Spokes n spoke key

[YahudaMoon]

Hi.

Just before my solo 600km audax a friend asked to use my 15 year old multi-tool. I asked him to look after it and not break it. Guess wat ? He broke it.

So I did my 600km audax with just a few allen keys. Luckily I was OK'

I found a decent chain breaker in the shed so Im after a decent spoke key and spare spokes for my audax tool kit/ long distance cycling

My wheeels are new Mavic Open Pro on Shimano 105, no idea if front spoke is same size as rear ?

So what size spokes do I need and any ideas on a decent spoke key for my long hauls

Thanks

John

 

[2pies]

You can buy a key that will fit all size spokes. I bought one in Evans the other week for £4

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/ice-toolz/8-groove-spoke-wrench-ec006798?query=spoke key

 

[Poacher]

Your spoke length will depend on how many spokes are in each wheel. You could have a fairly good guess by measuring from the head of the spoke (i.e. the hub end) to the start of the nipple, then adding ~10mm for the threaded part inside the nipple. Better to find a spoke length calculator, e.g. Damon Rinard's.

 

[Poacher]

PS If you break a rear spoke, you'll almost certainly need to remove the cassette, even for a non-gear-side breakage.
For audax, you'll probably not want to carry a chain-whip, cassette lockring tool and a large spanner to fit the lockring tool, so you might want to invest in the next best thing. So long as you're sure of your nipple size (oo-er!), a Spokey will be more comfortable to use than a multi-size key - the red, 3.25mm one is the most likely.

Probably should have mentioned in the earlier reply that spoke lengths are in metric, e.g. 294mm, gear-side spokes may be a couple of mm shorter than non-gear-side (unlikely to be crucial, though), and may also be single-butted (Sapim strong), or triple-butted (DT Swiss Alpine III), rather than the usual double-butted.

 

[YahudaMoon]

PS If you break a rear spoke, you'll almost certainly need to remove the cassette, even for a non-gear-side breakage.
For audax, you'll probably not want to carry a chain-whip, cassette lockring tool and a large spanner to fit the lockring tool, so you might want to invest in the next best thing. So long as you're sure of your nipple size (oo-er!), a Spokey will be more comfortable to use than a multi-size key - the red, 3.25mm one is the most likely.

Probably should have mentioned in the earlier reply that spoke lengths are in metric, e.g. 294mm, gear-side spokes may be a couple of mm shorter than non-gear-side (unlikely to be crucial, though), and may also be single-butted (Sapim strong), or triple-butted (DT Swiss Alpine III), rather than the usual double-butted.

Thanks Poacher. I didnt realise I would have to remove the block.

Thanks for the links

John

 

[John the Monkey]

+1 for the Spokey - I love 'em.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Hi. So how do you go about removing the block using 'the next best thing' without a chain whip ?
the next best thing.
Thanks

John

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Hi. So how do you go about removing the block using 'the next best thing' without a chain whip ?

Guide.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Thanks