Spoke keys, tension how to....... ?

[Kryton521]

Read everything in this and other forums but still pretty much in the dark about the mysteries of spokes and spoke tools. Measure the flat bit to find the right size key? I have a tape measure but if it has to be, 3.something mm???
If I tension a spoke, do I slacken the opposite one off?
There are possibly three spokes in the rear wheel slightly looser and making the disturbing, clicking/rattle type noise.
By how much? quarter turn at a time?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Here you go, read this.

https://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/truing.html

 

[CanucksTraveller]

On spoke key sizes it can be a bit complex and faffy but in order to be as simple as possible here, there are generally speaking 3 major sizes of spoke nipple... you'll do well to measure them accurately, they're all 3 point something mm. I just have a spoke key which has 2 sizes and it covers all my bikes, for emergency repair that's good enough for me.

Spoke tension and wheel truing is a bit of an art and you can risk making a marginally iffy situation truly disastrous unless you know what you're doing. I'm happy to admit that I'm one of those who don't truly know what they're doing.

I carry a spoke key only to firm up a properly loose and errant spoke (it's rare, but it can happen) to pretty much hand tight, and only to get me home or through the next few days, then it's bike shop time. Anything else (multiple loose spokes, clicking noises etc) and I'm handing that bad boy over to an expert.

 

[Slioch]

One of these spoke keys should cover most bases. And follow Sheldon Brown as per above.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Measure the flat bit to find the right size key?

If your wheels have 'normal' spokes/nipples then the nipples are 4-sided (square with bevelled edges). Measure across opposite sides. Probably 3.2mm.
See this thread: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/what-size-spoke-key-should-i-get.179403/
My firm recommendation is for this type of key:

 

[Gazjacko]

It is a dark art. All II can offer is to remember the smoke doesn’t go int the rim, the nipple comes out. So a quarter turn is sometimes counter intuitive. The second is, trust your hands and fingers for ‘feeling’ spoke tensions. My skills maybe go as far as a spoke replacement, I have tried to build a wheel once and ended with something that resembles the shape of a Pringle!

 

[Kryton521]

Nice! Many thanks. Think I'll live with the noise till the LBS has an opening, busy times there!

 

[MntnMan62]

The most pertinent part of Sheldon Brown's instructions for truing wheels is where he says that truing wheels is the trickiest of all the repair projects one can do on a bike. And because of that, I leave wheel truing to the experts. I know what I don't know. That's a very valuable thing.

 

[screenman]

It is a dark art. All II can offer is to remember the smoke doesn’t go int the rim, the nipple comes out. So a quarter turn is sometimes counter intuitive. The second is, trust your hands and fingers for ‘feeling’ spoke tensions. My skills maybe go as far as a spoke replacement, I have tried to build a wheel once and ended with something that resembles the shape of a Pringle!

I had to read the first but twice before I realized the dark force of predictive text had been at work.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Personally I loved the image of 'smoke going into the rim', @Gazjacko .
OP- @Kryton521 if your spokes are loose then a little tighten will maybe keep the wheel together. When really loose spokes come round to the bottom the cyclical reduction in tension may mean that they're loose enough for the nipples to loosen further and you can see where that iteration might end. The noises you've described suggest you're a fair way down that path. Have you a child's bike wheel no longer being used that you could 'practise' on, or another wheel, before unleashing your developing expertise on your 'three spokes loose' rear wheel?

 

[Kryton521]

I've just been looking on ebay for a "spare" wheel to practise on. Sadly I think they are all usable and so not really ready for, "wreck it or fix it" practise.
Times like these wish I had a shed........

 

[themosquitoking]

I had one or more loose spokes on a front wheel recently. Easy to identify the area of the wheel that had the problem as the noise was obviously once per wheel revolution and luckily it happened at low speed too. Located the loosest feeling spoke by hand and tightened that one and the two closest to it front and back by quarter to three quarters of a turn each and problem solved.

 

[si_c]

I think you're overthinking it! Truing a wheel is an iterative process, using a spoke key, make a small change usually a quarter or half turn of the key at most.

Check how the rim looks and then try again. My suggestion at this point would be to get a spoke key - a three way key if unsure or 3.2mm is most likely as mentioned above.

Then tighten the loose spokes, you can put sticky tape on them so you know which is which. Do it slowly until the wheel is round again.

Then if still unsure book it in at your LBS, just to get them to check it over.