Hit 500 spoke repairs in one shift and it caught me off guard

I was working a busy Saturday at the shop downtown and just kept cranking through truing jobs. After my sixth wheel of the afternoon I glanced at the ticket log and realized I had done 50 spoke replacements that day alone. My coworker joked that I was the "spoke whisperer" (which I thought was silly but kinda nice). I never counted before, so hitting 500 felt like a real milestone for me. Has anyone else noticed a random number that surprised them in their work?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam_thompson5318d ago

That reminds me of this time I was at a group ride and some guy showed up with a wheel that was so out of true it looked like a potato chip. He said he'd been riding it like that for three weeks. I offered to help and ended up replacing like 8 spokes on the trail with a multi-tool and some zipties. Took forever and my fingers were cramping something fierce, but the look on his face when it rolled straight was worth the pain. It's funny how we never really think about the numbers until you look back and see the pile of work you've done.

clark.robin1mo ago

Hold up. 500 spokes in one shift? That is insane. My hands hurt just reading that. I do some basic chain adjustments and tire swaps on my own bike, but 50 wheels worth of spokes is on another level. You must have calluses made of steel by now. That coworker's "spoke whisperer" nickname is actually pretty earned even if it sounds goofy.

claire_wells871mo ago

Gotta love how every shop has that one person who's just unnaturally good at the most tedious job, right? I swear it's like some people are born with the patience for this stuff and the rest of us are just here to break stuff and complain lol.