How to realign Mavic bladed/aero spokes (not true them!) ?

Home:Ballyhoura

Hi guys, well the question is basically in the title. I have a set of Mavic Ksyrium Elites which are perfectly true since day one and have never been touched but one of the bladed spokes is no longer aero as it is now pointing in the wrong direction! I know it probably doesn't make even the slightest difference but it just looks weird. So how do you fix this? Easy enough or a job for the LBS??? I wouldn't think so and hope not! Thanks in advance, I genuinely really appreciate your help!

P.S. I tried a google search to no avail surprisingly!

lescol

There should have been a round piece of plastic with notches around it that came with your wheels, this is for simply twisting the spokes into the correct alignment. A squirt of WD40 at both ends of the spoke and a twist with a pair of pliers also works. If it feels like it's not going to "go" then use a spoke wrench in combination with the plastic thing, turning in same direction, that way the spoke and nipple will turn so not changing the tension.

Home:Ballyhoura

Sound man! I had that little thingy stashed away in my box of tools and bits and pieces not knowing what it was actually for! Thanks for your quick response, job done now so thread may be closed if mods feel like it. Cheers

Home:Ballyhoura

Actually, I got two pieces with the wheels.



I just used the one on the left which is probably actually the spoke wrench for adjusting tension so I might have to go and undo what I just did and use the one on the left to just adjust the alignment....is that right?

lescol

Left is the spoke wrench, right straightens the spokes. You should also have a plastic wrench for wheel bearing adjustment, although in 7 years I've not needed to use mine.

Sorry, also meant to say that if you use the spoke wrench and the wheel is still true but the spoke is now aligned then it's likely that the whole thing turned, spoke nipple and spoke. When fitting a new spoke or truing the wheel the object on the right is needed to stop the spoke spinning, Mavic spoke nipples have blue plasticy stuff in them like self locking nuts, it can make them f**king stiff.

Home:Ballyhoura

When using the spoke alignment tool the spoke just seems to be flexing and twisting and not actually rotating. Should I be focusing on turning the spoke up near the hub or down by the nipple? Maybe a bit of WD40 might help too but at least if I knew where I should be aiming to turn it it would be great! By the way, I got the bearing adjustment tool too! Thanks again in advance

Bikerbhoy

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Hi guys, well the question is basically in the title. I have a set of Mavic Ksyrium Elites which are perfectly true since day one and have never been touched but one of the bladed spokes is no longer aero as it is now pointing in the wrong direction! I know it probably doesn't make even the slightest difference but it just looks weird. So how do you fix this? Easy enough or a job for the LBS??? I wouldn't think so and hope not! Thanks in advance, I genuinely really appreciate your help!

Jaysus theres a coinsidence I was pondering that same issue only during the week having the same problem with my front wheel except I hadnt the kop on to run it by the more knowledgeable on here and now because I went at it hammer and thongs (liturally) I now have what I can only compare to as a rickety old cart wheel which will now need to go to LBS for truing.... .

Motto : ask the folks on here..ALWAYS. :( & thanks to Ballyhoura for raising the question

lescol

Use both and WD40 for ease of mind. The spoke can spiral alarmingly, then, ping, it turns and all is well. It's the resistance to turning from the nipple in the rim eyelet that's the problem, the spokes are quite free to turn at the hub, so I guess it's turn nearer the rim than the hub.

victorcarrera

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
Scroll down to the relevant paragraph under "Spoke Torsion".

Home:Ballyhoura

All done properly this time and thank you very much for your help! I was just a bit afraid the first time and now it turned quite easily near the rim when I went at it again.

Also, are lateral buckles / out of trunesses more difficult to true than horizontal ones? I would be happy enough at this stage to have a go at minor side to side movements but would be worried it could affect and cause an up and down movement and don't know how to fix them!

lescol

This is pretty much what I do:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svMMaGMsIMw&feature=related a lot slower though. I find it easier without a tyre and it's also easier to discover if the wheel is round. I only do simple truing such as after replacing a broken spoke, if the wheel is all over the place, side to side and up and down I take it to a LBS and watch with admiration as he works it out on a truing stand.