trueing wheels

Oh, the dark art of wheel-building whose secrets are only to be talke
about behind sheds after having given the secret handshake

I can usually get a minro wobble out of my wheel (invariably the rear
by turning the bike upside down and noting where the rim 'approaches
the brake pad. If you set it a bit tighter or another object near th
rim you can highlight the problem area of the rim better (i dont hav
one of those fangled 'trueing' machines!

tightening/loosening the spokes (go slow; often doesnt take much
accordingly. IE if the rim goes to 'A' side, note which spoke near th
area goes to the other side and tighten a tad

Its all a fine balance nad all relative and something Im sure m
rudimentary knowledge could be elaborated on and someone else will kno
some genius link to reveal the dark arts (sheldonbrown.com is a grea
source for anything 2-wheeled

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Andy B said:

I read that if your wheel gets a wobble in it, you can fix it by going
around and tightening all the spokes a 1/4 turn at a time till it's
sorted out.

Urk!. It is slightly more involved than that. I can recommend The
Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt if you want expert HOWTO.

Basically you need to balance lateral(side to side) with radial (in and
out) trueing. Over tighten on right side and wheel bulges on left side.
Over tighen on one one quarter and hub is no longer in centre of wheel.

Usually, you would loosen off the opposeing spokes first, then tighten.

But yes, If you have a new bicycle that you have ridden for a while and
a few of the spokes are now loose, then taking out the slack can be as
simple as you suggest.

However, I would mark your starting spoke, then work on every 5th spoke.
Now, whenever you go around the wheel once, stop and then "set" the
spoke groups. Wrap your hand around two spokes (at the outmost
crossover) and two spokes opposite and squeeze gently. Then just keep
repeating the loosening and tightening and "settting" of the spokes.

Towards the end, you will find that 1/8 of a turn is more appropriate.

Try

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#tensioning

"Terry Collins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andy B said:

I read that if your wheel gets a wobble in it, you can fix it by going
around and tightening all the spokes a 1/4 turn at a time till it's
sorted out.

Urk!. It is slightly more involved than that. I can recommend The
Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt if you want expert HOWTO.

Basically you need to balance lateral(side to side) with radial (in and
out) trueing. Over tighten on right side and wheel bulges on left side.
Over tighen on one one quarter and hub is no longer in centre of wheel.

Usually, you would loosen off the opposeing spokes first, then tighten.

But yes, If you have a new bicycle that you have ridden for a while and
a few of the spokes are now loose, then taking out the slack can be as
simple as you suggest.

However, I would mark your starting spoke, then work on every 5th spoke.
Now, whenever you go around the wheel once, stop and then "set" the
spoke groups. Wrap your hand around two spokes (at the outmost
crossover) and two spokes opposite and squeeze gently. Then just keep
repeating the loosening and tightening and "settting" of the spokes.

Towards the end, you will find that 1/8 of a turn is more appropriate.

Andy B said:

I read that if your wheel gets a wobble in it, you can fix it by going
around and tightening all the spokes a 1/4 turn at a time till it's
sorted out. While I can see this working, what happens after a year and
several operations. Wouldn't the spokes get too tight, or run out of
travel? Do you have to periodicaly loosen them?
Interested in your technique.
Andy

In the absence of crashes, the need for several truing operations on
wheel in a year indicates that something is wrong with it. Try to fin
out what that is. Many wheels are built without the spokes being ben
correctly where they cross the hub flange. Those coming from the outsid
of the flange need a tighter bend at the elbow than those coming fro
the inside of the flange. It may also be that the spoke tension is to
low to give the wheel its proper strength. In that case, the tension o
all spokes needs to be increased before dealing with wobbles

Terry Collins gives good advice, but his "gentle squeeze" of spoke pair
should be a really strong squeeze - I wear welder's gloves to protect m
hands. The aim is to get local areas of high residual stress to yiel
and this requires a fair force

Others have identified Sheldon Brown's web site and Jobst Brandt's boo
"The Bicycle Wheel" as good references

Properly built and stress relieved wheels should, barring mishap, nee
little or no attention in a very long time

John Retchfor

-

Thanks all for your replies. After responses here, I re-read the
article I was quoting, and... well, I got it a bit wong. Thanks a
lot.

Andy