Trued my own wheel : )

seanorawe
seanorawe Posts: 950
edited January 2013 in Road general
I am a complete novice when it comes to bike repairs but I have been spending way too much money of late and decided to try out wheel trueing my self. I bought a couple of spoke keys, watched the video on you tube about 35 times and went for it. I now have a true spinning wheel. My next adventure will be replacing cables on my hybrid but im really nervous about that :?
Cube Attain SL Disc
Giant CRS 2.0

Comments

  • charliew87
    charliew87 Posts: 371
    Good work. I tried to do the same on mine and it ended up looking like a bloody Pringle.
    Canyon AL Ultimate 9.0
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    Its a fine art truing wheels so hats off to you for doing it.
  • Phil Fouracre
    Phil Fouracre Posts: 207
    Good for you, no reason why anyone can't do it, bit of common sense and slow progression, works fine. Done a few different wheels myself, as usual after not being happy with results from shop 'experts' . Cables are no problem either!
  • seanorawe
    seanorawe Posts: 950
    Cheers.

    The wheel was not that bad, there was only point of the wheel that need corrected. Took my time and got it done
    Cube Attain SL Disc
    Giant CRS 2.0
  • y33stu
    y33stu Posts: 376
    Both of these jobs are on my to do list. Bought spoke keys at the weekend. Reluctant to try it as I don't want the shame of taking into the LBS and having to explain I gave it a go but made it worse.
    Cycling prints
    Band of Climbers
  • Lycra-Byka
    Lycra-Byka Posts: 292
    y33stu wrote:
    Both of these jobs are on my to do list. Bought spoke keys at the weekend. Reluctant to try it as I don't want the shame of taking into the LBS and having to explain I gave it a go but made it worse.

    I did exactly that, and knackered it beyond repair. Got told off too!
  • TakeTurns
    TakeTurns Posts: 1,075
    Nice work. It is a lot harder than it looks and takes experience. Hats off for having the balls to do it on your actually wheels. I once tried it on an old wheel I found. It was in tru, so I jumped about on it a little to get it out of tru. Thing is, it's still out of tru. :(

    Cabling isn't hard compared to truing a wheel. You could have totally ruined your wheel, if you made a mistake and didn't realise. But with cabling you can't really go wrong. Good luck.
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    care to post a link.?

    I have always used the method of marker pen close to the wheel and spin it so that the marker touches the bit that needs correcting. If you do this both sides you can do half a turn on the spoke that is attached to the other side of the hub.

    of course that doesn't check the roundness of the wheel which is harder to do. I think the secret is to true them when the adjustment needed is very small rather than wait until you need a couple of turns to correct.

    Broken spoke tends to require a bit more care.
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  • Fursty Ferret
    Fursty Ferret Posts: 189
    I tend to just use the brake blocks as my reference point. Then a lot of patience and a lot of small, incremental turns of the spoke key. Seems to work.
  • Buckie2k5
    Buckie2k5 Posts: 600
    Fursty Ferret wrote:
    I tend to just use the brake blocks as my reference point. Then a lot of patience and a lot of small, incremental turns of the spoke key. Seems to work.

    +1 . when your my weight you need to figure out how to true a wheel lol. Although not had too since i changed to fulcrum 7's .
  • seanorawe
    seanorawe Posts: 950
    Sorry cant post a link cos im in work. It ws a you tube video and he uses brake pads as a reference point
    Cube Attain SL Disc
    Giant CRS 2.0
  • Stedman
    Stedman Posts: 377
    I do both tasks and I have even trued up Campag wheels. I also adjust the tolerance down of the brake blocks in order to do the final tuning and I was also taught by Chris Juden to pluck the spokes as a rough guide to their tension which I also find helps.

    Now that I have done this a few times, I would even suggest that it is easier than changing some tyres.
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    Yep used the brake blocks too, but have trued mtb wheels many more times (though my stans flows seem bomb proof) and with Mtbs there are no brake blocks to use a a reference.
    Guide to cheap bike lights Turbo Trainer Vids Play list
    Stretching & Workout Vids
  • Finlaz22
    Finlaz22 Posts: 169
    Good stuff! :) Patience is the key, rush it and it's easy to screw it up. Remember to release spoke tension
    http://www.strava.com/athletes/3928202
  • Bwgan
    Bwgan Posts: 389
    Never had a go, a guy a ride with turned his wheel into a satellite dish!!!!
  • mike6
    mike6 Posts: 1,199
    Nice one. Its a great feeling to get a dodgy wheel to run true.

    I did a wheel building course run by Edinburgh Cycle Coop a few years ago and it was one of the most rewarding days I have spent.
    When you book the course you can choose to just learn to build and true a pair of wheels, and leave it at that, or specify your components and build a pair of wheels to take away when you are finished. (added cost for the components obviously)
    I still have the pair I built myself, and they have never budged from true. My ride mates will testify to this as I never tire of telling them. Ha.

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