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tsmith
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Location: Freeville, NY
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| Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject: Dumb question.. how tight should spokes be? |
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the spokes on my bike seem kinda loose. Is it rocket science to tighten spokes without fooking the wheel? please be gentle with me..
Tom |
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xdressforlessx
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| Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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I'm gonna hear it from Nick for giving tech advice, haha
It would be bad to over tighten spokes, especially If they're titanium. I've seen Ti spokes snap on bikes that don't take much of any abuse becuase they're overtightened. But you can tighten them at home without effing things up if you're careful. when you squeeze your spokes toghether, they should deflect a little; maybe a quarter inch at most. spin the wheel and let your finger run on the spokes, they should all make a tone, like a guitar string. If you hear some spokes make a flatter sound, its looser than the rest. But if the wheel is true, don't mess around with individual spokes. a spoke wrench is a good idea, or you might risk wrecking a nipple, but if your careful you can get away with a regular wrench. start at the tube's valve as a reference point. work your way around the wheel, tightening each spoke one at a time. don't skip any. tighten each one the same amount. don't tighten more than a quarter turn, you might get half way around the wheel and find that the spokes are getting too tight.
good luck,
working with wheels takes time and patience, bottom line
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bmxundergrounddotcom
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| Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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Ross Wooding has the right idea. I think we have both built a few wheels in our days.
With normal spokes, I go as tight as possible until the nipples are about to round out. BUT, it is important that the tension is uniform. Wheel building is complex as hell, as you are playing with three dimensions when you tighten a single spoke.
With ti spokes, take it easy. As Ross said, you can definitely round out the spoke or break it.
Bottom line: go to a bike shop (one where they know what they are doing) and have a mechanic tension the spokes.
I wouldn't go beyond minor adjustments at home without a truing stand. It's super easy to send a wheel out of round with the right equipment, even easier without it.
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AdvanceCycleryRider
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Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:18 am Post subject: |
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Nick-
Was this a ploy to get potential wheel alignment customers to venture into Sonne's?
Or do you truly need advice?
I know that Advance has 2 expert wheel builders / truers.
Is your wheel out of true or just loose spokes?
I am far from an expert on this but I have picked up on a few little tidbits while working there. Check the spokes to see how much thread is showing at the nipple and make sure all are close to equal. If they all look the same and you don't have too many loose ones, tighten those a 1/4 turn like Ross said. Spin wheel and check for trueness. Make sure nothing has changed. If need be, you can tighten all a 1/4 turn. The Ti spokes are pretty strong. I think I would be more afraid of overtightening which could lead to a flat tire.
Remember, I am not an expert.
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Jeff
TAKE THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY AND YOU HAVE LIFE. WELCOME! NOW HANG ON AND RIDE. |
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mdurg
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:35 am Post subject: |
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I've built a few vintage wheels a few months ago. And more a very long time ago.
Flip your bike over and put the wheel in your fork. If your rims are straight, tighten each nipple a 1/4 turn or so. Do all of one side, flip the wheel, do all the other side. You want to do a little at a time, because a 1/4 turn = 1/2 turn (accounting for both sides of the wheel pulling) Make sure you use a spoke wrench that fits properly. They are cheap.
You want to tighten a little at a time instead of all at once or you may start stripping nipples.
Mark |
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bmxundergrounddotcom
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:41 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Was this a ploy to get potential wheel alignment customers to venture into Sonne's? |
Hell no. We are backed up about 2 1/2 weeks. I had to actually do some BMX repairs yesterday because we had like 20 repairs scheduled for today.
All I am saying is that it is best to have proper tools to work on a wheel.
There is no sense working on a wheel by yourself and ruining $100 or more wheel instead of paying $7.50 to have it done professionally.
| Quote: |
Is your wheel out of true or just loose spokes? |
If the spokes are loose and are just tightened with 1/4 turn at a time, the wheel will undoubtedly need to be trued.
As with any good wheel shop, we use a tension tool to check throughout the wheel. You should still be able to do this with a 3x wheel. But, just because it is tensioned correctly doesn't mean it is round or true.
That was way too much writing on this topic.
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tsmith
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:49 am Post subject: |
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sorry for getting people revved up. thanks for the advice. |
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mdurg
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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I won't go against Nick's advice. Of course taking them to a shop will give you best (and easiest) results. A spoke tensioner is far better than the "squeeze test"
but if you are a DIY'er, or like to tinker I'm just saying it's not all that hard if you are mechanically inclined. If not take it to the shop.
I mentioned 1/4 turn, because you don't want to turn them too much. After you get 1/2 way around the way that tension is doubled -spokes pulling the hub from both sides. If you have spokes that are looser than others, tightening everything uniformly may pull the rim one way or the other - so you will need to true (another subject, and not all that hard to do.) |
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