Broke a spoke on a 30 mile ride yesterday

I was about 22 miles into a ride out near the river trail when I heard that telltale ping. Looked down and saw a rear spoke snapped clean at the nipple. Had to limp home the last 8 miles with the wheel wobbling like crazy. Anyone got a trick for avoiding this on cheaper stock wheels?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel_rivera20d ago

Yeah, did you try giving them a tiny bit of slack? I did that on my stock wheels and it actually helped. Snapped one myself a few months back and since then I just back the tension off a tiny turn on each spoke.

green.jessica20d ago

I read that loosening the spokes a little can help stock wheels last longer.

nelson.gavin19d ago

You really think a quarter turn of slack is gonna save those things? Might as well be spitting on a house fire. I loosened mine by a hair and the whole wheel started wobbling like a shopping cart with a bad wheel. That's just my experience, don't take my word for it.