Is replacing the spokes on bike wheels something you can learn to do yourself?

I'm a heavy guy and regularly have spokes break on my back wheel. Getting a bicycle repair guy to fix it is a pain in the ass and kind of pricey. Ideally I would like to have a couple of spokes lying around so I could fix the wheel myself.

I'm not a complete idiot with tools but I'm still very much an amateur. Can I learn to do it myself?

  • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Yes, and you can do it without a truing stand although it will take a little bit longer. You need spoke wrenches, probably no need for spoke torque wrenches. If you break spokes a lot though it might be worth it to get a beefier rear wheel with more spokes than whatever you've got, and then you wouldn't have to worry about it.

    • SoyViking [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Wouldn't a beefier wheel mean that I would have to replace the thingy in the middle with the gears and stuff? Is there a cheap way of doing it?

      • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Yeah, you would need a new hub if you want to increase spoke count. Cost to replace is going to depend on what your current hub is. I've been away from bicycling for a while now but I often found good deals on used parts at local swap meets, ebay, craigslist, etc. The only wheelset I ever built myself was on new old stock 7 spd shimano hubs.