I recently discovered a big advantage with rim brakes. A few weeks ago on a trail in the middle of nowhere, a spoke snapped. I had a spare, and could replace the spoke without taking anything apart. Yesterday a spoke broke on a uni with a disc brake. Crank and disc had to come off (well, only the crank actually thanks to KH). I had to walk home to get it fixed.
Interesting.
I would never carry spare spokes with me or the tool to replace them during a ride.
I think it’s ok to ride a uni missing a spoke (just ride gently and don’t do it excessively?)
I agree on this. I’ve got a broken spoke on a bike of mine that I intend on replacing. I’ve been intending on doing it for probably more that a year now and have probably put 200-300 miles on it in that time without any issues that I can detect. It does have a slight wobble to it, less than 1/4", but it uses disc brakes so that’s not a big problem.
I may be lucky but I have never had a broken spoke even as a kid riding my skinny tire ten speed like a single track mountain bike. I went on a 4 day bike trip last year and was advised by a seasoned rider of the same trail to take extra spokes with my tool kit but did not. I have never done it so I don’t really know the process . I hope my lucky strike continues.
I have had one uni (nimbus trials) where all the spokes bar 5 broke over the course of a very short time. No idea why they broke on that uni.
Can’t recall ever breaking spokes on any other uni or bike.
Insufficient tension makes spokes break.
And uneven tension makes spoke break. Typically it’s the ones that are less tight that snap first.
My 36" used to break a spoke almost every ride (I bought it well used, and a bunch of spokes must have been close to failing) but it never made the wheel unrideable. And I’ve broken lots of bike spokes over the years, same result - no problem finishing the ride.
You can get kevlar replacement spokes that can be used on the trail without removing the brake disc (or bike cassette) - I used to carry one - but I never used it.
Interesting. I found this: Emergency Replacement to Fix a Broken Spoke
Edit: Somehow i missed the picture.
I’ve broken several spokes. If aborting the ride is an option, I’ll do that so I don’t risk breaking more spokes. If not I continue the ride. If you’re a happy careless person, I’m sure you can go on and on for miles and miles before destroying the wheel
I watched a YouTube video on the fiberfix spoke repair kit. It looks like a really good emergency plan to have. It is compact and the repair looks easy to perform.