Broken spoke

[George Hauxwell]

Hi,

Out on a ride today and noticed after a about 15 miles that my rear wheel
was rubbing slightly against left brake shoe. Closer inspection revealed a
broken spoke. Replaced the spoke today with one from my old LX/Mavic wheel,
which are the same size and thickness as my current XT/Mavic wheel. But, the
wheel wobble is worse now than before. How much can I expect to pay to have
the wheel 'trued'? I've looked at various D.I.Y. cycle maintenance
web-sites but they all recommend using a 'truing jig', which unfortunately I
don't have access too.

Thanks

George

 

[vernon levy]

> How much can I expect to pay to have
> the wheel 'trued'? I've looked at various D.I.Y. cycle maintenance
> web-sites but they all recommend using a 'truing jig', which unfortunately
I
> don't have access too.
>
I've paid between five and eight pounds for wheel truing which sometimes
included the replacement of a couple of spokes.

 

[NC]

George Hauxwell wrote:

> Out on a ride today and noticed after a about 15 miles that my rear
> wheel was rubbing slightly against left brake shoe. Closer
> inspection revealed a broken spoke. Replaced the spoke today with one
> from my old LX/Mavic wheel, which are the same size and thickness as
> my current XT/Mavic wheel. But, the wheel wobble is worse now than
> before. How much can I expect to pay to have the wheel 'trued'?

A few quid.
Assuming the shop knows how to do it better than you do - some are hopeless,
some are excellent !

> I've looked at various D.I.Y. cycle maintenance web-sites but they
> all recommend using a 'truing jig', which unfortunately I don't have
> access too.

You don't need a truing jig to fix a one wobble from a single broken spoke !
It helps if you can turn your bike upside down and clamp it so that both
hands are free - a few lumps of wood can be enough to hold it in place
against a wall or bench.

Use something like a pencil held against a fork to track where the wobble is
in the wheel rim. Work out which way it goes - usually most of the
revolution is correct, and then it will sway wrongly for about three spokes
worth and back again. Use chalk or any other convinient marker to mark where
the wobble lies so you can get back to it easily. Work out for those spokes
which need tightening and which loosening to pull the rim in the desired
direction.

Chances are that one of the group you've marked is the spoke you changed.
Start by altering that one as the others are unlikely to be wrong. Make
notes of what you change so you can turn back the same number of turns if
its going the wrong way ! Keep checking the movement with respect to the
"decent" part of the rim using the pencil held against a fork.
You should be able to get under a couple of mm of movement without too much
effort.

Don't forget the stuff about stress relieving the new spoke - grab it and an
adjacent spoke and squeeze hard so you over-stretch it temporarily and then
release.


- Nigel

--
NC - Webmaster for http://www.2mm.org.uk/
Replies to newsgroup postings to the newsgroup please.

 

[Pete Biggs]

George Hauxwell wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Out on a ride today and noticed after a about 15 miles that my rear
> wheel was rubbing slightly against left brake shoe. Closer
> inspection revealed a broken spoke. Replaced the spoke today with one
> from my old LX/Mavic wheel, which are the same size and thickness as
> my current XT/Mavic wheel. But, the wheel wobble is worse now than
> before. How much can I expect to pay to have the wheel 'trued'?
> I've looked at various D.I.Y. cycle maintenance web-sites but they
> all recommend using a 'truing jig', which unfortunately I don't have
> access too.

A jig makes the job quicker and more pleasant but isn't essential. You
can use the bike frame and brake blocks as a guide. Just be aware that
the brakes may not be centered.

~PB

 

[George Hauxwell]

Thanks folks!

Following the advice here I now have a wheel which is spinning very true..

Whether each spoke has the right amount of tension I don't know. I've
checked and tightened any loose spokes, some appear tighter than others due
to the trueing process - is this o.k.?

I'll have a ride tomorrow and check it all again then.

Thanks again,

George

 

[Pete Biggs]

George Hauxwell wrote:
> Whether each spoke has the right amount of tension I don't know. I've
> checked and tightened any loose spokes, some appear tighter than
> others due to the trueing process - is this o.k.?

Pluck spokes and listen to the tone. Ideally the tension should be even*
but don't worry if it's not perfect. However, the rim is probably bent if
it's impossible to get it even: best to replace rim then.

* Except that the left-hand spokes on rear multi-gear wheel should be
slacker than the right ones.

~PB

 

[David Martin]

On 2/1/05 9:23 pm, in article [email protected], "Pete Biggs"
<pwrinkledgrape{remove_fruit}@biggs.tc> wrote:

> George Hauxwell wrote:
>> Whether each spoke has the right amount of tension I don't know. I've
>> checked and tightened any loose spokes, some appear tighter than
>> others due to the trueing process - is this o.k.?
>
> Pluck spokes and listen to the tone. Ideally the tension should be even*
> but don't worry if it's not perfect. However, the rim is probably bent if
> it's impossible to get it even: best to replace rim then.
>
> * Except that the left-hand spokes on rear multi-gear wheel should be
> slacker than the right ones.

and they should all go *ping*[1] rather than the sound a wet herring makes
when it hits a tarmac floor.

...d

[1] for given tones of *ping*. I have tried truing a wheel by pitch before.
It isn't an easy thing to do.

 

[Tim Hall]

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 22:48:39 +0000, David Martin
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>and they should all go *ping*[1] rather than the sound a wet herring makes
>when it hits a tarmac floor.
>
>..d
>
>[1] for given tones of *ping*. I have tried truing a wheel by pitch before.
>It isn't an easy thing to do.
>
I was given a new rear wheel for Christmas. I also discovered my
sister has "perfect pitch". Much harmless fun was had, asking her to
identify the note a spoke played when plucked.

Tim

 

[Pete Whelan]

George Hauxwell wrote:
> Thanks folks!
>
> Following the advice here I now have a wheel which is spinning very true..
>
> Whether each spoke has the right amount of tension I don't know. I've
> checked and tightened any loose spokes, some appear tighter than others due
> to the trueing process - is this o.k.?
>
> I'll have a ride tomorrow and check it all again then.
>
They should all be the same tension on the same side of the wheel.
The rear will have different tensions on the drive and non-drive sides,
unless dishless

 

[Martin Wilson]

On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 17:44:13 -0000, "George Hauxwell"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Out on a ride today and noticed after a about 15 miles that my rear wheel
>was rubbing slightly against left brake shoe. Closer inspection revealed a
>broken spoke. Replaced the spoke today with one from my old LX/Mavic wheel,
>which are the same size and thickness as my current XT/Mavic wheel. But, the
>wheel wobble is worse now than before. How much can I expect to pay to have
>the wheel 'trued'? I've looked at various D.I.Y. cycle maintenance
>web-sites but they all recommend using a 'truing jig', which unfortunately I
>don't have access too.
>

I only got a quote (by phone)for doing this once. I had four wheels
that I wanted trued and was quoted £60 by TRI-UK in Yeovil. I bought
myself a spokey as recommended by someone on this newsgroup and did
them myself. I don't claim to have done a perfect job but the two that
are in regular use have coped with as much as 26 stone for a short
period of time. I've now ridden about 700 miles on them (but I'm a
lighter 20 to 20.5 stone now) and still no problems with them. Its a
pretty good skill to have and damn useful I would imagine if you get
into a minor accident far from home and the wheel gets slightly
knocked out of true.

 

[Dave Kahn]

Martin Wilson wrote:

> I only got a quote (by phone)for doing this once. I had four wheels
> that I wanted trued and was quoted £60 by TRI-UK in Yeovil.

£15 a wheel? Blimey!

--
Dave...

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the
future of the human race. - H. G. Wells

 

[Martin Wilson]

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 10:03:25 GMT, Dave Kahn <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Martin Wilson wrote:
>
>> I only got a quote (by phone)for doing this once. I had four wheels
>> that I wanted trued and was quoted £60 by TRI-UK in Yeovil.
>
>£15 a wheel? Blimey!

Thats what I thought. Still if you've been to the shop its massive and
the overheads must be enormous.