Twenty Inch
Guru
- Location
- Behind a desk
I don't need to suggest that you give each spoke nipple a squirt of WD40 a day before starting the job, do I? No, thought not.
Carp my wheels out of true...
- Thread starter Bigtallfatbloke
- Start date
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Amanda P
Legendary Member
- Location
- York. Well, York-ish...
I'm no expert at truing wheels, but I can usually do it. Here's what I've learnt, mostly the hard way:
If it's a steel rim, forget it.
If they're not stainless steel spokes, the nippes will probably have corroded onto them; forget it.
Remove the tyre and tube before you begin.
You may be able to use the brake blocks as a guide to truth. If they won't stay put, use a clothes peg clipped onto the frame.
Use a quality spoke key that won't round the nipples off. Don't use the kind that has a dozen different size notches, becuase you'll use the wrong notch and round the nipples off. And if you don't, you'll spend more time searching for the right notch than actually working. This is bad for your sense of calm.
It's vital to preserve that sense of calm. As soon as you feel the slightest bit impatient, leave it till another day.
Remember that to tighten a nipple, you turn it clockwise AS SEEN LOOKING AT IF FROM OUTSIDE THE RIM. Imagine tightenng it with a screwdriver from outside the rim.
Don't actually do this, though. In fact, leave the rim tape on so that, if a spoke should snap, it won't shoot out and spear you through the eye, because that hurts.
Half a turn at a time is plenty.
When you have the wheel true, see if it's still circular.
Read Sheldon on the subject. (But you already did this, right?)
If it's a steel rim, forget it.
If they're not stainless steel spokes, the nippes will probably have corroded onto them; forget it.
Remove the tyre and tube before you begin.
You may be able to use the brake blocks as a guide to truth. If they won't stay put, use a clothes peg clipped onto the frame.
Use a quality spoke key that won't round the nipples off. Don't use the kind that has a dozen different size notches, becuase you'll use the wrong notch and round the nipples off. And if you don't, you'll spend more time searching for the right notch than actually working. This is bad for your sense of calm.
It's vital to preserve that sense of calm. As soon as you feel the slightest bit impatient, leave it till another day.
Remember that to tighten a nipple, you turn it clockwise AS SEEN LOOKING AT IF FROM OUTSIDE THE RIM. Imagine tightenng it with a screwdriver from outside the rim.
Don't actually do this, though. In fact, leave the rim tape on so that, if a spoke should snap, it won't shoot out and spear you through the eye, because that hurts.
Half a turn at a time is plenty.
When you have the wheel true, see if it's still circular.
Read Sheldon on the subject. (But you already did this, right?)
OP
OP
Bigtallfatbloke
New Member
what about those tension meters you can get though...surely it would be easier just to get one and tighten the bloody spokes up to the recommended tension with a guage and have done with it? I have been out in th egarage for ages trying to tune each spoke to G major and all kinds of stuff...still my wheel wonks.
I am doing it witht he tyre on though...wasnt aware I had to remove it...is that really necessary? I have Schwalb marathons and they are a pig to get on again.
I am doing it witht he tyre on though...wasnt aware I had to remove it...is that really necessary? I have Schwalb marathons and they are a pig to get on again.
swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Sod trying to tune the spokes. Just - as others have said - find the worst bit (by the way, I just upend the bike, hold it in the workmate and use the brakes as a guide - I'm a real perfectionist see?) and when you've found the worst bit, loosen the ones to either side of the one you're going to tighten - half a turn - then tighten the one in the middle - half a turn. Then spin again. Repeat as necessary. Keep calm, drink tea. You'll get there.
Amanda P
Legendary Member
- Location
- York. Well, York-ish...
The thing is that tension on the spoke isn't the only thing that governs the shape of the wheel. With a brand new rim, brand new spokes and all, the perfectly circular, perfectly true wheel will have the spokes on one side all sounding about the same note (give or take about a major third) - but not exactly the same.
I don't know why not.
In an old wheel, some of the spokes might already have been replaced, so some will have stretched more than others. Some might be fractionally different thicknesses or types of steel.
If you need to true the wheel, it must be out of true. How did this happen? Whatever caused that out-of-trueness will have affected the spokes and the rim. The rim may "want" to stay out of true - being alloy it could be permanently deformed. The spokes will pull it back into true, but the ones near the wonky bit will need to be tighter than those elsewhere to do so. If a spoke has broken in the past, the neighbouring spokes will have had to take its share of the load, and may have stretched a bit. The wheel may well not have been built with nicely even tension in the first place, so for that reason, some spokes may have stretched more than others.
So expecting the spokes all to sound exactly the same note is the wrong way to go.
(Ever tuned a guitar with a floating trem bridge? It's a bit like like that - tighten one string/spoke and you cause the neighbouring ones to slacken).
It may not be absolutely necessary to remove the tyre, but it's easier to see what you're doing if you do, and the tyre is no longer resisting the movement of the rim if it's not there. At least deflate it.
Oh yes, and if you want to see how tightening a pair of spokes will affect the rim, squeeze those spokes together so as to temporarily tighten them. If you look carefully, you'll see the rim move to one side as you do this. If it moves the way you want it to, tighten the spokes you just tweaked. If it doesn't, don't.
I don't know why not.
In an old wheel, some of the spokes might already have been replaced, so some will have stretched more than others. Some might be fractionally different thicknesses or types of steel.
If you need to true the wheel, it must be out of true. How did this happen? Whatever caused that out-of-trueness will have affected the spokes and the rim. The rim may "want" to stay out of true - being alloy it could be permanently deformed. The spokes will pull it back into true, but the ones near the wonky bit will need to be tighter than those elsewhere to do so. If a spoke has broken in the past, the neighbouring spokes will have had to take its share of the load, and may have stretched a bit. The wheel may well not have been built with nicely even tension in the first place, so for that reason, some spokes may have stretched more than others.
So expecting the spokes all to sound exactly the same note is the wrong way to go.
(Ever tuned a guitar with a floating trem bridge? It's a bit like like that - tighten one string/spoke and you cause the neighbouring ones to slacken).
It may not be absolutely necessary to remove the tyre, but it's easier to see what you're doing if you do, and the tyre is no longer resisting the movement of the rim if it's not there. At least deflate it.
Oh yes, and if you want to see how tightening a pair of spokes will affect the rim, squeeze those spokes together so as to temporarily tighten them. If you look carefully, you'll see the rim move to one side as you do this. If it moves the way you want it to, tighten the spokes you just tweaked. If it doesn't, don't.
