It looks like the bike was thrown away because 2 spokes are broken on the rear wheel, and the person who owned the bike thought it was not worth their time to fix it.
BHPian RiderZone recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
The bicycle distribution system smiled at me yesterday, and I picked up a free Riverside 720 TR bike off the trash heap. Here is a link to the bike from Decathlon’s website, it sells for around 500 Euros so nothing exotic, but it’s in surprisingly good shape overall, with the tires looking almost unused.
It looks like the bike was thrown away because 2 spokes are broken on the rear wheel, and the person who owned the bike thought it was not worth their time to fix it. I searched online and fixing spokes isn’t a super easy thing, with the main problem being figuring out which replacement spokes to buy, and then how to ensure you’ve done the wheel truing as expected without a truing stand, which I don’t have. I have basic experience of working on a bike and most of the tools, but don’t have a spoke key.
Can someone here with experience fixing spokes or building wheels advise if it’s worth me trying to fix this myself, or should I take it to an LBS? Here are the specs I can find on the wheel:
- Name: Crosser CRX106
- Size: 622×21, 700c 28 inch
It has a standard Shimano hub, but comes with hydraulic discs. Both the broken spokes are laced on the hub on the side where the disc is. I have included pictures of the broken spokes, they’ve sheared off at the nipples which are still threaded into the wheel. Thanks!
Here’s what BHPian Jeroen replied:
I have done the odd spoke replacement on a number of my bicycles. If you want a wheel that runs true and remains true, I suggest you leave it to an expert. Spoking a wheel is quite an art and requires a lot of experience. It looks very simple, but trust me, I’m plenty handy, but I can’t true up a spoked wheel to save my life. Yours is missing two spokes already, so the rim is likely to be a bit bent. It takes a lot of skills to get that trued up in such a way it stays true.
So my spoke replacements are typically on the kiddie bicycles, where a bit of a wobbly wheel doesn’t matter. I posted a little while ago about the replacement of one of the spokes on our kiddy-cargo bike.
Rear wheels are more difficult than front wheels as the rear wheel is the drive wheel so it takes a lot more strain than the front.
Before you even consider to respoke a wheel you need to inspect the rim carefully. Over time the rim will start to show signs of wear and even a little tear around the spoke-threaded bushes.
I noticed a little wheel wobble on my proper bicycle the other day. Hardly noticeable, but when I checked I noticed a few tiny splits/tears in the rim. So I had the whole rim replaced and respoked. I bike about 5-7000 km annually and this rim did about 20000km. It’s the second time I’m replacing it.
Here’s what Bhpian replied:
If this is your first time, I’d suggest taking the help of LBS. Since you are in Germany, I understand it would be expensive, unlike India.
I fix the broken spokes of my two bicycles on my own. I usually take the broken spoke and get the exact length spoke, can’t vouch for the material used though. But in addition to the spoke key, you’d few additional tools for opening the rear hub. Don’t know if you have all of them.
As for truing, if you are a purist and want to achieve 100% true wheel, then you need the truing stand as well as the gauge with a needle (don’t know the name). I usually put the bike inverted, standing on the handlebar and seat and then use the brake pad as a reference point. I just try that the rim stays all along at the same distance from the chosen brake pad. I’d say I get about 95% true wheel. I can live with that.
Here’s what Bhpian amitoj replied:
You can also look into trying out something called FiberFix spoke replacement. It does not require you to dismantle the hub, but you will have to adjust your aesthetic standards a bit. I used this during my Utah tour and I was quite happy with it.
Also, since you have disc brakes at the rear, you have some leeway in how true the wheel needs to be.
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