On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 23:23:26 GMT, "elyob" <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:Thanks for all the advice about rebuilding my back wheel. I
gave up after ages (and pulling my back due to no
exercise), and bought a new one. I am now the proud owner
of a practice wheel.
At least I will be back on my 10 mile each way commute from
tomorrow (3 weeks late because I thought my skills were
better than they are).
Did discover that Evans in Wandsworth are [censored], and the old
shop up the road could have fixed it by the weekend. By
then I have managed to bend every spoke, making and
remaking the wheel. I didn't trust it any more. One nipple
had half a thread showing.
Ah, rememininces of childhood....those long summer days
borrowing dads spoke wrench and pouring loads of 3 in 1 oil
into the lubrication holes of the wheel hubs...
Quoted message said:It's a difficult skill, truing. Not so much the left/right
play, but the up/down play. Overtensioning somewhere, I
guess. Can I practice truing a wheel without it on a bike,
without a tyre and innertube etc??
It's one of those classic subjects that looks and is
difficult from the 'outsdide', but in fact when you have
the basics and concepts grasped it's so much easier. It's
so easy to get lost without really knowing what you're
doing. I did a one day course in Cambridge a couple of
years ago [run by Michael Green, who sometimes posts
here], which proved to be immensely helpful. Truthfully, I
don't really understand the science behind it all [haven't
read Mr Brant's epic], but do I know how to build a pretty
good wheel [if you can follow that kind of logic!], thanks
to that course [I still refer to the notes that we took
away with us]. And then practice comes into play - 10 odd
wheels later.... I found it very difficult to learn from a
book/web-site......everything just fell into place with a
little tuition.
The condition of your rim might be a factor here too.
But like you say....you have a practice wheel now....get
fiddling some more!
garryb
