How important is one spoke?

[thelarkbox]

I screwed up , again, I finally received a set of 36 spokes and nipples (no spares) for the wheel i need to re-spoke. Rather than kill a perfectly good wheel for its rim i decided to try and remove the wobble in the damaged wheel.

On fitting the new spokes i first noticed how damaged the original rim is, with many distorted spoke holes, and then i spotted the one where the nipple had been ripped through.. By which time i had already ruined (threaded cut down and re-threaded) one spoke..

So OK i now realise the original rim is a lost cause, at least i have had some re-spoking practice.

So Tomorrow evening i will prep the new rim and pull the circa 80% of the spoke already fitted to the old rim and retry with at least one spoke that will not be tightened correctly due to me already threading the damn thing and its nipple twice now.

One dodgy spoke not optimally tight? that should be OK? or am i doomed to buying a 2nd full set?

No doubt i will murder a couple more spokes on extraction tomorrow, or loose the nipples shaking them out of the recess they took ages to place in making this post moot but if im lucky for once tomorrow can i save a tenner and a further 2+weeks delay.. . ..

 

[Cisco-man]

I screwed up , again, I finally received a set of 36 spokes and nipples (no spares) for the wheel i need to re-spoke. Rather than kill a perfectly good wheel for its rim i decided to try and remove the wobble in the damaged wheel.

On fitting the new spokes i first noticed how damaged the original rim is, with many distorted spoke holes, and then i spotted the one where the nipple had been ripped through.. By which time i had already ruined (threaded cut down and re-threaded) one spoke..

So OK i now realise the original rim is a lost cause, at least i have had some re-spoking practice.

So Tomorrow evening i will prep the new rim and pull the circa 80% of the spoke already fitted to the old rim and retry with at least one spoke that will not be tightened correctly due to me already threading the damn thing and its nipple twice now.

One dodgy spoke not optimally tight? that should be OK? or am i doomed to buying a 2nd full set?

No doubt i will murder a couple more spokes on extraction tomorrow, or loose the nipples shaking them out of the recess they took ages to place in making this post moot but if im lucky for once tomorrow can i save a tenner and a further 2+weeks delay.. . ..

In my mountain biking past I’ve seen people doing serious hills with spokes you could wobble around they were so loose. I wonder how many people actually do check their spokes regularly.

 

[esuark]

Cycled in 2007? with a group on road bikes from Cherbourg to the Le Mans 24hrs over three days and broke a spoke on the first day when the derailleur went into the rear wheel while hopping onto a pavement. The wheel was a Campagnolo sirocco with 16 spokes on the drive side and 8 on the other side 24 in total. The wheel ended up with a buckle and I could not get a replacement at any bike shop, so spent the next 9 days cycling with it like that and it only got fixed on our return to the UK. So I don't think a spoke here or there will make much difference.