Wheel truing & spoke-tightening...
- Thread starter Maz
- Start date
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They can get loose on their own, the same as any other thread.
Part of my weekly check is just to spin the wheels with a finger on the brake block and the nail just touching the rim to see if they need truing. Then I flick each spoke as they pass, you can easily hear if one needs tightening.
Part of my weekly check is just to spin the wheels with a finger on the brake block and the nail just touching the rim to see if they need truing. Then I flick each spoke as they pass, you can easily hear if one needs tightening.
I would have thought that in a well built wheel the spokes should stay tight. The tension in the spoke generates friction in the threads between the spoke and nipple and between the nipple and rim. This friction should be enough to stop the nipple rotating. This is the whole idea of pretensioning fixings, it ensures that they do not become loose in service.
If spokes loosen it is normally because the intial tension was not high enough or that you have hit something hard enough to peramently deform either the spokes or the rim.
If spokes loosen it is normally because the intial tension was not high enough or that you have hit something hard enough to peramently deform either the spokes or the rim.
+1
The only reason spokes loosen is because they do not have enough tension. The spokes at the point where the wheel touches the ground have their tension reduced by the weight on the forks pressing down on them. If there is not enough initial tension in the spokes, particularly if you hit a bump, the tension can reduce to zero and then the nipple is free to rotate and screw threads always loosen given the chance. Enough tension and the spokes will always stay in tension meaning the nipple will not loosen off because of the friction in the threads and the friction between the nipple and the rim. I have wheels I built ten years ago that are still as true as they day they were built.
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
Thinking about my bikes in the last ten years..
Cheapie wheels (but high spoke count) on my old Raliegh Chimera, never touched them, never had to.
Bianchi wheels on my first Bianchi...ditto.
Bianchi wheels on the second Bianchi...ditto
Fulcrum wheels on Bianchi...ditto (although ive not had them that long)
Bontrager wheels on my 7100FX...my son mullered them. Useless.
The only trueing ive had to do is on cheap MTB wheels for other people, but doing it properly is another thing altogether.
Cheapie wheels (but high spoke count) on my old Raliegh Chimera, never touched them, never had to.
Bianchi wheels on my first Bianchi...ditto.
Bianchi wheels on the second Bianchi...ditto
Fulcrum wheels on Bianchi...ditto (although ive not had them that long)
Bontrager wheels on my 7100FX...my son mullered them. Useless.
The only trueing ive had to do is on cheap MTB wheels for other people, but doing it properly is another thing altogether.
