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I had a minor run in with car early last month and my front wheel got trashed:

http://i.imgur.com/nM3hcr5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/z2RdwzJ.jpg

LBS says between labor, paying for the proprietary spokes (you have to buy for front and back as well I guess), and the possibility it can't be re-trued, I may as well just buy a new wheel.

So my question is...if I can scrounge up a couple spokes can I try and put them on and see if it'll true up myself? If so, have any spokes or know where I can just get three?? Can I use used ones?

Thanks!

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  • You should be able to buy individual wheels. No reason to replace front and back. I guess some wheel might only come in sets, but there should be many different wheels available that will fit your bike.
    – Kibbee
    Commented Jan 30, 2013 at 19:05
  • When you pop the trim ring off are those standard style spokes (other than being "aero")? If so, I'd try it with plain old spokes of the appropriate length. Then you can figure out if the wheel can be re-trued, at least, and whether it's worth investing in the "real" spokes.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented Jan 30, 2013 at 22:22

2 Answers 2

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I recently went through a similar process with my Easton EA90 SLX wheel.

In my case, 2 spokes broke at the same time (or one immediately after the other). After special ordering the spokes from Easton and lacing them up, I quickly realized that the rim was bent beyond the point of repair.

The fewer spokes your wheel has, the higher the spoke tension needs to be. With such a high spoke tension a broken spoke can not only cause the wheel to become un-true, but also cause the rim to bend (which permanently weakens the integrity of the rim).

I would recommend taking it into your LBS, and maybe even sending back to Shimano for inspection.

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You should be able to buy single spokes for this wheel.

The model number for the current Ultegra wheels is Y4FP98130 according tothis. What year are your wheels??

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