Wrenching advice - spoke replacement

[Mike748]

Replacing a spoke on a friend's low spoke count (18?) front wheel. Anything special I need to do? Spokes are thin, tensions are high. My concern is excessive tension in the surrounding spokes when I take out the bad (bent and stretched) spoke... Should I loosen them too to even things out and then retension the group together?

Andrew, thanks for the help!

[AndrewS]

The spokes may be under tension, but they are not under rider weight, so it should be just fine to remove one without the rest causing havok.

Since the tensions are high, be sure to lube both the threads and nipple shouler where it contacts the rim. This will allow you to get it back up to tension without fighting friction.

[oldpotatoe]

Replacing a spoke on a friend's low spoke count (18?) front wheel. Anything special I need to do? Spokes are thin, tensions are high. My concern is excessive tension in the surrounding spokes when I take out the bad (bent and stretched) spoke... Should I loosen them too to even things out and then retension the group together?

Andrew, thanks for the help!

If you are not in a big hurry to finish it, loosen all the spokes a wee bit, replace the spoke and re true, round, dish, tension. Probably a good idea since there was a reason why the spoke broke in the first place(uneven tension, deformed(bent) rim?).

[Mike748]

Thanks guys. Turns out my friend had pre-installed the new spoke so all I had to do was bring it up to tension and true it. Bad spoke was the result of bike to bike contact in the process of crashing. Fortunately the rim wasn't even scratched but the spoke got tweeked enough to where it wouldn't hold tension and the wheel was unridable. Very thin bladed flimsy spokes.

[AndrewS]

I replaced two bladed spokes on a friend's bike recently. He had put his foot into the wheel!

Glad it worked out. :)

[uriani]

for future reference, really a good idea to detension a low spoke count wheel first as advised by oldpotatoe.

[AndrewS]

for future reference, really a good idea to detension a low spoke count wheel first as advised by oldpotatoe.
Why, what's going to happen if you don't?

[uriani]

because it will unnecessarily stress the remaining spokes and the rim. if it's a lighter rim it could actually warp it. the truing process is going to be more difficult and it will probably end up out of round between spokes. sure if there are 36 spokes it's no big deal, but we're talking low spoke count which are already a pain to true.

[AndrewS]

And you don't think the worst didn't already occur when the spoke broke with a rider on it? I understand what you're saying, but if putting the tension back on the one missing spoke is so traumatic to the rim, what did instantaneously losing all the tension when the spoke broke under rider weight do to it?

I recently replaced 2 out of 24 sapims on a friend's wheel after he put his shoe into it. It trued up perfectly with no fuss. That's only one experience with this specific problem, but all my wheel repair experience with soft, cheap rims that were even bent just leads me to think that it isn't a problem - rims are not so weak that spoke tension alone is going to permanently bow them.

Of course, if you tighten up the replacement spoke and everything is really off, re-tensioning would be the smart way to handle it. Have you had a very different experience repairing wheels?

[uriani]

My response was based on my experience of finding that one can much more easily and successfully true a low spoke count wheel after spoke replacement if it has been brought down in tension. I've found the extra time to detension a bit is saved in an easier truing.

[AndrewS]

Fair enough. Depending on rim, spokes, tension and what broke the spoke there are probably a lot of variation. And there's never anything wrong with the more labor intensive route - it's just time.

[John M]

Fair enough. Depending on rim, spokes, tension and what broke the spoke there are probably a lot of variation. And there's never anything wrong with the more labor intensive route - it's just time.

Agreed. I also think that 24 is a whole lot more spokes in a wheel than 18.

[uriani]

Andrew you miss the point I'm making. It's more initial time, but allow for easier turing, thus saving time and more importantly allows for a more round and true wheel. More of a question of one's standards.

[rustychisel]

ahem. Expertise and qualified advice noted.
Editorialising on someone elses motivation and quality is uncalled for.