I lost four spokes on my morning commute when the chain decided to jump off the big cog. Of course I don’t have a spoke protector. (Who needs a dork disc? Bad things won’t happen if you keep your bike maintained. /s) I was lucky to skid to a stop rather than crash when the rear wheel locked up.

PSA: keep a few zip ties in your repair kit.

  • Reddfugee42@lemmy.world
    25·
    5 months ago

    I love that all it takes to stop people from using something helpful is give it a shameful alliterative name like “dork disc” 😅

  • VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    14·
    5 months ago

    I’ve seen what a splintered carbon arrow can do, and for a very short moment I thought the image was actually showing something like that. Still sucks, though.

  • Creat@discuss.tchncs.de
    14·
    5 months ago

    I had one broken spoke in around 40 years of cycling. I always thought it was basically impossible to break them, even if the bike is 20+ years old. I guess you just need the right (wrong?) circumstances…

  • rbesfe@lemmy.ca
    11·
    5 months ago

    Honestly if they broke that easily it was only a matter of time before a big shock to the rear wheel did the same thing

  • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
    9·
    5 months ago

    Who needs a dork disc? Bad things won’t happen if you keep your bike maintained. /s

    When was the last time you indexed / adjusted your derailleur?

    • kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksOP
      13·
      5 months ago

      I’m sure it’s been years. I tell myself I maintain my bikes well, but I’ll be honest: I usually ride it 'till something breaks. I was asking for this one.

      • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
        3·
        5 months ago

        Yeah. I wasn’t sure whether you’re mocking people maintaining their bikes or yourself there. I think doing a quick tightening of your screws, oiling / waxing your chain and adjusting your derailleur are kinda the main things you want to do, especially if the bike was standing around for a while (even more so if stored outside where the temps fluctuate even more).

  • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
    8·
    5 months ago

    I didn’t know this was a thing. I’ve never lost a single spoke. But then I buy cheap stuff that isn’t hyper engineered to the tightest specs.

  • pc486@sh.itjust.works
    7·
    5 months ago

    Oof. You definitely were taking a risk with that drive train. I’m glad the worst of it is a few broken spokes.

    That’s clearly have a working bike, not some sort of weekend roadie show piece. Put a dork disk on there! There isn’t any shame in favoring function over form.

    Awesome call-out on zip ties. They’re the duct tape of the bike world.

    One small thing I noticed is how your fender and rack are mounted. It’s fine to share a single eyelet to mount both, but it’s best to mount in the order of frame, rack, fender, washer, and bolt. That ordering shortens the cantilever of the rack load, a much higher load than a fender, on the bolt.

    • a1studmuffin@aussie.zoneEnglish
      3·
      5 months ago

      I love the satisfaction when something goes wrong on a ride and you’re prepared for it. I came off my bike a few months ago and scraped up my elbow pretty bad. Despite the mild concussion I remember being quite excited to be able to patch myself up in the field, hahaha.

  • Grass@sh.itjust.works
    3·
    5 months ago

    I have a 50 or 52 on the back of my bike and its a decent amount bigger than any dork disc I’ve ever seen. They seem to only go up to 34 and I have been thinking of 3d printing one that matches my colour scheme.