Wheel truing - Science or acquired skill?

[Delpo]

I am having difficulty finding LBS to quickly service wheels. Due to the state of our roads pot holes are more frequent than not. Frustration is leading me to think about purchasing the equipment to true the wheels myself. Does anyone on the forum true their own wheels? How difficult is it? Is it a science or an acquired skill. Your comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Delpo

[11.4]

Genetics.

[Bill Bove]

The Spoke Wrench = An inexspensive tool that can get you into a lot of very exspensive trouble.

Start with a couple of wheels that are only slightly out of true or take an old wheel you no longer worry about and cut a spoke in half, just like it broke, and fix it. Practice, practice, practice...

[SoCalSteve]

Patience and practice. Its no science. Its a bike wheel. You turn the spoke one way and it pulls the rim one way, you turn it the other, etc, etc, etc....Not rocket science here.

Get a simple truing stand a spoke wrench. Turn a spoke a 1/4 of a turn in one direction and see what it does, repeat as neccesary.

If you do a search on the Forum, you will come up with some great advice. I know as I have asked these same questions and gotten great responses.

Good luck!

Steve

PS: If you learn how to do this, it will be one less thing you will be be-holden to a bike store for. Thats worth it alone!!!

[Grant McLean]

My answer would also depend on what wheels you have.
Some are trickier than others for the first timer.

g

[RPS]

I'm biased on the subject because my wheels never go out of true (except for rare accidents). I'd get heavier-duty wheels.

[Peter P.]

It's like any skill or craft-cooking, woodwork, etc.

There a many good books available, or even regular maintenance books that include truing/building as a chapter.

For what it's worth, I started building wheels as a 17 year old, 30 years ago. I wrecked the first two rims I built, during the building process! The third and fourth ones were okay, and as a kid, that was traumatic AND expensive! I wish that then, I had the resources that are available today. That was hundreds of wheels ago and now I'm good enough that even my friends ask me to build their wheels.

[saab2000]

I have built my own wheels, but found better with Campagnolo Nucleons.

Anyway, yes, you can true your own wheels. If you are prepared to dope. Of have incredible genetics.

Or if you get a book, good truing stand and a good spoke wrench.

You can get a Park shop stand for a reasonable price. For $200-$250 you can get a killer stand, killer spoke wrench and Jobst Brandts book.

Money well spent.

[Fivethumbs]

Don't buy the stand that only trues one side of the wheel and then you have to flip the wheel around to do the other side. I bought that machine to learn on and I ended up throwing the wheel dish off so bad I had to take it to the LBS anyway.

[11.4]

Seriously, ...

To do it right and be happy with the result, I'd suggest you get the following:

Park TS-2 truing stand
Park WAG-4 wheel dishing guide
DT tensiometer (expensive but the best; get the Wheelsmith or Park if you can't spring for the DT)
a good spoke wrench -- DT also makes the best but it's pricey

Get some antiseize compound to lubricate your ferrules lightly and some Wheelsmith SpokePrep to treat the spoke threads. Whatever amount you get, it'll last you for many many wheels. Oh, and of course you'll need some spokes. And two rims. and two hubs.

For reading material, you can go to Sheldon Brown's website or get Gerd Schraner's book (which is basically sponsored by DT). In either case, do a search on wheelbuilding in this forum, BikeForums, and perhaps another -- some of the best technical info is now on interactive forums. None of these is as useful as building a wheel with someone who knows how, but they have information worth learning and you can get a good result. I personally can't really recommend Jobst Brandt's book -- it's opinionated and tends not to teach as well as Schraner's.

Your first couple wheels may be a bit rough, but the next couple will be a lot better and pretty soon you'll be better than the local shop mechanic (which unfortunately isn't usually saying a lot in these days of prebuilt wheels). It's hard to ruin a wheel -- at worst you might have to take it apart and start over. If you have correct spoke tension, the tension is even, and the wheel is true, you've done it right and everything should work well.

[CalfeeFly]

The Spoke Wrench = An inexspensive tool that can get you into a lot of very exspensive trouble.

Many years ago I was leaving my dealer with a spoke wrench in hand. The mechanic who knew me well was coming in the door and saw it. His words to me were that a spoke wrench in my hands was a deadly weapon.

I went home and proved him correct. :D

[Samster]

it's not that hard for wheels with fewer than 9 speeds. i think it gets more difficult when the cog number goes up. more dish to contend with.

[11.4]

it's not that hard for wheels with fewer than 9 speeds. i think it gets more difficult when the cog number goes up. more dish to contend with.

That's why a tensiometer is a critical part of the arsenal these days. You can be sure everything is at the desired tension and that the tension is even across one side of the rear wheel. Get that right, even if it takes a bit longer, and you can expect to have a good wheel.

[gone]

The key is patience and good tools. You may never be as fast as the chimp at the LBS but, if you take your time, you'll do a much better job. You're not on the clock and you're not getting paid to do it. Follow 11.4's recommendations on tools, go slow, make small changes, inspect the results and repeat until you get it right.

FWIW, I've bought expensive built wheels where the spoke tension varied by more than 80%. Even if you don't build your own, the tools are still worth having just to check. I always slap a new set of wheels on the truing stand and run a tension gauge over the spokes. You would be flat out amazed at the number of brand new factory built wheels I've seen that are way out of tension, not properly dished, etc. You can do at least as good a job yourself if you're careful and have any mechanical ability at all.

[shaq-d]

it's not a science, it's a skill... nonetheless for most the only way to start is by buying a book like jobst brandt's and simply follow the instructions..

anyway as others have said, it's about patience and perfectionism...

it's also a skill that is with you forever, so well worth it.

sd