Bora 35 Clincher

A customer brought in the rear wheel of a Bora 35 for me to work on.


A spoke has broken mid-shaft.
They mentioned that a while back the rear derailleur got caught,
and I figured that's when the spoke
developed a bend that was just waiting
to break completely.

They rode this rear wheel on a different bike—
not the frame that had the derailleur snag—
to bring it to the shop.
With a G3-laced rear wheel, if just one spoke
on the right side breaks,
the wheel doesn't flex enough to make the tire
rub the chainstay.
Though it depends on the frame geometry too.

If the broken spoke had been on the left side instead,
the bike wouldn't be rideable at all.
That said, normally a left-side spoke wouldn't make contact
with the rear derailleur anyway.



We have spokes in stock.


They come in boxes of four,
though most of the box is just air—
but we organize matching spokes
into their boxes here at the shop.


These right-side spokes for the Bora 35 rear wheel—
their length and weight characteristics make them ideal
for modifications to certain wheels, so
we use them for more than just repairs,
which is why we keep extra stock on hand.

The spoke neck itself is just a simple round 14-gauge section, but


↑this is the spoke neck on the left side (non-freewheel side)
of this rear wheel.
The front wheel both sides and rear wheel left side are laced radially,
so the flats are press-formed to prevent rotation.
Only the right side of the rear wheel lacks this modification,
so it can be handled more like a generic straight spoke
(the threaded portion is longer than standard spokes).



All fixed.




Just by adjusting the nipple on the replaced spoke,
I got most of the lateral runout out,
and when I checked centering for the first time after truing
(with a broken spoke you get huge runout, so
checking centerline against the wheel doesn't make sense),
it was dead on.