Broke two spokes at the same time on my rear wheel on a ride last weekend. After replacing the spokes and truing the wheel (good enough, not perfect) and giving it a spin, I noticed quite a hop in the direction of travel – not laterally like the spoke tension should fix. I’m thinking if the wheel isn’t round then this might have caused the broken spokes… is this a fixable problem or a trashed wheel?
Is my rear wheel cooked?
byu/Wild_Juggernaut8043 inbikewrench
by Wild_Juggernaut8043
4 Comments
You need to true it radially. Totally fixable
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That’s probably a symptom of the broken spokes, in which case an experienced wheel builder would be able to assess and correct.
Can’t tell what type of rear wheel that is, but I’d bring it to a wheel builder and ask them to “retension” the wheel. Make sure to emphasize not truing, but retensioning. They’ll essentially loosen all the spokes and bring the wheel back up to tension (which may not be perfectly trued – but it’ll be much stronger and better then what you have there).
Most likely, you broke two spokes because the wheel wasn’t tensioned right. When a wheel is in perfect tension, there’s little to no stress on individual spokes, When one spoke is down, the force on it is equalized by the opposite ones, around and around. As some get loose, it puts more strain on the others until they break. If you broke two, the wheel needs some love.
Call some local bike shops, ask first if they have a wheel builder on staff. Then, go talk to them in person, ask if they know the difference between retensioning and truing, emphasize you want it retensioned. Might be $50ish or so as opposed to $20 or 30 to true it. A great builder will also tension it according to your size and riding style. You’ll wind up with a wheel that’ll feel almost new rebuilt at a fraction of the cost and will stay true for awhile. They may also see something, like broken nipples, that’ll indicate it’s time for a new wheel. Regardless, it’s a great relationship to start and maintain.