Broken spoke in rear wheel. What could have caused it and is a replacement simple?

building and truing wheels is a specialized skill that takes a lot of practice. Most manufacturers use robots to build the wheels to save on labor costs. To have a human build a wheel can cost more than $50 per wheel for the labor. Spokes retail for about $1-$2 a piece and include a brass nipple. Spokes also come in different gauges. Most bike shops that sell spokes usually only carry a few sizes in stainless steel.



If you are only replacing one or two spokes you can take the broken spoke to a bike shop and they can measure it and hopefully have the right size in stock to sell you a replacement. Use the right size spoke wrench for your spokes to unscrew the nipple from the broken spoke, you will then be able to remove (spokes can be very flexible and will bend a lot to get them out of the hub). Observe the adjacent spokes and the lacing pattern to re-install the spoke in the hub and thread it into the new nipple that came with the replacement spoke. Put the wheel back in the frame and use the brake pads as a reference guide to tighten and true the adjacent spoke nipples until the wheel no longer rubs on the brake pads and you are satisfied.



My personal opinion is that on a Huffy, it is faster, cheaper and easier to buy a replacement wheel from your local bike shop for $35-$45. The spokes, rims and hubs used on Huffy's are of very low quality (most don't even use stainless steel spokes) and a new replacement wheel from your local bike shop (LBS) will be ten times better than trying to fix the old original equipment, IMHO.

What Gregg said.

you didn't specify why you need a new wheel, is it just out of true, is it broken, is it bent?
If the wheel just needs to be trued this is an easy fix for most mechanics. You can even do it yourself using the brake pads as a guide. If a spoke is broken, this can be easily replaced and retrued. If the rim is actually bent or broken, then the rim should be replaced.
Rims can be replaced but they require a good mechanic that has the skill to relace the wheel, true it and tension it properly and at a minimum a decent mechanic with these skills will charge $25-50 for the labor. Assuming that the mechanic can get the exact same rim you are looking at about $20-50 for the rim. If that particular rim is not available then they can get something similar but it will most likely require a new set of spokes because rims are different thicknesses. Most shops charge $1-3 per spoke times 32 or 36 spokes for a typical wheel.

The easiest fix is to just buy a prebuilt wheel, these will typically run about $25-65+ for a complete wheel (not including tire, tube and rimstrip).
Your local bike shop/Diamondback Raleigh dealer will be able to help you determine what is best for your situation.

You can have the spokes replaced and the wheel trued and tensioned much cheaper. Bike Shop either way.

the rear spokes are the same size( yes ).

Simply buy a replacement spoke. Unscrew the dustcap on the tyre valve and deflate the tyres inner tube. Remove tyre using tyre levers(as you do to repair a puncture). Next remove the inner tube to reveal the spoke tensioners. undo the tension nut and allow the broken spoke to fall out, feed the other part of the broken spoke out of the hub. feed the replacement spoke through the hub and into the hole on the wheel rim. Now screw on the tensioning nut to the spoke.Tighten up to the same tension as the other spokes. replace inner tube and tyre, then reinflate. Viola!

Hello. Actually you do not need to remove the gears or even the wheel to replace a broken spoke. If you are mechanically minded and have tools just let the air out of the tire, pull it to one side and replace the spoke. If you do not have the tools, go to a bike shop for this quick fix. J.

It is not that hard to replace a few broken shokes. All you have to do is take the rim off the bike and take the tire off of the rim. Install the new spokes and tighted them to the specs and put everything back on the bike and take it for a ride. After riding, I would check the spokes and retight to make sure there ready for your next ride.

Better start checking everything. depending on the severity of the wobble, it may just need something simple like a new tyre. But all of the following can cause a problem
Tyres worn
tyre pressures\and balance\incorrect sizes
wheel bearings front and rear
spoke tension( if it has spokes)
Head bearings\twisted forks
swing arm bushes
change front fork oil\check suspension settings
loose axle bolts
bent discs
string line the wheels
bent frame or forks

Valco only sells replacement parts for a few years. I recommend that you look in thrift stores for a valco you can use for parts