Trueing for beginners

[RobWJL]

I have just assembled a wheel for the first time but am apprehensive about the trueing process.

The have tightened the nipples so that each spoke is roughly equally onto the thread. The wheel is not too far out of true actually having been laced.

However, my concern is over tightening. If I incrementally tighten as I true the wheel, is there a point where the spokes will be over tight and the rim buckle (or something equally disastrous)? Could the spokes be too tight already and dangerous to ride?

Obviously I have no gadgets to test the tension in each spoke. I am also tone deaf so cant tell by plucking.

I read and article about assessing tension by plucking the spokes. However, other bikes I have (with true wheels) seem to have a huge variety different notes depending on which spoke you pluck...puzzled.

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

Hello,

It's certainly possible to overtighten spokes, unfortunately. The most likely problem that would occur is that the rim would crack round the spoke holes, and eventually fail if you kept riding it.

There seem to be three ways to establish if there's enough tension:

1) The spokes will reach a natural limit of tightness so they begin to squeak or creak when tightening them. This is a sign they are tight enough and you should stop tightening.

2) The 'musical' method, which you mentioned. The correct tone for a spoke seems to depend on its length and other features. I'm tone deaf too, so this method's not much help to me either.

3) Using a tension meter. The basic park tool one costs about 50 quid I think. If you're going to be building a lot of wheels or if your current wheels are particularly rare or expensive, that seems like a good investment.

The different tones from your other wheels could be a result of either of the following:

- The rear wheel spokes will usually be different on the left and right sides. The drive side spokes are usually tighter because the wheel needs to be dished. The left side will be a bit looser. So if you pick any two spokes on a rear wheel at random, they might sound different. But on a well made rear wheel, a left hand spoke should be of equal tension with all the other left hand spokes, and the right hand spokes should have the same tension as the right hand spokes.

- On a machine made wheel, the spokes may be poorly tensioned. Wheel building machines are often set to tension the spokes up to a point where the wheel looks straight because the spokes aren't yet tight enough to bend the rim. Looks nice in the showroom, but pretty crap when you take the bike out for a proper ride. So a brand new, true looking wheel might have spokes that sound different since they are not really tight enough. My brother in law took a brand new MTB on a tour from Belgium to Italy and his wheel collapsed somewhere in Frnace because of this :facepalm:

 

[Ian Raleigh]

If unsure you will do a good job then take the wheel to the bike shop to let them finish off the job,
I've built many wheels over the years and get them looking pretty good but always take them to
the shop and they always do a pretty damn good job, way better than I could.

Normally on freshly built wheels you'll hear them go 'klink' 'klink' as the spokes settle in,
after a good ride, I then take them back to the shop were they do a quick check over for free.

 

[Diamant_Don]

Interested in the outcome of this one... my LBS charges £15 per wheel to true, or £27.50 for two... it would be great to save that by doing it myself, but - as per the OP's comments - it's a scary business!

 

[syncrosfan]

The Park Tool spoke tension meter could be picked up for roughly 50$ and it works fairly well. Not as fancy as some professional level tools (but those are incredibly expensive) but it gets the job done for the home mechanic. I got mine off e-bay for pretty cheap. In any case better than picking at the spokes.

 

[Ian Raleigh]

Interested in the outcome of this one... my LBS charges £15 per wheel to true, or £27.50 for two.

Blimey you iz' being well and truly ripped off there mate! I'd find another shop.

Local to me is two bike shops and they are both time served and mint at their job!
One small shop charges just £5 and the other large shop charges £8.

 

[RobWJL]

Yup, £15 / wheel seems to be the going rate in London. Pricey

 

[glpinxit]

I taught myself after the LBS charged £12 and left one spoke sans tension. I'm now in double figures and have not looked back. But I concede that being able to tell which spokes are tighter by ringing them is important (to me at lest) though the aim isn't for them all to be the same pitch.
Now I'm hankering after a stand, dial gauges, spoke thread rollers and cutters. I find the idea of wheel building more exciting than frame building... If so I guess I'll need a tension meter too.

 

[Diamant_Don]

Blimey you iz' being well and truly ripped off there mate! I'd find another shop.

I'm starting to think you may be right - and this is a shop that services students/basic bikes in Liverpool, not hoity-toity London types. Anyone know anywhere in the 'pool area where the truing comes cheap, but good?

Just got a bike with salvageable wheels and I thought I'd give it a shot myself. But the hubs are Campag Record with Mavic rims and I'm terrified to start!

 

[Martin Rattler]

Re:

Being charged a tenner by mr lbs and being presented with a wheel with half a dozen loose spokes prompted me to start building my own. I've built half a dozen or so now; it's a useful skill and not that difficult really.