Dave who? writes:
>>> My spokes keep loosening, is their anything I can do?
>>> I thought of putting Loctite on them or something, is this a good
>>> idea or what is please seriously.
>> You didn't say how many spokes this wheel has and how much you
>> weigh. This information would make more apparent what the problem
>> might be.
>> The only way spokes can loosen is that, under load, spokes pointing
>> straight down to the road become slack from overload. After all
>> "the wheel stands on the spokes at the bottom of the wheel",
>> structurally speaking. When slack spoke nipples can unscrew, while
>> the wheel is close to collapse against even light side loads. Most
>> wheels seldom experience side loads so they generally don't fail
>> that way.
>> In any case, your spokes are not tight enough to carry the load
>> borne by the few spokes in the load affected (road contact) zone.
>> Loctite is not the answer, although it and similar glues have been
>> used for wheels that experience rattling loose spokes, a problem
>> with many machine built wheels (SpokePrep).
>> The spokes need to be tighter and possibly more of them to stay
>> tight and true.
>> Please fill in the missing information.
> Sorry I didn't clarify wheel specs n weight. The wheel is a 36 spoke
> laced to a 700 Rigida rim very narrow rim. My weight is 180lbs. Only
> carry about 10 lbs when riding this. The tires are 23cm armadillos
> if it matters. It's a lightweight aluminum Cannondale road bike 20
> pounds if that.
You might notice the sequence of above text, called bottom response,
in which the foregoing is chronologically maintained for those who see
the item for the first time. Being new to this forum, it probably
isn't self evident, but it works for the regulars.
I assumed the information you gave for my earlier response. As I
said, spoke nipples can only loosen if they become slack so therein
lies your problem rather than an overload or too few spokes. If you
choose to fix this yourself, get a good spoke wrench and carefully put
a drop of (motor) oil at every spoke nipple to rim interface from the
outside (inner diameter) of the rim before making adjustments. People
often report of stripping brass spoke nipples, something that is only
possible with high (dry) rim friction, not thread drag. Do this with
the tire removed so you can readily asses roundness and centering.
You may just have a knack for this or you could develop one from a
book that describes all these operations and their significance. The
book is available from various sources among which is:
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/books.html#brandt
Jobst Brandt
