1639 Miles Broken Spoke Repaired

To repair the broken spoke, I first removed the skewer, and cassette. I then removed the tire and tube.











I then cleaned all of the parts.














Since this was the second spoke on the cassette side that broke I decided to replace all of the spokes on the cassette side. I replaced 13 spokes since the one from February was probably still OK. This is a good article on how to true a wheel.
I also replaced the nipples with 2.0mm X 12mm silver brass nipples . The spokes were 14 gauge 2.0mm X 295mm which I determined by measuring one of the existing spokes. (The spoke length will be different for the other side of the hub.)

I ordered the parts from Cascade Cyclery :
50 spokes $19.76, 50 nipples $5.70, Shipping $10.25, no sales tax--- Total $35.71

I replaced the spokes 2 at a time, truing the wheel in between. Since I do not have a truing stand, I used the bike itself and the brake pads as a guide. The old spokes did have some wear marks at the lower bend.

After all of the spokes were replaced, I spent some time getting the wheel true. I am surprised at how well it can be done on the bike with the brake pads and a pencil point as a guide.






Since I had the rear tire off, I decided to replace both the rear and front tires. The original tires were Victorria Zaffiro tires and I was completely satisfied with them. I did not have ANY flats in the 1639 miles that I rode with them. The picture on the left is of the rear tire and the tread was wearing flat. You really don't need to replace the tire at this point and you can actually wait until you see the threads under the rubber. I probably won't keep this tire but I am sure you can get many more miles out of it.



The picture on the left is of the front tire. It has not worn much and I will keep it as a spare.












I am replacing the tires with IRC Red Storm Street Kevlar Tires from Price Point. My reasons are:
1.) I wanted to try a narrower tire. The IRC's are 23 mm whereas the Vittoria's were 25 mm.
2.) I wanted to try a lighter tire. The IRC's are 205 g. The Vittoria's are 340 g.
3.) I wanted to try a higher threads per inch tire TPI to see how the ride. The IRC's are 127 TPI. The vitorria's are 26 TPI.
4.) Price Point made the decision easy with a $24.98 for TWO sale on the IRC Red Storm Street Kevlar.

The IRC Red storms have a rotational arrow, so I was careful to install the tires properly. Also I put the label in line with the presta valve to ensure the professional mechanic look.










I am not sure why there is a rotational arrow since the tire is smooth. I also made sure to reset the tire size on my cyclocomputer. The 700 x 25 mm tire circumference is 2105mm whereas the 700 x 23 mm circumference is 2096 mm.










All done! the only casualty was this tire lever from my Sette Torx ST-14 Tool Kit.