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The day I finally stopped stretching my own spokes
I used to think the tighter I got my spokes, the truer the wheel would stay. Been doing it that way for about 8 years since I started wrenching on my own bikes. Then last month I was helping a buddy true his old mountain bike and he just watched me for a minute. He goes "you know you're just fighting yourself, right?" and showed me how he backs off the tension a quarter turn on the tight side instead of cranking the loose side. First wheel I did his way came out perfectly round and held true through a whole gravel ride. I felt like an idiot but also kinda relieved. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple trick from someone else just completely changed how you work on wheels?
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ross.felix20d ago
Wait, you were just cranking the loose side tighter and tighter? Yeah I learned that lesson the hard way too. A buddy of mine whos been building wheels for 30 years watched me do one wheel and just shook his head. He told me you gotta balance tension, not just crank everything to max tightness. Now I use a tension meter and aim for even numbers across all spokes, then check dish. That quarter turn trick works but only if your overall tension is in the right ballpark first. If you ever get a wheel that keeps going out of true, check the rim itself for a flat spot before you start messing with spokes.
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ruby_rivera7620d agoProlific Poster
Man I made that same mistake when I first started fixing up bikes. I just kept cranking down spokes on the loose side until the wheel looked straight, and it would be all wobbly again after a week. Then a mechanic at the local shop told me the same thing your buddy did, balance is everything. I still dont have a tension meter but I got pretty good at plucking each spoke like a guitar string and listening for a consistent pitch. That trick saved me so much headache, especially on cheaper rims where the metal is softer and you can overtighten a spot without realizing it.
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