Blew a spoke on my touring bike 60 miles from home last Saturday

I was riding through the hill country west of Austin when I heard that loud PING sound. Front wheel went all wobbly in seconds. Had a spoke wrench in my bag but no spare spoke long enough for my 36-spoke wheel. I ended up loosening the brake caliper and limping into a bike shop in Johnson City. Guy there had old wheels in the back and hooked me up with a used spoke for 3 bucks. Anyone carry spare spokes on long rides or just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nathan17d ago

You ever tape a spoke to your frame and then forget it's there, and six months later it's all rusty and you can't even get it off? Because that's totally me. I'm with you on the zip tie trick though, that's saved me more than once. But speaking of shop guys being legends, @the_linda's story about the century ride reminded me of this time I was in a tiny town in New Mexico and the bike shop guy literally welded a broken spoke back together for me. It was ghetto as heck but it held for 200 miles till I got home. Now I just carry a whole spare wheel on really long tours, which sounds crazy until you're 60 miles from nowhere. But man, three bucks for a spoke? That shop keeper deserves a six pack.

the_linda18d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain. That PING sound is the worst, it's like your bike just announced it's done for the day. I had a similar thing happen once on a century ride, ended up zip tying the broken spoke to the adjacent one and riding 15 miles with a gentle wobble like I was on a mechanical bull. Now I keep two spare spokes taped to my seatpost, wrapped in old tube strips so they don't rattle. Three bucks is a steal though, that shop guy is a legend.

miles_garcia17d ago

Saw a buddy do the exact same thing on a group ride last summer, rode the last 10 miles with a wobble that made his whole bike look like it was laughing at him. He still hasn't taped a spare spoke to his frame either, some people never learn.