are about $100 each over here, machine-built. The more spokes, the better, for your use case.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

That one would likely have had loosness. Pure fatigue breaks are certainly extremely rare. Friction it will be.
5% if 'pure fatigue'.

You don't understand tensioned structures. There is no friction in a laced wheel. As suggesgted to you, friction is when two adjacent bodies move, or attempt to move against each other. All spokes, other than those which die in a javelin-in-the-spokes accident, break in fatigue. Therefore, pure fatigue breaks are extremely common. Read the pinned thread on why spokes break.