Spent 4 hours trying to fix a bent spoke on my bike

Had a wobbly rear wheel on my old Schwinn. Figured I'd just tighten the spoke myself. Took 2 hours and three YouTube videos just to figure out which spoke was actually bent. Then another 2 hours trying to true it with a spoke wrench from Harbor Freight. Ended up taking it to a shop on Main Street. Has anyone else sunk way too long into a simple fix like this?

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emma6841d agoMost Upvoted

...and honestly it might not even be the spoke that's the real problem. I mean, if your wheel was wobbling that bad, the rim could be bent too. That's a whole different issue than just a loose spoke. I've seen people tighten spokes like crazy trying to fix a wobble, and then the rim just cracks from all that pressure. Happened to my buddy's mountain bike last summer. You might want to have the shop check the rim trueness before they mess with the spokes too much. It'll save you from having to buy a whole new wheel later if that's actually the problem.