About fifty miles down the road I broke a couple of spokes. They weren’t just any old spokes; they were the spokes next to the gear sprocket (“freewheel”) on the back wheel. In order to replace these without removing the “freewheel”, ZhiSheng took a longer spoke, cut off the curved tip, bent it into a Z shape (two ninety degree bends) and slipped it into the hole next to the “freewheel”. ZhiSheng, I forgot to mention, has the local Giant bike shop in ChangJhih where I live during the school year.
The trick is to get the new spoke the proper length. The first bend on the new spoke must be at about the same distance from the thread end as the bend on the correct sized spoke. The second bend needs to give just enough room to go through the hub. The remaining distance needs to be short enough so the spoke will point in the correct direction, although it can bend sideways a little. See the photos.
The spoke does not pull out, as it is stiff enough to hold its shape under the tension. I was surprised, but we did it several times before the trip was over. As it turns out, the holes on the hub that the spokes went into were cracked and as I rode, they wore out any spoke we put into it. I finally got a new hub in Taipei and the problem was solved.
below is a picture of the tools I carry with me in my saddlebag.
