WHAT YOU NEED:
You will need to have a set of “Tire Irons”, or replacement tools that are used for bikes. You will also need a replacement soke that matches your wheel and a tire pump. Throw in an adjustable wrench and a spoke wrench and you are well on your way to saving alot of money doing it yourself.
GETTING STARTED:
Is it possible to replace a bicycle spoke without taking it in to the bike doctors? Yes, and I will explain how. First, take the wheel off of the bike and remove the tire and inner tube from the rim. Remove the old tire from the wheel. There may be plastic around the rim, if there is, you will want to remove this as well. At this point you should only have a bare rim. If the rim is not completely bare please remove anything else that is prohibiting it from being bare.
REMOVING THE BROKEN SPOKE:
There will be two different pieces to the broken spoke. You will need to remove both of the broken pieces in order to replace and put the new one in. When taking off the nuts from the end of the spoke be sure to save them to put on the new spoke. You will be able to buy a replacement spoke at a bike shop, there are many local bike shops and you may want to search online and located the most inexpensive. The only thing you need to locate the correct replacement spoke is the length. If you have another bike that you aren’t using you may even be able to locate the correcto length spoke on their bike.
PUTTING THE NEW SPOKE IN:
When putting the new spoke in you will see a pattern. It is important to enter the spoke from the end and follow the same adjacent pattern that you will see corresponding with the other spokes. Thread the new spoke through the existing spokes and insert the end of the spoke through the hole in the rim. Screw the nut that you previously took off at the end of the new spoke. Now you will need your spoke wrench to tighten the nut until the spoke appears to have as much tension as the other spokes surrounding it.
PUTTING TIRE BACK ON:
Now that you have fixed the wheel and spoke, you will need to put the tire back on. Remember the exact way you took it apart and reverse the process. If you took the plastic off make sure to put the plastic back on and anything else you may have removed. Take a close look at the bike and apply pressure to the seat to make sure everything looks alright and you didn’t forget to put anything on.
Now you are ready to ride, have fun enjoying your new spoke and new bike. As with any new component your bike will just have a new feeling about it. Not to mention your wallet will feel great too after dodging the expensive bike doctor prices.
