Things You'll Need:
- bike
- spoke wrench
- new spoke the same size as the old
- penetrating oil
- brake calipers
- straightedge
- new nipple (optional)
- truing stand (optional)
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Step 1
Pluck each spoke to locate any loose ones. You can spot loose ones by the way they sound when plucked and how they feel.
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Step 2
Upon locating a loose spoke, take a spoke wrench. Bring the spoke up to the same level of tension as the other ones.
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Step 3
Check for wheel truness, adjust as needed.
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Step 4
To check for side-to-side wheel trueness, it is easier and more precise to use a truing stand. However if you don't have one, you can use your brake calipers. You can also rest your thumb on the brake pad and look for gaps between the rim and your thumbnails. This will allow you to see if your wheels need tuning.
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Step 5
Check vertical trueness by fastening a straightedge to frame or brake just above wheel. You can also rest your thumb above rim, spin wheel and see if it's out of round.
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Step 6
Spoke broke? Don't ride the bike any further. Push bike to safe place, then you can replace the spoke.
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Step 7
If you must ride it, weave the loose spoke end around an adjacent spoke. Ride slowly to your destination.
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Step 8
In order to replace the spoke, buy one that is the same size.
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Step 9
Need a new nipple (a small metal piece that fits through the rim of the wheel and is threaded inside to receive the end of the spoke)? Roll the tire back. Raise the rubber strip that covers nipple tops. Take off old one and put new one in its place.
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Step 10
Take out the broken spoke.
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Step 11
Run the new one through the hub flange (the parts of the hub shell that the spokes attach) in the same direction as the old spoke.
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Step 12
Pull the new spoke through hub flange until the curved end is seated.
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Step 13
Weave it through the other spokes. Follow the pattern of the old spoke or the pattern of the second spoke to either side of it.
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Step 14
Apply small amount of oil to the threads before you thread the new spoke through the nipple. This will make threading it easier and will prevent it from freezing into the nipple over time.
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Step 15
Thread the new spoke on. To bring up the tension, use a spoke wrench.
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Step 16
Spray a little penetrating oil at the points where the spoke enters the nipple and the nipple enters the rim.
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Step 17
Afterward, rotate wheel. You want the oil to flow down into the threads.
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Step 18
Adjust any old spokes.
