Spoke tensioning

capt_slog

I have shimano r501 wheels on my bike, and I've noticed that the rear wheel has gone a bit sloppy. The wheel looks true enough but it looks as if a lot of the spokes have lost their tension. If I 'ding' them, many sound dull too, not the nice, ringing note I normally expect.

I'd like to tension them myself and I know it's a job that can fraught with frustration and disaster, but as I'm not starting from scratch (total build) how easy/difficult is it 'just' to re-tension?

Is there a sequence, like tightening cylinder heads on cars? Or is it better just to go to the LBS and pay, (how much normally)?

ugo.santalucia

Most LBS don't have a decent tension gauge, so no point. Check that the wheel is dished correctly. If so, then start with half a turn on the NDS and see if the dish moves, if it does, compensate with the DS, if it doesn't then screw the NDS another half a turn and repeat the process

cycleclinic

with out a tension guage you are simply guessing at the tension. spokes should not loose tension and if they do the wheel normally goes out of true because a couple of nipples have loosened. What you have described is either all the spokes stretching/bedding in equally but a significant ammount or all of the nipple unwinding by the same ammount. How likely does this sound. Unless you are doing the job with a tension guauge then leave alone you could easily make things worse.

With tyres mounted the rim might have compressed a fair bit. With tubeless tyres mounted I see a 300N tension drop DS. Thats an extreme but it does mean checking tension with tyres mounted is going to give you a false/low result as all tyres cause some tension drop. Also the NDS tension will be low anyway and give a dull sound.

I suggest you leave the wheel alone until a problem actually occurs.

keef66

When I get home I'll give my rear R501 a quick strum, see what note I get.