Wheel truing.....is it an easy thing to learn?

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DCCD

Über Member
Location
South Ayrshire
I was thinking of buying a truing stand as I need two or three wheels tweeked.

The local shop charge £10 per wheel, so I thought I could put the £30 towards a stand and have a go.

Is it a specialist job, or something I could pick up and take on myself?

I have the odd older wheel lying around that I could practice on first!
 

tyred

Squire
Location
Ireland
I wouldn't say it's that difficult but requires patience, practice and good eye. Pay attention to how you tighten/slacken spokes as it's easy to become mixed up. A quality spoke wrench is preferred to prevent damaged nipple. The essential part is trying to maintain even tension on all spokes. If you suspect the rim is bent, you will never correct it with spoke adjustments alone and you will need to try and bend it back into shape, difficult to do on old steel rims.

I wouldn't even say you need a trueing stand. Turn your bike upside down and use the brake caliper as a reference point.
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
^^^^ wot he said ^^^^

I have a trueing stand - only ever use it when I'm building wheels. Basic lateral truing up, to stop the thing rubbing on the brakes at one point in the rotation is just as easy on the bike.

If you are not sure which way to turn it... think of the spoke as a long bolt, and the nipple as a nut.
 

andyhunter

New Member
Location
northern ireland
there is an art to wheel truing i.e. doing a great job...and fact is a handful of people can actually do it right as there is to many people that just bail in and do not have enough experience to know what all to do about from the obvious and therefore the wheel is slightly out of line.
I personally rely on a guy that knows bikes inside out and has been around for absoultly donkeys, might i add hes the best for gluing tubs to wheels :tongue:.
If you do want to learn how to do it, watch alot of you tube videos, read up on guides and instructions as there are many different ways to go about the same job and also keep practising as its like anything you will get better.
 
It's one of those jobs that you need to be doing daily to get any good at.

Getting the wheel nice and round is hard enough but the secret is getting the spoke tensions just right for the hub and rim in question.
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
To get the wheel back to true when a bit out is relatively easy, just remember small adjustments (1/2 or 1/4 of a turn), you're just tweaking spoke stretch. But to do it properly after a serious hit then that needs skill & knowing when the spoke or rim is to far gone etc.
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
It's one of those jobs that you need to be doing daily to get any good at.

Getting the wheel nice and round is hard enough but the secret is getting the spoke tensions just right for the hub and rim in question.


Absolutely. I could get my wheel perfectly straight and I thought the tension in the spokes was even when I felt by hand.

I couldn't understand then why I kept breaking spokes.

It was only when I bought a tensionmeter, that realised the huge variation in the spoke tension. I've since redone all my wheels according to the tensionmeter guide and they've been true and no spoke breakages in over a 1k miles.
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
I'm happy enough to true a wheel that's not too far out. Frankly it's not rocket science.

Hang the bike so the wheel in question rotates freely. Find the 'high' spot, in relation to a brake pad, and slack off the two spokes either side of that spot on the side that are pulling it out of true by an equal amount (I use increments of 1/4 turns at most.). Now tighten the one between them that will pull the rim true by the same amount (1/4 turn) as you slackened the first two and the two pulling in the same direction either side of the original two by half that amount. Keep this up checking for wobble and roundness at the rim, not the tyre, until the wheel is true.

The whole process to take out a slight wobble takes less than the time to write this.

Big wheel damage, where the wheel looks like a giant Pringle, are a different thing and need an expert touch to save the wheel.
 

Davidc

Guru
Location
Somerset UK
What byegad says is good stuff ^^^^

I do my own, judge tension by ear, and I've only had 2 spokes break since 1972 (excluding 2 vandal attacks).

I don't agree at all that that you need to be doing it every day, but it does take time and practice to get the technique right in the first place. I've found that it's like riding a bike, once learned never forgotten.

I do agree with what's said above about not trying to straighten a rim by pulling it with the spokes. That'll only do a temporary fix to get you home or your overnight stop. The rim itself needs to be true before you can get the wheel made from it right.

I used to build all my own wheels, but haven't done so for some time now. I may do one sometime to see if I can still do it, but that is a laborious (and very satisfying) task.

Truing stands are expensive, mine is made of wood offcuts and it's home built - bolts onto a B&D workmate. It works fine. I rarely use it, for most trueing jobs I just turn the bike upside down (on a cloth) and judge the wheel rim position against the frame and brake blocks.
 

Davidc

Guru
Location
Somerset UK
To do spoke tensions by ear at the level of wheelbuilding you need to know the notes you're after - should have put this link in my earlier posting.

When I was taught, many moons ago, I was just told to go for A. If you have a keyboard at home you can use that for the notes, I have a freeware oscillator program on my computer which does the job.
 
OP
OP
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DCCD

Über Member
Location
South Ayrshire
Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I will be having a go......and will invest £9 in Gerry's recommendation :smile:

I will need a stand of sorts as some of my wheels are off a hydraulic braked MTB and I dont think the brake system will like being turned upside down.
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
It won't mind being turned upside down as long as you don't use the brakes in that state. The problem I have with disc brakes bikes is it's on nigh impossible to get a stable reference point to tru the wheel off.
 
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