ikedawilliams
Speeding Up
- Oct 15, 2010
- 669
- 11
I had a quick look to see if this topic had been covered, but did not come across anything on the TCC. So...
I broke a spoke on my road bike for the first time last weekend. I had broken one before on my MTB but stopped riding it, and never fixed it, because I have a history of being taken to the cleaners when bringing a bike in, and figured it would be 5,000 yen to true the wheel and have a new spoke put in, and then while I am at it I should really get new tires and well... thinking about that cost, maybe it would be better to just get new wheels or new used ones anyways... I was not riding my MTB much at the time and always put it off.
I got a 5,000 yen tool kit when I got my first road bike in January this year and have been pleased with it. I felt confident enough to replace the spoke myself on the road bike and thought I should do the MTB at the same time. Both broken spokes were on rear wheels. The MTB on the drive side and the road bike on the non-drive side. I had the tools to remove the cassette and get the broken spoke out on the MTB. The road bike was easier. I brought the pieces to Y's today in Nikotama and went to the repair counter.
I had both pieces of the MTB spoke so the total length should have been easy to figure out I thought. Also, I thought there were only about 3 sizes of spoke for MTB, road bike and whatever - like small, medium and large for each wheel size (26'', 700C, etc.) I instantly got a bad vibe from the staff as I approached, yet proceeded to show him the spokes I wanted replaced and he said it was impossible to tell without complete, intact spokes. I said just hold the two pieces together and he would be able to get the total length, but he was very reluctant to do it and sighed several times throughout the process. I didn't know it, but it seems they do not sell standard sized spokes there. They custom cut spokes with threads on the end, then re-thread them depending on the size. All that was missing on the road spoke was the head - the bit that goes into the hub, but he said that was impossible to replace without a complete spoke. I was satisfied I could leave with at least one spoke as it is a 4km round trip walk and with a 2 year old kid in tow, it is not the quickest trip.
Seems every time I want to go to a bike shop it is a Wednesday. One good thing about Y's is that it is not closed on Wednesday, when all the other LBS's around me are. Another good thing was that it was only ¥46 for the custom cut spoke. No typo there. It was basically free, and probably didn't even cover the labor cost of ringing it through the till. Go figure.
I was also happy to throw them some money for some more chain lube, but they were out of the regular size, some grease but they wanted 1,350 for a small tube of it and I imagine I can get grease at the hundred yen shop, and a Top Peak Road Morph G with gauge, but they wanted 5,000 yen and it was under 3,500 on Wiggle, so I left it at that.
After another trip tomorrow or the next day, I should have the spoke I need for my ride on Saturday. Fingers crossed.
I broke a spoke on my road bike for the first time last weekend. I had broken one before on my MTB but stopped riding it, and never fixed it, because I have a history of being taken to the cleaners when bringing a bike in, and figured it would be 5,000 yen to true the wheel and have a new spoke put in, and then while I am at it I should really get new tires and well... thinking about that cost, maybe it would be better to just get new wheels or new used ones anyways... I was not riding my MTB much at the time and always put it off.
I got a 5,000 yen tool kit when I got my first road bike in January this year and have been pleased with it. I felt confident enough to replace the spoke myself on the road bike and thought I should do the MTB at the same time. Both broken spokes were on rear wheels. The MTB on the drive side and the road bike on the non-drive side. I had the tools to remove the cassette and get the broken spoke out on the MTB. The road bike was easier. I brought the pieces to Y's today in Nikotama and went to the repair counter.
I had both pieces of the MTB spoke so the total length should have been easy to figure out I thought. Also, I thought there were only about 3 sizes of spoke for MTB, road bike and whatever - like small, medium and large for each wheel size (26'', 700C, etc.) I instantly got a bad vibe from the staff as I approached, yet proceeded to show him the spokes I wanted replaced and he said it was impossible to tell without complete, intact spokes. I said just hold the two pieces together and he would be able to get the total length, but he was very reluctant to do it and sighed several times throughout the process. I didn't know it, but it seems they do not sell standard sized spokes there. They custom cut spokes with threads on the end, then re-thread them depending on the size. All that was missing on the road spoke was the head - the bit that goes into the hub, but he said that was impossible to replace without a complete spoke. I was satisfied I could leave with at least one spoke as it is a 4km round trip walk and with a 2 year old kid in tow, it is not the quickest trip.
Seems every time I want to go to a bike shop it is a Wednesday. One good thing about Y's is that it is not closed on Wednesday, when all the other LBS's around me are. Another good thing was that it was only ¥46 for the custom cut spoke. No typo there. It was basically free, and probably didn't even cover the labor cost of ringing it through the till. Go figure.
I was also happy to throw them some money for some more chain lube, but they were out of the regular size, some grease but they wanted 1,350 for a small tube of it and I imagine I can get grease at the hundred yen shop, and a Top Peak Road Morph G with gauge, but they wanted 5,000 yen and it was under 3,500 on Wiggle, so I left it at that.
After another trip tomorrow or the next day, I should have the spoke I need for my ride on Saturday. Fingers crossed.