Quick spoke repair while on the road.

Bicycle wheels are made up of hubs, rins and spokes. The most common failure for a wheel is a broken spoke. So what should a rider do once a spoke breaks?

Once a spoke breaks it will change the dynamics of the wheel, riding with the fault is likely to cause other spokes to break. Therefore the wheel needs extra support right after a break. I normally get off my bike and bend the broken spoke and attach it to a neighbor spoke ( pulling to the same side as the broken spoke ). Please note depending on the side of the hub the spokes can pull the wheel to the left and others to the right. The broken spoke should be attached to pull the rim to the same side as the fault occured. This will help reinforce the wheel until you get home. Make sure to replace the spoke ASAP. Once a wheel is out of alignment it is more likely to have a large number of spokes break. Once a large number of spokes break the wheel needs to be detentioned and rebuilt to minimize the risk of new spokes breaking.