Spokes

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martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
So yesterday there was a weird noise from the back wheel. Had a look when I got home and sure enough it's my fault. A while ago I fitted a new spoke to the commuter and wasn't sure if it was too long so I just tightened it up all the way. It wasn't touching the spoke underneath and the wheel appeared true so thought job done.

When I looked last night, it's now pressing on the spoke underneath to the extent that the lower one is bent. I'm guessing this is what is making the noise as they rub together.

My proposed solution is to loosen the one I fitted, tighten the lower one, check that surrounding ones are ok and tighten/loosen accordingly.

Does this sound a reasonable solution or should I just cut my losses and take it to the LBS now (he's a pretty good wheelbuilder)?
 

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
...it sounds like you don't know what you are doing. When you fit a spoke it has to be fitted in exactly the same way as the missing one based on the lacing pattern of the wheel and it also needs to be the correct length to the nearest 1mm. After you have done all that it needs to be at exactly the correct tension (not just tightened up) - then it's job done!
 
OP
OP
martint235

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
It was an emergency repair given what I had available at the time. The lacing pattern was kept exactly the same as before. Although I understand that spoke lengths obviously have to be equal, surely it's the length of the spoke between the hub and the rim that has to be equal, if there's an extra 1mm inside the rim that's of no consequence.
 

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
It was an emergency repair given what I had available at the time. The lacing pattern was kept exactly the same as before. Although I understand that spoke lengths obviously have to be equal, surely it's the length of the spoke between the hub and the rim that has to be equal, if there's an extra 1mm inside the rim that's of no consequence.
if the spoke is 2mm too long you will run out of thread as you tighten the nipple, you might get away with 1mm too much. If it's too short you might only have a couple of threads holding it all together!
 
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martint235

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
Or listen to the voices
No. I don't want to listen to the voices anymore. Please don't make me. Please.
 
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