Replacing 1 Spoke?

Is it possible to replace one missing spoke on an original commando rear wheel, drum brake hub, without having to do a full re-spoke process?

Last weekend I managed to do just this. I did have to loosen an adjacent spoke just to be able to swing the broken one to the right angle to get it out of the hole, and feed the replacement in, but it only took an extra minute. It depends on whether its an inner or outer spoke. Mine was an inner (spoke lies on the inside of the hub flange, so it took the extra step. The pic below doesn't show the broken one, (its a crop of a larger one I took for cush rubber placement reference) but if the spoke I replaced was #1, I would have had to remove the nipple from #2 and swing it up out of the way to be able to swing #1 down enough to get it around the bend and pull it out of the hole in the hub. The process should be the same for replacing a missing spoke like yours. It sounds more complicated than it is, and will make sense once you start. With an outer spoke (spoke lies on the outside of the hub flange) you should be able to just slide it right in from the back side of the hub flange and be done with it.

No tire on my wheel, Closer inspection shows two spokes missing, one on inside, one outside. and there appears to be some slight bends in a number of other spokes...so I will bite the bullet and do a complete re-build with fresh spokes.

Tornado said:

No tire on my wheel, Closer inspection shows two spokes missing, one on inside, one outside. and there appears to be some slight bends in a number of other spokes...so I will bite the bullet and do a complete re-build with fresh spokes.

Click to expand...

Not sure I would trust that lacing pattern or rim orientation.
I had a similar issue with my rear, 1 broken spoke and a bunch of bent ones. Turned out the PO had the rim orientation wrong. Lucky for me the lacing was correct so I was able to follow that pattern. The factory rims are punched for a specific rotation and left/right side.

Deets55 said:

Not sure I would trust that lacing pattern or rim orientation.
I had a similar issue with my rear, 1 broken spoke and a bunch of bent ones. Turned out the PO had the rim orientation wrong. Lucky for me the lacing was correct so I was able to follow that pattern. The factory rims are punched for a specific rotation and left/right side.

Click to expand...

AFAIK, it is an oem wheel and spoke pattern.

Here's a question: Why is there a rim lock for the front wheel and none for the rear?

Normally the other way round, the front only got rim locks on bikes meant for some off road riding.

Tornado said:

Here's a question: Why is there a rim lock for the front wheel and none for the rear?

Click to expand...

There likely was one on the rear originally. Is the rim drilled for it? there would be a second hole, probably opposite the hole for the valve stem. Not sure whether the one on the front is stock, but someone in your bike's history may have thought it was a good idea to avoid rotation under heavy breaking. You're likely to get lots of responses about whether or not rim locks are needed with modern tire compounds etc, but I have kept mine for peace of mind, and somehow it helped balance the rear better with fewer weights.