True and buckled wheels?

[Chris S]

I'm fairly new to cycling and I was wondering what's meant by saying a wheel is 'true'?

Also how can a wheel become 'buckled at the spindle'? I'd have thought the rim which takes more of the direct impact would be buckled instead.

 

[PpPete]

Yes the rim normally buckles before anything else - but I've seen slightly bent axle splindles (and bent QRs aplenty)

To true a wheel is to tighten or loosen spokes to that rim is made perfectly round, and flat, ( so rims stays equidistant from brake blocks as you rotate it.)

Some manufacturers quote trueness in 10ths of millimetre, which is bollocks IMO, far more important than that degree of (almost unmeasurable) accuracy is that the spokes are equally tensioned at the conclusion of the trueing process.... if tensions vary widely, the wheel will quickly become a whole millimetre and more "out of true"