A customer brought in the rear wheel of a DT PR1400 for repair.
The image above isn't from when I first received it
but rather already in the middle of work,
The rear derailleur got caught in the spinning rear wheel
and one spoke snapped off,
but I also removed 3 other spokes
that I determined needed replacement.
All of them were on the freewheel side,
and 4 out of the 6 spokes on that side were damaged.
All fixed.
The original spokes were DT Aerrocomp,
and I used Sapim CX Sprint spokes for the repair.
When I measured the specific gravity of the actual spokes precisely,
there was about a 1% difference,
but it's well within the acceptable range for repairs.
↑The spokes that were replaced
One of them was deformed,
and the remaining 2 had gouge marks, which is why they needed replacing.
Recently, for jobs like this I often don't bother taking photos for a post—meaning I don't write about them at all.
But this one has value as an article.
Not because the wheel itself is unusual,
and not because the repair required exceptional skill.
The value of this article is in what caused this incident and how it played out.
The customer was riding this wheel
with a 45C gravel tire
through the mountains when
leg covers that were in the saddle bag
hadn't been zipped up all the way,
so they gradually fell out from the vibration,
and when they got caught in the rear wheel,
they then wrapped around the rear derailleur pulley cage,
causing the derailleur to get twisted and flipped up
and smash into the rear wheel, breaking spokes
and rendering the bike unrideable.
The customer then walked for about 3 hours through the mountains,
until they spotted a car and asked for help.
It's better than being stranded on a winter mountain or in some godforsaken place with a fracture and unable to call out for help,
but still—quite a serious situation.
The lesson we should take from this, if anything,
is that whether it's a saddle bag, frame bag,
or a daypack on your back,
you should always make sure your zippers are completely closed.
The image above isn't from when I first received it
but rather already in the middle of work,
The rear derailleur got caught in the spinning rear wheel
and one spoke snapped off,
but I also removed 3 other spokes
that I determined needed replacement.
All of them were on the freewheel side,
and 4 out of the 6 spokes on that side were damaged.
All fixed.
The original spokes were DT Aerrocomp,
and I used Sapim CX Sprint spokes for the repair.
When I measured the specific gravity of the actual spokes precisely,
there was about a 1% difference,
but it's well within the acceptable range for repairs.
↑The spokes that were replaced
One of them was deformed,
and the remaining 2 had gouge marks, which is why they needed replacing.
Recently, for jobs like this I often don't bother taking photos for a post—meaning I don't write about them at all.
But this one has value as an article.
Not because the wheel itself is unusual,
and not because the repair required exceptional skill.
The value of this article is in what caused this incident and how it played out.
The customer was riding this wheel
with a 45C gravel tire
through the mountains when
leg covers that were in the saddle bag
hadn't been zipped up all the way,
so they gradually fell out from the vibration,
and when they got caught in the rear wheel,
they then wrapped around the rear derailleur pulley cage,
causing the derailleur to get twisted and flipped up
and smash into the rear wheel, breaking spokes
and rendering the bike unrideable.
The customer then walked for about 3 hours through the mountains,
until they spotted a car and asked for help.
It's better than being stranded on a winter mountain or in some godforsaken place with a fracture and unable to call out for help,
but still—quite a serious situation.
The lesson we should take from this, if anything,
is that whether it's a saddle bag, frame bag,
or a daypack on your back,
you should always make sure your zippers are completely closed.