Bent spoke on vintage Shamals; just how bad?

[velofinds]

I am casually in the market for vintage Shamals or Ventos and came across the following set recently (not super interested in this set so I'll go ahead and pass it along here :D):

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/JqIAAOSwoydWoU~c/s-l1600.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Campagnolo-Shamal-C-Record-700c-Clincher-Wheelset-16-Spoke-Wheel-Set-/141883621578

The seller discloses that one of the spokes is bent. Just how bad is this?

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/fNYAAOSwFqJWoVCL/s-l1600.jpg

That's my primary reason for shying away from them but, aesthetics (and general anal-retentiveness) notwithstanding, maybe there's no reason to from a functional perspective. Thoughts?

[ldamelio]

Campy has complete parts lists going back to 1994 on the website and there are at least a couple of sources for things like this here in the US (Oschner-USA, Branford Bike). Old Potatoe is the expert on all such things on this side of the hall and also may be able to steer you to a replacement.
Hard to make a judgment on the road worthiness of this from the web. If you want them badly, buy them and replace the spoke and ride worry-free.

[oldpotatoe]

I am casually in the market for vintage Shamals or Ventos and came across the following set recently (not super interested in this set so I'll go ahead and pass it along here :D):



The seller discloses that one of the spokes is bent. Just how bad is this?

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/fNYAAOSwFqJWoVCL/s-l1600.jpg

That's my primary reason for shying away from them but, aesthetics (and general anal-retentiveness) notwithstanding, maybe there's no reason to from a functional perspective. Thoughts?

Not bad, and you can either take a needle nose or something and straighten it or leave it alone. These are just j bend bladed spokes, not hard to source a new one, needn't be 'Campagnolo'. Just need to keep the nipple and washer at the rim. But just ride it. stainless steel spokes, like frames, are very forgiving.

[Steve in SLO]

If you decide to buy, double check that spoke before straightening it: it looks to have a crack in it a few inches further towards the rim. Maybe just some schmutz, but it looks suspicious.

[carpediemracing]

I had the 16 spoke Ventos from that era.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TbmplkIYLx8/Sw3SS8dvWTI/AAAAAAAACTA/AiGDzXe0gkQ/s800/SpecializedM2_RoadVento.jpg

I also had a bent spoke. At some point short into the wheels' life the spokes started to pull through the rim (factory tension/etc, I never trued it). I can't remember if the bent spoke was the one that started pulling through first, I'm pretty sure it was. Bending a spoke takes a lot of force and that force had to be absorbed somewhere. Unfortunately the hub flanges were pretty strong, relative to the NR/SR hub flanges; I "tear-dropped" a NR front hub spoke hole when someone's pedal went into my front wheel, spoke got pulled to snapping point, rim was okay.

I looked carefully at the picture, the only spoke hole that caught my eye was the one to the right of the spoke ruler. The one in front of the cassette also has the sheen that looks like the rim is starting to stretch but I think it's just the lighting.

[ultraman6970]

Ultra would be super happy if some manufacturer made those same rims but in tubular :P

Put the spoke between two pieces if metal and flat it big time. Either way pillar has spokes that could match that spoke if really bothers you.

[velofinds]

Thank you, all.

By the way, what is the widest recommended tire that one can run on this era of Shamal? 23? 25? 27?

[bicycletricycle]

As wide as you want, people rode 32mm plus cx tires for years on rims that width.

28s easy, 30mm would be fine, they aren't gunna fall off.

[carpediemracing]

As wide as you want, people rode 32mm plus cx tires for years on rims that width.

28s easy, 30mm would be fine, they aren't gunna fall off.

+1

On the Sun Mistral rims (17mm inside, 20mm outside I think) I ran 2.35" tires on my mountain bike, at 18-25 psi. Pre-suspension stuff so that was my suspension.

The Sun Mistrals were the poor man's version of the cut down MA40s I think first modded by Keith Bontrager. One of my teammates ran 2.5" tires on his narrow road-based rims, I forget what he used, but I followed his example.

[thirdgenbird]

In the 90s, narrow was a selling point for mtb rims. Someone recently posted an older flyer where they boasted the extra narrow rim.