Wheel de-stressing



dtm

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Sep 1, 2006
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Whats the opinions on the most effective way to destress a wheel after adjusting spokes. I tend to grip pairs of spokes and squeeze them however I dont seem to be able to get rid of the dreaded ping ping of the spokes on the first ride and the inevitable wheel going out of true again slightly.
 
dtm said:
Whats the opinions on the most effective way to destress a wheel after adjusting spokes. I tend to grip pairs of spokes and squeeze them however I dont seem to be able to get rid of the dreaded ping ping of the spokes on the first ride and the inevitable wheel going out of true again slightly.
Mavic method or as Barnetts in Chapter 17 calls it stabilizing the true.
It is a slightly risky method because if you overshoot you can plastically deform the rim. This is especially the case with rear wheels when the cassette side is up.
Place a block of wood on the floor and place the wheel on it such that the hub axle (QR skewer removed) rests firmly and squarely on the block. Place your hands at 180 degrees to each other on the rim and at the positions of spokes coming from the nearer side of the hub. Push down with sufficient force to make the spokes coming from the bottom side of the hub nearest your hands to just go to zero tension (this is where the risk comes in - DO NOT START BY PUSHING TOO HARD >>> with all your weight and elbows locked). Once you get a feel for sufficient force apply it again and again rotating the next pair of upward facing spokes (8 pushes per side with 32 spoke wheel). Flip the wheel over and do the same all over again.
You can get more details from Barnetts Manual Chapter 17 or by visiting Mavic's Technical site. I prefer the description from Barnetts.
 
daveornee said:
Mavic method or as Barnetts in Chapter 17 calls it stabilizing the true.
It is a slightly risky method because if you overshoot you can plastically deform the rim. This is especially the case with rear wheels when the cassette side is up.
Place a block of wood on the floor and place the wheel on it such that the hub axle (QR skewer removed) rests firmly and squarely on the block. Place your hands at 180 degrees to each other on the rim and at the positions of spokes coming from the nearer side of the hub. Push down with sufficient force to make the spokes coming from the bottom side of the hub nearest your hands to just go to zero tension (this is where the risk comes in - DO NOT START BY PUSHING TOO HARD >>> with all your weight and elbows locked). Once you get a feel for sufficient force apply it again and again rotating the next pair of upward facing spokes (8 pushes per side with 32 spoke wheel). Flip the wheel over and do the same all over again.
You can get more details from Barnetts Manual Chapter 17 or by visiting Mavic's Technical site. I prefer the description from Barnetts.
Do you regard this Mavic method as superior to grabbing pairs of spokes and squeezing?
 
artemidorus said:
Do you regard this Mavic method as superior to grabbing pairs of spokes and squeezing?
I'm backyard wheel builder with about 25 builds under my belt, and I like the "flex on the floor" method. :)

At first it seems risky, but only a tiny bit of force is required to ping the spokes
 
artemidorus said:
Do you regard this Mavic method as superior to grabbing pairs of spokes and squeezing?
Yes, you can develope a much wider range of forces and they are in the desired direction.
When I build some 36 spokes wheels I need to really push with a great amount of force.
Barnetts teaches the method, Mavic and Bontrager both use it.
 
daveornee said:
Mavic method or as Barnetts in Chapter 17 calls it stabilizing the true.
It is a slightly risky method because if you overshoot you can plastically deform the rim. This is especially the case with rear wheels when the cassette side is up.
Place a block of wood on the floor and place the wheel on it such that the hub axle (QR skewer removed) rests firmly and squarely on the block. Place your hands at 180 degrees to each other on the rim and at the positions of spokes coming from the nearer side of the hub. Push down with sufficient force to make the spokes coming from the bottom side of the hub nearest your hands to just go to zero tension (this is where the risk comes in - DO NOT START BY PUSHING TOO HARD >>> with all your weight and elbows locked). Once you get a feel for sufficient force apply it again and again rotating the next pair of upward facing spokes (8 pushes per side with 32 spoke wheel). Flip the wheel over and do the same all over again.
You can get more details from Barnetts Manual Chapter 17 or by visiting Mavic's Technical site. I prefer the description from Barnetts.
Are you feeling the underside spokes for slackness as you push?
 
artemidorus said:
Are you feeling the underside spokes for slackness as you push?
Yes, I curl a finger on each hand around the underside spokes.
You can often also see it and if there is any residual windup hear it.
Once the process is "done" I check the wheel again for true, centering, and spoke tension balance. At this point I disagree with Barnetts follow on steps. Barnetts says to only make corrections by backing off tension because it has less chance of putting windup back into adjusted spokes. Overshoot and checking visual markers will do the trick. I check to see if adjustment would require addition of or removal of tension and adjust accordingly.
I also do additional round(s) of stabilization until I am satisfied that the wheel is as true & centered as it can be within the range of good and proper tension and tension balance.
If you get a chance to get a copy of Barnetts Chapter 17 it is quite worthwhile reading for anyone serious about working on wheels.
 
artemidorus said:
Do you regard this Mavic method as superior to grabbing pairs of spokes and squeezing?

Look at it this way. By grabbing pairs of spokes you're only setting four spokes per grab. By using "floor tensioning" (I prefer using my workbench), you're setting all the spokes on one side simultaneously. Some more than others, but that is why you rotate the wheel with each push. Keep rotating and pushing down until you can't hear the nipples resetting themselves, then flip and repeat, and then put the wheel back up on the jig. Repeat until satisfied. I've been doing it that way for 30 years.
 

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