Truing a wheel

KStaford

My back wheel is a little warped, it's out by about 4-5mm and it also seems to be a little off centre. If I hold it off the ground and give it a spin with the pedal, it causes a pulsing which I can feel.

I have read a few articles on truing but...
I remember years ago having a go at it myself and making a small problem far worse. I'm scared of that happening again.

Just wondering, who do you folks do to true a wheel, LBS or DIY? Any advice/tips?

Many thanks

TinyExplosions

DIY. Just takes patience. Do it a bit, if you get bored, leave it and come back, it'll get there eventually

DirkVoodoo

What type of back wheel do you have out of interest?

I can fix small deflections, but unless you are good at gauging spoke tensions then it's easy to find yourself making a mess of it. It's not simply a case of tighten until true, that just leads to snapped spokes.

KStaford

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

What type of back wheel do you have out of interest?

eh not sure Dirk, there's a sticker on the wheel that says ZXRimms 1000. On the tyre the measurement is 700x35c (35-622) - can anyone tell me what this means?

The bike is a Specialized Globe Hybrid.

thebouldwhacker

Click image to enlarge.

Assuming this is your bike, this is your wheel

Wheels: Specialized Globe, 700c, pinned, double wall w/ machine sidewalls, 32h Rims. Specialized, forged alloy, double sealed, ground race, steel QR, 32h [F]. Specialized, forged alloy, double sealed, ground race, cassette, QR, 32h [R].

If I remember correctly you bought this after selling your 'sweet bike';) a few months ago...

KStaford

yup, looks like my bike alright, so what do I do with all this information. Is it good or bad? Can I true these wheels myself?

doozerie

Yes you can true the wheel yourself. The first few times it can take quite a bit of time and patience but you'll get better and quicker at it in no time. One good resource to have a look at before your start is Sheldon Brown's guide to wheelbuilding. He describes building a wheel from scratch, but you'll only need the relatively short section on how to true the wheel once all of the spokes are in place.

As regards determining the correct spoke tension, so long as you fall into the correct range you'll be fine (i.e. there is no specific tension measure that you have to match exactly). The article above describes a method of judging this by ear, which I have always found to be fairly effective for me. If you end up with spokes that are too loose, they'll loosen further while riding the bike and you'll end up with a very unstable wheel that'll need re-tightening ; if you end up with spokes that are too tight, they'll most likely eventually end up pulling the rim apart - in either case the effects start to show over time (probably a matter of hours for the former, weeks for the latter) so neither is likely to lead to catastrophic results which put you at risk. So, at worst you end up having to re-do the whole process of having to replace the rim, but you'll have gained some useful experience in the process.

You are very unlikely to snap any spokes, or shear any spoke nipples, if you overtighten the spokes. Not unless the spokes or nipples are of a very poor quality.

If you are going to do this work, then I recommend that you buy a good spoke key. The Park Tool spoke keys I find to be excellent and not very expensive (about €15 or so from CRC as far as I can remember). You'll need to know which size you need though, so check www.parktool.com for info. They also produce a combincation spoke key that provides 3 different size keys in the one tool - very handy, and cheaper, but not as comfortable to use as the dedicated single-sized keys.

KStaford

Great reply, many thanks doozerie

flickerx

I've built about eight wheels now and I still find it difficult to get them very, very true. Its a time consuming process and slightly infuriating to be honest, I always seem to end up warping another bit out when I think I've fixed out a kink on the opposite end of the rim. It takes time and patience - and if you find yourself going a bit mad, leave it and come back a few hours later. You have to remember that if you're using a spoke key then tightening and loosening the nipples are in the opposite direction to normal when you're working around the rim.

I've also been using one of these when building, I need to buy my own one.

Wez

That mini tensio-meter looks real handy! Could nearly attempt a rough true at the side of the road with something like that!

I find the hardest part being keeping the wheel round! I've got a slight oval on the rear of my fixie (but I kinda find it works like a bio-pace chainring sometimes).

Something I wanna have another go at, as it was my first fully built wheel (bought a flip-flop from the states and laced to existing rim myself).

Thinking of trying the lace+solder method to solidify it (after I give it another proper attempt).

kona

doozerie wrote: »

You are very unlikely to snap any spokes, or shear any spoke nipples, if you overtighten the spokes. Not unless the spokes or nipples are of a very poor quality.

.

Its actually all too easy to snap spokes when trueing a wheel, especially on a commuter, I be the wheels the OP has uses alloy spoks and nipples.
Cheap wheels have a annoying problem. The spoke seizes into the nipple, to the novice, they may think they are tightening/loosening the spoke, when infact they are twisting it, and only realise when the spoke snaps at the hub.

OP for the cost of e12, just pay a bike mechanic.

doozerie

Wez wrote: »

That mini tensio-meter looks real handy! Could nearly attempt a rough true at the side of the road with something like that!

I find the hardest part being keeping the wheel round! I've got a slight oval on the rear of my fixie (but I kinda find it works like a bio-pace chainring sometimes).

The tensiometer is mainly useful if you know what tension range the spoke should be in. This depends on the rim and the spokes themselves and finding that info for a specific combination can be difficult. Once you know what tension you should be aiming for, then it certainly helps, but otherwise you end up having to aim for a common tension for all the spokes in the wheel (or per side if doing the back wheel) which may or may not be within the right range for your particular wheel. Mind you, if your wheel is out of round, then presumably some spokes are significantly tighter than others and a tensiometer would allow you to find those ones.

The advice in the Sheldon Brown article above for keeping the wheel round when truing is very good.

doozerie

kona wrote: »

Its actually all too easy to snap spokes when trueing a wheel, especially on a commuter, I be the wheels the OP has uses alloy spoks and nipples.
Cheap wheels have a annoying problem. The spoke seizes into the nipple, to the novice, they may think they are tightening/loosening the spoke, when infact they are twisting it, and only realise when the spoke snaps at the hub.

OP for the cost of e12, just pay a bike mechanic.

Alloy spokes and nipples are certainly an issue. I've always used steel spokes and nipples when building my own wheels, and they are worth the extra cost. If you are stuck with alloy from the outset though, then it does pose more of a challenge. I still believe it's worth doing yourself though - I first starting practicing on my own low budget wheels many years ago, and it was very good experience.

Spokes seizing in the nipples is a real problem, but unfortunately not one limited to cheap wheels. I'm inclined to think that factory-built wheels generally are prone to this problem (I'd expect hand-built ones to be less prone). My Cosmic Elite wheels suffer from this very problem.

KStaford

kona wrote: »

OP for the cost of e12, just pay a bike mechanic.

I'd like to be able to do this myself, for the likes of long (multi day) spins in other countries etc. If I f' up a wheel up in some remote mountain range, then I need to be able to fix myself.

DirkVoodoo

Yeah always put a drop of lube oil on the nipples before turning them.

kona

KStaford wrote: »

I'd like to be able to do this myself, for the likes of long (multi day) spins in other countries etc. If I f' up a wheel up in some remote mountain range, then I need to be able to fix myself.

Fair play, its always good to get to know how to do these things:) Just turn the nipple 1/4 turns at a time.
Some wheels (good ones) only need small turns to pull the rim, crap ones are like cheese, you could turn a little and they will be worse than you started.
You can never get a wheel perfectly straight either.

It might be better to ask in a bike shop for a scrap wheel to practice on:)

KStaford

flickerx wrote: »

I've also been using one of these when building, I need to buy my own one.

How exactly do these tools work? are they a big advantage? would it be worth investing in one ?

rottenhat

KStaford wrote: »

How exactly do these tools work? are they a big advantage? would it be worth investing in one ?

I really don't think you need one unless you're planning on getting into building your own wheels in a serious way - I think a wheel jig would be a higher priority. But if you don't have a spoke wrench yet, I'd start there and see how you get on with that.

Ryaner

KStaford wrote: »

I'd like to be able to do this myself, for the likes of long (multi day) spins in other countries etc. If I f' up a wheel up in some remote mountain range, then I need to be able to fix myself.

From someone who has broken/popped a lot of spokes, you don't need to fully true the wheel if it happens while out. Some of the 32/36 spoke wheels may even get away with losing a spoke and not needing any adjustment. Either way, it is normally a case of loosing the two spokes opposite the broken one, and then tightening the ones beside the broken spot. Wheel will get you by with that.

flickerx

KStaford wrote: »

How exactly do these tools work? are they a big advantage? would it be worth investing in one ?

There's three little 'wheels' (I cant think of what they might actually be properly called) where you place the spoke in between, and then you let the handle of the tool go slack. It places pressure on the spoke, and this pressure is measured at the top of the tool with what looks like an old style weighing scale. You then have to look at this chart that they give you which recommends the correct tension for the spoke based on its length, the rim, etc. Its an expensive tool because it has to be calibrated very finely. As rottenhat mentioned its not really that necessary unless you're building a wheel from scratch. If you can get access to a truing stand somewhere that will help.

Oh yeah here's something I had bookmarked for ages and never looked at again: A Dial-Gauge Bicycle Wheel Building Stand for $100

ednwireland

i got one of those park wheel tensioners but i'm planning on replacing a tacoed rim on a rear wheel to use on the turbo trainer (got from crc on a sale http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7131 )

and i dont have a bike shop nearby that can do a better job than i can (after a few attempts) never bothered in england cos i lived at the back entrance of a decent bike shop just walk across the road and throw it in the service dept (where they had an ex gb team mechanic)

also have a minoura trueing stand not as good as the park ones but adequate (and a lot cheaper)

so i'm getting braver now i've replaced spokes and trued my wheels