Will it last my commute?

[KnackeredBike]

I had two spokes snap on opposite sides of my rear wheel on the commute home today. The wheel still seems to be true, rest of spokes are all a similar tension, and the brake pads are fairly worn so a bit to play with

Took it to Halfords this evening in the vague hope they would have a wheel off the shelf but no luck.

What is the chance of it lasting my commute (entirely on road/tarmac path) tomorrow (11 miles each way) then a trip to the local LBS for a replacement, if I am judicious at avoiding any potholes and the like? The wheel has done 8k miles so doesn't owe me anything if it makes it unrepairable.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[Welsh wheels]

It seems to be me that it would be down to chance. It might be ok, it might not be. I once rode with the handlebars loose, so when I turned a corner the handlebars would turn as well. It got me there and back. It's up to you if you want to take the risk really.

 

[Drago]

Probably. Take it steady, avoid too many bumps, ride smoothly.

 

[DCLane]

Take it easy and it may do. I got 50 miles out of a wrecked wheel on an audax.

 

[I like Skol]

I had a spoke ping in my rear wheel on the way to the start of one of @ColinJ rides once and still continued to ride another 85-90 miles including some loutish bunny hopping. It wasn't one of my own handbuilts but even so finished the ride with no further problems and was used a bit more after the offending spoke was replaced (I eventually replaced the wheels because of repeated failures).

I think you will be just fine if you ride carefully and you will be unlikely to experience a sudden catastrophic failure of the wheel.

 

[hoopdriver]

It will depend to some extent on how many spokes you have in the wheel - the more the merrier. A wheel with 36 spokes can sustain the loss of two spokes better than one with 28 or 24...

 

[ChrisEyles]

I'd happily ride it that far before getting it fixed, just baby it over rough ground and no stomping on the pedals up the hills and it should be fine. @hoopdriver's point is a good one though, and all my rear wheels are 36 or 40 spoke ones, so can't vouch for lower spoke count wheels from experience.

 

[ColinJ]

It will depend to some extent on how many spokes you have in the wheel - the more the merrier. A wheel with 36 spokes can sustain the loss of two spokes better than one with 28 or 24...

Forgive the pun ... that's true!

Bearing in mind Skol's post above - I had a spoke break on a forum ride to Blackpool. It was an Aksium rear wheel with only 24 spokes and it went dramatically out of true. I had to take my rear mudguard and the rear brake blocks off to get the wheel to turn. I didn't want to ride any further than necessary on that wheel so I slowly rode the 10 or 11 miles to Blackpool station and caught a train home.

 

[davidphilips]

Chances are it should be ok but tbh i would just order a few spokes (ebay) and leave the bike until it was fixed, but then again i have a few bikes and can do with out one for a bit, just if mine i would not feel very safe until it was repaired/replaced.

 

[KnackeredBike]

Spot on everyone, it survived the commute there and back, plus pulling bastard two year old seven miles in the trailer to the bike shop. Lucky that the brakes were very worn though as it did come out of true a good few mm.

Got a big telling off as always from grumpy LBS man, unimpressed I was using a road bike to pull a trailer which I didn't argue seeing as I was coming in with a buggered rear wheel.

However I got brownie points because the trailer is pressed into action daily for rides at preschool before tears as they have to get into boring cars.

 

[KnackeredBike]

Also the LBS guy is very strange, I asked that he have a look over and replace anything that needed doing, which at Halfords would mean they'd scrap the whole bike and start again.

However, they only ever do the work they agree in the two minute "your bike is knackered mate" shop assessment. So I got the bike back with a "by the way, you hear that, your rear wheel bearing is on the way out". Got told to bring it back in when it "sounds like it needs it". Only in a bike shop...