so update from a couple days ago, someone told me to check to see if a spoke is broken. did just that and found that one spoke is wiggly and loose, doesn’t make a “thwang” sound when you pull on it, and the nipple is loose. the spoke itself seems intact but i would like to know all of your guys opinions and suggestions (please lmk what to do)
UPDATE: is this a broken spoke?
byu/Financial_Option_757 inbmx
by Financial_Option_757
5 Comments
Nah it’s not broken since you can’t pull it out. Just loose. Get a spoke key and tighten it (get one that has multiple sizes since it’s a pain to figure out what size you have, or just take it to a bike shop)
you got some threads showing on the end of the problem spoke, it might just have gotten loose OR the threaded end of the spoke might’ve snapped off in the nipple.
Be gentle with a set of pliers or a nipple wrench and twist the nipple. If the nipples catches the threads and tensions up like normal, you’re good. but if the nipple just spins and doesn’t tension the spoke, or catches a thread before slipping out, you’re gunna need to swap a new spoke and nipple in.
All that said, a more reliable method would be to take the wheel out, pull the tire and rim strip off, and do a more in-depth inspection of the spoke/nipple. it’ll be very obvious if it’s broken at that point.
lol what a horrible video!
It’s loose, not broken. Check others by grabbing two of them at the time and squeezing them together. If you squeeze them and they move/bend a lot under the pressure of your grip, you need to tighten them all equally. Start at the valve and tighten them 1/2 turn one by one until you reach the valve again. If they’re still loose, repeat the process, this time by 1/4 turn and check again. You want your wheels stiff and rigid, having loose spokes will fuck your rims up.
It just needs to be tightened but be careful because you can get the rim out of Tru and warp it.