HELP - Loose spokes my Hybrid ? ALL LOOSE !!!

bilabonic

Hi

After getting a second road bike (felt f55) i became aware of how loose ALL my spokes where on my hybrid, this bike was bought off Ebay and has not been set up proper.

Some spokes where just sitting in the nipples (think thats the name for bits in the rim) and not even threaded, thus when i pulled them they just came fee !!!

A friend of mine who has road for years recommended me to remove the wheel/tyres/tubes and use a battery drill se to torque lowest setting and tighten all nipples as a starting point......

Any thought on this ? Am expecting some funny replys.......lol

Cheers

Mister W

A friend, who is a recent convert to cycling, decided that his spokes were all loose so grabbed his spoke key and tightened them all up. He was about to do the same on his GF's bike when he realised that his wheels were no longer true and had adpoted a rather interesting wavy pattern.

I suggest you read some information about truing wheels before going anywhere near yours and certainly don't tackle them with a drill!!!

andrewjoseph

bilabonic wrote:

...

A friend of mine who has road for years recommended me to remove the wheel/tyres/tubes and use a battery drill se to torque lowest setting and tighten all nipples as a starting point......

Don't, you will probably ruin the wheel. Take it to a decent bike shop who will sort it out for £10-£15.

Then get a bike maintenance book, as has been suggested.

cougie

Yeah - get a bike shop to sort out this - as it is a biggy. Once the wheel is done though - its dead easy to true minor buckles.

bilabonic

Bit late guys, put the drill on both and tensioned them all up.... :shock:

The wheels are now super buckled but i am getting there slowly and they are nearly true.

If i don't succeed will take them to LBS and see what they say.

Cheers

balthazar

I strongly suggest following the instructiions from here:

http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#initial

if you haven't finished the wheel yet. Even if you have, a review of Sheldon's advice might encourage you to make your wheel so durable you don't have to think about it again.