Snapped Spoke ... Reasonable time to fix?

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Snapped a spoke on my best bike yesterday - its a "straight pull" spoke on a carbon wheelset (Reynolds AR DB 41)...

Visited and phoned a number of local bike shops and they all want the wheel for 2 weeks or so before they will look at it and then it may take longer if they don't have a spoke in stock. Is this normal?

In the past I have taken a wheel in and watched as a guy fixed it while I waited - took about 10 minutes to fit the spoke and true the wheel.

I am seriously pissed off as the bike usually goes away for Winter by mid October.

[randlemarcus]

I would have thought the "oopsla" risk is a lot lower on a wheel you can straighten out with a mallet than on a carbon one? Can you source a second hand wheel as a replacement to keep you going?

[Mars]

Can't you just buy a spoke and fit it yourself?

[P-Jay]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

Is this normal?

Normal for the times yes, most bike shop workshops locally to me are booked up for 10 days to 2 weeks, and most use a pretty simple system to book stuff in, so yes will want your bike/wheel until they get to it. It's annoying.

I was in the same boat a few weeks ago, I was off to the Alps in 5 days with a wonky wheel and snapped spoke, oh and my wheels take fancy DT swiss straight pull spokes...

Luckily I know some of the workshop guys well enough to say hello to, I begged and they not only turned it around same-day, but made me a spoke but cutting a longer one and cutting new threads into it.

Your best bet if often shops near busy riding spots, they're often more suited to walk-ins and you might get lucky.

[yellowjack]

Whereabouts in Dorset are you? (Says Dorset in your profile page) If it's east Dorset you could do worse than try The Forge Cycleworks at Ringwood. They've decided on a pretty fair and sensible policy with repairs since lockdown. Basically take them whatever needs mending, they'll put it in the 'first come, first served' queue, and have a look at what needs doing. Then they fix things as close to the order they came in as parts availability will allow. So you can't book workshop time ahead. If it's literally just a new spoke and they have stock of the right ones, then I can't see them holding onto it for long.

I've no interest in the shop other than as a customer, but I've had the bike in a couple of times recently and it's usually sorted in a couple of days. The one thing that took longer was when they simply couldn't get chainrings or a new chainset through their importer/wholesaler. So they asked me to order something off the internet and fitted it for me when it arrived. I had a brain-fart with the bung in my steerer tube a while back and it was that quick/simple a job to do that they completed it on the spot. Really nice bunch in there too...
http://www.forgecycles.co.uk/Home
http://www.forgecycles.co.uk/our-workshop
The Forge Cycleworks
Unit 12D The Furlong
Ringwood Hampshire
BH24 1AT

I happily make the 10 mile ride, or 12 mile drive to go there despite a number of closer shops. It's not that the closer ones are rubbish, as I'll happily use them for little things, but I just like The Forge better.

Make a morning of it? Try Café Velo while you are there. Top cycle cafe literally around the corner from The Forge, and there's free parking (2 hour limit I think) behind Waitrose for customers of The Furlong shopping centre. There's also another bike shop called Cycle Rescue... https://www.cyclerescueringwood.co.uk/ ...that does a lot of retro stuff. Some old racers presented in their original paint, and other stuff that he paints and refurbishes himself. Worth a look if you're going to Ringwood and have the time.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

yellowjack said:

Whereabouts in Dorset are you? ...

I am very close to you - Littledown (top part)... I used to live near the Littledown Centre...

Thanks for the recommendation for Forge..

My wife has taken the wheel to "Rennovatio Bikes" in Boscombe on the off chance. By sheer luck, one of the staff members recognised her from my daughter's Lifeguarding Cadets (he is a volunteer) and said he can sort it out today!!

[yellowjack]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

yellowjack said:

Whereabouts in Dorset are you? ...

I am very close to you - Littledown (top part)... I used to live near the Littledown Centre...

Thanks for the recommendation for Forge..

My wife has taken the wheel to "Rennovatio Bikes" in Boscombe on the off chance. By sheer luck, one of the staff members recognised her from my daughter's Lifeguarding Cadets (he is a volunteer) and said he can sort it out today!!

That's a result then. I looked in to Rennovatio when they opened the shop (or at least extended it) but never used them for anything. By the time I needed a bike shop after moving to Bournemouth I had already got involved with The Forge via Strava groups and got chatting to one of their mechanics online. They've looked after me well so far so I feel that a bit of loyalty will keep the wheels greased, both literally and metaphorically...

[mradam]

i always find it helps if you bought the bike from the shop in question. I recently also snapped a spoke (have a tendency to catch it on the disc brake caliper when wheel in/out for the trainer).

I tried 4 bike shops, no luck, 1-2 week wait if they had the right spoke in stock.

Called the bike supplying shop, "sure, we have a long waiting list but bring it in the morning and we'll have a look". Made it as easy as possible for them, removed tyre and cassette so it truly was a 10 min job for them, and voila, spoke replaced there and then.

[upsidedownmark]

If you have wheels with funky spokes, personally I'd keep a couple 'in stock'. They're rarely expensive, and then it's a pretty damn easy job for anyone (or even yourself) to deal with. Fortunately my wheels came with spares.. and I'm a kleptomaniac for old bike parts

[Matt_N]

They use off the shelf Sapim Sprint spokes and brass nipples, nothing exotic and most good shops will hold stock but it’ll be the wait time in the workshop.

Good to hear you got it sorted though.

[Barchettaman]

Eh? Can’t you just remove a matching spoke from further round the wheel, take this to an LBS and match it, then replace both yourself?

It’s what I used to do anyway.

[Bacon Is Proof]

Barchettaman said:

Eh? Can’t you just remove a matching spoke from further round the wheel, take this to an LBS and match it, then replace both yourself?

It’s what I used to do anyway.

That would be assuming they had the spoke in stock. Think about how many hundreds of different spokes there are these days.

[waynecyclist]

Straight pull spokes are hard to find these days;

Worth trying: https://www.customcutspokes.co.uk/

[IJWS15]

You are pissed off . . .

How do you think the guy who took his bike in for some work is going to feel when it isn't ready because they took someone of his job to do a few quick jobs like yours while those customers waited.

Took a wheel in to have some spokes changed and an axle looked at, having seen the board was quite happy that my name was added to the end of the list, why should I expect to be put at the top.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

IJWS15 said:

You are pissed off . . .

How do you think the guy who took his bike in for some work is going to feel when it isn't ready because they took someone of his job to do a few quick jobs like yours while those customers waited.

Took a wheel in to have some spokes changed and an axle looked at, having seen the board was quite happy that my name was added to the end of the list, why should I expect to be put at the top.

How very noble of you! Get yourself a medal!

[Barchettaman]

Bacon Is Proof said:

That would be assuming they had the spoke in stock. Think about how many hundreds of different spokes there are these days.

Aha. I missed that it was a straight pull spoke. Another ‘innovation’ to avoid!