The Bike of Doom

Cycling home from work I noticed that the rear wheel felt strange. Looked down to notice a pronounced wobble. Checked it when I got home and found a broken spoke. A repair that couldn’t wait.

When I bought the SC1800, I anticipated that the wheels would be the weak spot, particularly since I weigh in at 200 lbs plus on a good day. I had notice a slight wobble a week or so ago but had left it, thinking I’d let it become more pronounced before fixing it. Probably a mistake,

The repair was straightforward, thanks to my handy guidebook (Zin & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance). It involved removing the rear cassette to get at the spoke. I took a quick run to Gooch’s Bike Shop and bought four spokes (just in case). Total cost, $2.00. Replaced the broken spoke, trued the wheel in the bike frame against the brake pads. Seemed to work okay. Threw it back together (overhauled the hub while I was at it), and took it out for a test ride.

Still wobbly. What the hell? Took it in and looked it over. Found a second broken spoke I’d missed the first time. Damn. Luckily I’d bought extras. Removed the wheel again. Didn’t need to remove the freewheel this time, as the spoke was on the other side. This time, the repair and truing took less than 20 minutes. Test ride was good. The wheel is straighter than it has been in some time.

Note to self: next time you see a slight wobble in a wheel, fix it right away. You might avoid broken spokes.

Bought some spokes for the old 10-speed I’m playing with, attempting to return to roadworthy condition. It could be Bike of Doom II.

Related posts:

1,600 Km (1,000 Miles) - SuperCycle SC1800 repair record

Applying what I learned from the Bike of Doom

Repairs complete, Bike of Doom road-worthy again