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Help Tightening loose spokes without untrueing my rims !

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Help Tightening loose spokes without untrueing my rims !
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flag iridebikes1
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:02 Quote
Hi all, iv just come back from morzine riding for a week and iv noticed all/most of my spokes are loose on both rims, a couple are even fingertip loose !

so how do i go about this... iv got a spoke wrench and i know how tight they should be but im afraid i might untrue my rims.

could someone tell me if there is a method ? as tighten opposite sides of the wheel or tighten each spoke a little bit and keep going around the rim untill all are tight or what ?

Thanks
flag skylinelover
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:06 Quote
live-life-2-ride-mtb wrote:
Hi all, iv just come back from morzine riding for a week and iv noticed all/most of my spokes are loose on both rims, a couple are even fingertip loose !

so how do i go about this... iv got a spoke wrench and i know how tight they should be but im afraid i might untrue my rims.

could someone tell me if there is a method ? as tighten opposite sides of the wheel or tighten each spoke a little bit and keep going around the rim untill all are tight or what ?

Thanks

if you have a few loose spokes then my money is going on your rim already being untrue.

if you are not up to the task then best bet is to get it into a shop.
flag erixtar1992
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:08 Quote
just tighten em alll up evenly, like half a turn for each spoke. but start at the valve hole so u dont get lost!
flag iridebikes1
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:11 Quote
skylinelover wrote:
live-life-2-ride-mtb wrote:
Hi all, iv just come back from morzine riding for a week and iv noticed all/most of my spokes are loose on both rims, a couple are even fingertip loose !

so how do i go about this... iv got a spoke wrench and i know how tight they should be but im afraid i might untrue my rims.

could someone tell me if there is a method ? as tighten opposite sides of the wheel or tighten each spoke a little bit and keep going around the rim untill all are tight or what ?

Thanks

if you have a few loose spokes then my money is going on your rim already being untrue.

if you are not up to the task then best bet is to get it into a shop.

thanks but my rims are still true but it might be best to go to my lbs
flag skylinelover
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:15 Quote
the spokes have to be individually tensioned to ensure the end result is a true wheel. your rim may be true but a fair amount of loose spokes and your wheel needs done.
flag iridebikes1
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:16 Quote
erixtar1992 wrote:
just tighten em alll up evenly, like half a turn for each spoke. but start at the valve hole so u dont get lost!

so basically start at the value and tighten every spoke on both sides untill they are all tight, but what about the couple of v. loose spokes.. do i just tighten them untill they are roughtly the same taught as the rest then carry on ??


thanks
flag erixtar1992
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:25 Quote
live-life-2-ride-mtb wrote:
erixtar1992 wrote:
just tighten em alll up evenly, like half a turn for each spoke. but start at the valve hole so u dont get lost!

so basically start at the value and tighten every spoke on both sides untill they are all tight, but what about the couple of v. loose spokes.. do i just tighten them untill they are roughtly the same taught as the rest then carry on ??


thanks
yeah man just as long as it dnt bucle the wheel much.
if u all do em up the same it should stay true
flag iridebikes1
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:27 Quote
okay thanks, will give it ago !!
flag em-j
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:47 Quote
I don't know how well this will work as I've never tried it on a bicycle, but a moty mechanic I worked with for a while taught me to hold the wrench against the spokes and spin the wheel. You can hear if the tension on the spokes is roughly the same. The higher the note, the tighter the spoke.
If it were me, I'd get someone else to do it, or find an old wheel to mess around on first. It's pretty easy to end up completely lost if you're not 100% sure what you're doing.
flag jonbikes
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 5:50 Quote
If you do get it out of true it is not the end of the world. Truing a wheel is fairly easy, just tighten on one side and loosen on the other. Say the bend is going off to the right if you are looking at it, you tighten spokes on the left and loosen on the right.
flag pbuser102331
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 6:27 Quote
if your really unsure take it to a bike shop and have it done properly as you can ovalise the wheel also by overtightening.

my advice would be to use an old wheel and practise on it.
flag gordanfreman
Posted: Jul 9, 2009 at 19:35 Quote
first, if you are unsure and don't want to wreck your wheel, bring it to a shop. if you feel up to the task, try to equalize the tension all around--tighten the super loose spokes up more than the rest, the idea is to get equal tension all around. from there work on the side to side/up and down by tweaking individual spokes to pull the rim into true. if the rim is really beat, you may end up with some mistension before the wheel rolls true again. not much you can do at that point beyond rebuilding with a new rim if you want it perfect.
flag iridebikes1
Posted: Jul 10, 2009 at 1:33 Quote
okay, thanks for all your help ! Smile
flag brokentapedeck
Posted: Jul 10, 2009 at 2:02 Quote
find a place in your wheel were it is true and centered. attach a zip tie to each side of the frame and forks. Cut the ties so there's a small gap between the wheel and the tie. now start to tighten each spoke until they ether fell the same or the wheel starts to move just slightly. do this on all spokes. then true the wheel. After you ride a bit you will need to retention the spokes then you will be good to go.
flag pdee
Posted: Jul 10, 2009 at 20:07 Quote
i have a question about tightening spokes. when looking at the spoke, meet the nipple then go into the rim, is it righty tighty, lefty loosey? or is it opposite?

nvm found it, but just for confirmation, tighten a spoke counter clockwise?
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