Pucture repair time

My daughter got a puncture on her bike a few days ago.
She has a very pretty bike, and won't let me fit boring, unstylish, puncture resistant tyres to it.

THREE BROKEN SPOKES !!! - and a few other jobs.

I finally got round to replacing the two broken spokes in the back wheel on my Cinzia folding bike, and found that three spokes had broken, not two! Mind you, the longer you leave a broken spoke, the more stress there is on the rest, so the more likely further breaks are.

The root of the problem is three-fold:
a) I have fairly lightly-built wheels, with only 28 spokes. A modern "general purpose" wheel has 36 spokes in it. More spokes, generally, equals stronger wheels. Folding bikes, in attempt to shave off a few ounces (grammes) often have only 28 spokes, although in the case of folders with a heavy steel frame like mine it is as much about fashion as it is about weight;

The summer is coming ... getting the shopping

Out shopping on the bike again yesterday.

After Easter update.

Yep, still cycling along on my Cinzia.
Still gets used every day for work, rain or shine.
A few jobs need doing on it - I'm a rider first, and a mechanic second :-)
The new front light/dynamo combination is great, although as the mornings get lighter it will be used less and less.
Proper update to follow soon, hopefully with pictures

Long Term Test: Shimano hub dynamo.

Shimano DH 3N20 hub dynamo on my folding bike

I've just got a Shimano hub dynamo for my little bike, and I fitted it yesterday.
I have a 100mm front OLD on my folder, which is wider than many folders, and is the same width as the front wheel on a "normal" bike, as well being the same size as a child's 20"-wheeled bike.

For those of you with narrow wheels, try this link to a chap who has experience with Shimano DH F7 series hub dynamos with an OLD of 74mm (my Cinzia had an OLD of 100mm, same as a "normal" bike)