When to true wheels?

[Fred]

I've noticed recently that I can detect a very, very slight wobble to the front tire as I ride. It
is barely perceptible but it wasn't there before. I get no chatter on the front brake at all. It
feels like it always did. I did have to tighten a loose spoke a week ago but I just tightened the
one so that it sounded like the others when plucked and didn't touch any others. Am I OK or do I
need to see about truing the wheel? Thanks.

Fred

 

[Mike Jacoubowsk]

> I've noticed recently that I can detect a very, very slight wobble to the front tire as I ride. It
> is barely perceptible but it wasn't there
before.
> I get no chatter on the front brake at all. It feels like it always did.
I
> did have to tighten a loose spoke a week ago but I just tightened the one
so
> that it sounded like the others when plucked and didn't touch any others. Am I OK or do I need to
> see about truing the wheel? Thanks.

If you're seeing a wobble in the front tire, it's most likely from the tire itself. It's not unusual
for tire casings to have minor distortions when new, and sometimes they'll develop them over time if
you hit something hard enough to damage the casing. Any sort of major distortion is an indication of
possible failure.

The easiest way to tell if it's actually the wheel that needs truing is to reference the rim at the
brake pad. A small amount of wobble is not cause for concern, but spokes that are markedly looser
than others in the wheel would be.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

 

[Fred]

"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
newsWIKa.1375$%[email protected]...
> > I've noticed recently that I can detect a very, very slight wobble to
the
> > front tire as I ride. It is barely perceptible but it wasn't there
> before.
> > I get no chatter on the front brake at all. It feels like it always
did.
> I
> > did have to tighten a loose spoke a week ago but I just tightened the
one
> so
> > that it sounded like the others when plucked and didn't touch any
others.
> > Am I OK or do I need to see about truing the wheel? Thanks.
>
> If you're seeing a wobble in the front tire, it's most likely from the
tire
> itself. It's not unusual for tire casings to have minor distortions when new, and sometimes
> they'll develop them over time if you hit something
hard
> enough to damage the casing. Any sort of major distortion is an
indication
> of possible failure.
>
> The easiest way to tell if it's actually the wheel that needs truing is to reference the rim at
> the brake pad. A small amount of wobble is not cause for concern, but spokes that are markedly
> looser than others in the wheel would be.
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com
>
>
Thanks. I'll just leave it for now and see how things develop. I only had one loose spoke. Can't
tell you why. I'll check the wheel against the brake pad as you suggest tomorrow morning before I
ride. I'm probably just a little overly concerned about nothing. Take care.

Fred

 

[Risto Varanka]

Fred <[email protected]> wrote:
: I've noticed recently that I can detect a very, very slight wobble to the front tire as I ride. It
: is barely perceptible but it wasn't there before. I get no chatter on the front brake at all. It
: feels like it always did. I did have to tighten a loose spoke a week ago but I just tightened the
: one so that it sounded like the others when plucked and didn't touch any others. Am I OK or do I
: need to see about truing the wheel? Thanks.

I guess if you had a truing stand it could make sense to periodically check the wheels, or whenever
you notice something unusual. I think some people even true their wheels using just the brake pads
as a guide... hmm I did that once, should try the truing stand now

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html varis at no spam please iki fi

 

[Peter Cole]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I guess if you had a truing stand it could make sense to periodically check the wheels, or
> whenever you notice something unusual. I think some people even true their wheels using just the
> brake pads as a guide... hmm I did that once, should try the truing stand now

You don't need a truing stand to check wheels, brake pads are fine. You do (to OP) need to check
against the rim, not the tire. Well tensioned wheels shouldn't need regular attention, stress
relieved wheels shouldn't break spokes. Check out the FAQ for more wheel info.

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Sun, 29 Jun 2003 23:47:22 GMT, "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:

>You don't need a truing stand to check wheels, brake pads are fine. You do (to OP) need to check
>against the rim, not the tire. Well tensioned wheels shouldn't need regular attention, stress
>relieved wheels shouldn't break spokes. Check out the FAQ for more wheel info.

Stress relieved *and* properly tensioned. No amount of stress relieving is gonna keep spokes from
dying if the tension on the bottom spokes drops to , which can happen with not-terribly-tight wheels
and heavy riders.

Jasper

 

[Peter Cole]

"Jasper Janssen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 29 Jun 2003 23:47:22 GMT, "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >You don't need a truing stand to check wheels, brake pads are fine. You do
(to
> >OP) need to check against the rim, not the tire. Well tensioned wheels shouldn't need regular
> >attention, stress relieved wheels shouldn't break spokes. Check out the FAQ for more wheel info.
>
> Stress relieved *and* properly tensioned. No amount of stress relieving is gonna keep spokes from
> dying if the tension on the bottom spokes drops to , which can happen with not-terribly-tight
> wheels and heavy riders.

That's what I meant by "well tensioned". I would have thought that obvious.

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 11:56:00 GMT, "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
>"Jasper Janssen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Sun, 29 Jun 2003 23:47:22 GMT, "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >You don't need a truing stand to check wheels, brake pads are fine. You do (to OP) need to check
>> >against the rim, not the tire. Well tensioned wheels shouldn't need regular attention, stress
>> >relieved wheels shouldn't break spokes. Check out the FAQ for more wheel info.
>>
>> Stress relieved *and* properly tensioned. No amount of stress relieving is gonna keep spokes from
>> dying if the tension on the bottom spokes drops to , which can happen with not-terribly-tight
>> wheels and heavy riders.
>
>That's what I meant by "well tensioned". I would have thought that obvious.

Maybe I misinterpreted, but it looked like you were stating two separate and independent effects:
Well-tensioned results in wheels that don't need truing, and stress relieved results in wheels that
don't drop spokes, and if you do both you get both.

Jasper

 

[Peter Cole]

"Jasper Janssen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 11:56:00 GMT, "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >"Jasper Janssen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> On Sun, 29 Jun 2003 23:47:22 GMT, "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>
> >> >You don't need a truing stand to check wheels, brake pads are fine. You
do (to
> >> >OP) need to check against the rim, not the tire. Well tensioned wheels shouldn't need regular
> >> >attention, stress relieved wheels shouldn't break spokes. Check out the FAQ for more wheel
> >> >info.
> >>
> >> Stress relieved *and* properly tensioned. No amount of stress relieving
is
> >> gonna keep spokes from dying if the tension on the bottom spokes drops to , which can happen
> >> with not-terribly-tight wheels and heavy riders.
> >
> >That's what I meant by "well tensioned". I would have thought that obvious.
>
> Maybe I misinterpreted, but it looked like you were stating two separate and independent effects:
> Well-tensioned results in wheels that don't need truing, and stress relieved results in wheels
> that don't drop spokes, and if you do both you get both.

Thanks for catching that, someone could have been seriously hurt if they thought my advice was:
tension *or* stress relieve. It's guys like you that make this NG what it is.

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 00:06:17 GMT, "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
>"Jasper Janssen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...

>> Maybe I misinterpreted, but it looked like you were stating two separate and independent effects:
>> Well-tensioned results in wheels that don't need truing, and stress relieved results in wheels
>> that don't drop spokes, and if you do both you get both.
>
>Thanks for catching that, someone could have been seriously hurt if they thought my advice was:
>tension *or* stress relieve. It's guys like you that make this NG what it is.

Now I'm wondering whether that's a compliment or not

Jasper