How often do u true your wheels ?

Jestronix

10 kW
Joined
Jul 18, 2015
Messages
510
How often and how are most of you truing your wheels? I found a couple loose spokes yester and thought yeh that's safe :)
 
When they need it.

All the wheel motors I've laced using good spokes and rims hardly ever touch them after the initial build.

The few Chinese built wheels I attempted to use at the beginning of this journey? Required constant attention.
 
Once, when I build it.

Or if it's a wheel I get already assembled, once, when I get it, unless it has too-thick spokes like most of the typical ebike hubmotor wheels do, in which case I'd replace the spokes with correct thinner spokes, relace the wheel, tension and true it once, and that's it.


Unless something severe happens to the wheel to damage it (in which case it's usually so bad the rim needs replacing), I don't need to retrue wheels after they've been done right the first time. ;)
 
Same as above, when necessary. Last time I needed to true a wheel it was after it ate a bungee cord I forgot to secure before riding off. On the opposite end of the scale, the front wheel on my touring bike is original 1974 Nishiki, as far as I know it's never been trued and seems pretty perfect still. The braking surface is probably getting a little thin, and as soon as it's current (27") tire expires I'm going to replace it with a modern 700c wheel, due to the better selection of tires in that size.
 
I stick with the too fat spokes, and just keep them tensioned right. That's pretty snug, but never over tight. It's looser than a thin spoke wheels tension for sure. I check for over loose spokes perhaps every 500 miles or so. Which turns out about 4 times a year. To check, I just squeeze on each single crossed pair of spokes, looking for them to all feel the same. Plucked, they ring, but not a high C note. Nor a bass note.

But a new wheel needs attention every 20-50 miles, during the first 100. It depends on how cheap the too fat spokes are. The cheap ones will stretch out for awhile. Better spokes, it's more like tighten up once and done, even for the too fat ones.

Anything talking, like click click click every turn, then I stop and check, and tighten that loose spoke immediately, carrying a spoke wrench on the street rides.

Like AW,, if it really needs truing bad, likely the rim got bent by a pothole or whatever. Running a wheel like that is a disaster brewing. You have one side spokes all loose, the other side tensioned to the breaking point. Then a good bump breaks all those over tight spokes. One nice thing about disk brakes, you can still run a pretty damn wobbly wheel, while waiting for the new rim and spokes to arrive.
 
Mid-drive (14/15 or 14 gauge spokes once after 100 miles or so, then usually never again). The two Chinese kits that I'm using (Dillenger front and YES rear) were dished and trued perfectly when received and I tightened a quarter of a turn twice in the first 100 miles; still tight & true after two years.
 
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