@@PinkCampfire I don't think it's a lot. You had to buy all the proper tools that I don't have, plus your experience is very valuable! Imagine Sid doing this job without the help of her Husband. Even though I know how to do this job, I'd still rather take it in to a shop.
this video is better than both the GCN videos on truing. The fact that Syd goes through all the steps in the process as if she's someone who doesnt know what theyre doing makes it perfect for those who don't know what they are doing!!! thanks sm
I love that you are thinking this through live, and feeling demonstrably frustrated/discouraged, as opposed to just certain telling us a bunch of rules and conclusions. very helpful. thank you
this is extra cool. i love watching a tutorial where im learning along with multiple mechanics, a more experienced person and someone who is actively puzzling it out. this is awesome.
Used the zip tie method this morning on a wonky front wheel. With a little trial and error got it looking pretty good. Now I can adjust and use the front pinch brakes again. Thanks!! Great vid.
Wow, imagine my surprise when I tried to true a wheel for the first time and it just seemed to get worse. Then I watched this video and realized that everything I was doing was making it worse! Thank you!
Interesting point on the musical tone, actually made a lot of sense. I have a spoke tensioner and that will make it even easier to find which spoke it is off to focus on
I bet others have said this, but the moment you said you could listen to the sound the spokes make. I immediately grabbed my phone and pulled out my guitar tuner app. I might be terrible tuning by ear, either way, without knowing what was and what wasn't good tension having a relative measurement helped. Pretty much immediately straightened out my wheel no problem.
While matching pitch can be an effective way to compare spoke tensions within the same wheel, (or same flange) it's not reliable for measuring absolute tension since the pitch is a function of spoke gauge and free length along with tension.
The tuning technique totally saved my bacon on an emergency repair to my partner’s commuter bike: broken spoke and everything I did was making it even less true. Used the ‘spoke tuning’ approach was sorted in 5.
Excellent video, I like the format of explaining it through someone who doesn't quite get it (just like I don't) makes it easier to understand from my point of view!! Thank you!
This is a great video for learning how to do this, especially on a nicer wheel with spoke spacing like this! I would also tend to squeeze the spokes as well flick them for the sound to check them. For regular bike wheels i would go to tightening the spokes first, to fix the untrue area on the truing stand because for the most part the spokes are on the loose side and you're only moving it a little bit most of the times anyway. If you hear the spoke make noise like its tight or its just obviously to tight, then i would switch to checking the spoke again and go for loosening them to fix the area then. However that's for a more normal wheel with more spokes than these nicer MTB wheels. Nice bigger & more expensive Mtb Wheels like these with very spaced spokes, make it hard to learn on i would feel like.. It's also just harder to get done as quick to have it perfect and done properly, but the quality of the better wheels definitely makes truing the wheel and keeping it true as you go versus cheaper bikes, much better and just more consistent. We would see a range of "cheaper" everyday mountain bikes up to 10k$+ mountain bikes and road bikes on a somewhat normal basis because of the sales volume, and at the time before covid, when a full suspension downhill bike was 3-4k$ for a Trek, Specialized or Santa Cruz. We were seeing at least one sold a day at least to build whether for customer or display model, and a few more over the weekend especially during the Summers. So we got to see and ride all of the cool bikes up and down the price range for bikes like that and also some other nice model like Giant, Cannondales, Custom build bikes, etc.. This was a good video! I loved to true the wheels as it was kind of satisfying to get a crappy 10$ wobbly wheel back going straight again lol or a really nice bike wheel like this and making it nice and perfect as possible for the guys bike. I would tend to true peoples wheels on the MTB's on the Bike Stand using the gap of wheel between the frame or where you can see easily on each side or the fork spacing on the front.. One thing i don't like is not having a double sided wheel truing stand, even if you're going to use only one side its still easier with the doubled sided truing stand.. Im sure i could get used to it, but it just feels like why not when its already a full wheel truing station..
I build my own wheels and for others, you asked, "if you build your own wheels why are you watching this video?" I'm open to seeing how others build wheels, you can always learn something new!!! After building wheels for a few years I learned from " bike man for you" ( he's nolonger making bike videos, how to tighten spokes by tighten #1 then skip 2 and on to #4,so you are tightening rightside then leftside and going around the wheel much faster and straighter, till you get to the fine tuning. Great work!!
I don't think I've ever commented on a youtube video before but felt compelled to for once. This video was so helpful and well done. I love the dynamic and the commentary is so relatable. Not sure if this was intentional (or if either of you are neurodivergent), but it felt very neurodivergent aware, particularly the comments about what Syd would do normally do out of frustration - This kind of commentary is very relatable and reassuring. Makes me wonder about the number of bike experts that might be neurodivergent. I could see NDs being frustrated away from bike maintenance but also NDs being drawn to it by the hatred of noises and the need to hyperfocus and delve in entirely to be successful. Anyway ... great video thank you so much!
Great video! Since it's two years old someone probly said it already, but for someone who's tone deaf, there are phone apps, esp. tuning apps, that will tell you the frequency of a pitch.
Hi ; I just got done truing my rear wheel on my KENT mtb. I had 2 cases where the single walled rim wouldn't gauge up right. It took me replacing better than half the spoke knipples on the wheel for it to line up right. This last trip I had the wheel in the truing stand with most of the spoke to be loose. Then the wheel trued up nicely. My singled walled rim was a pretzel at the start. I do find the video interesting. I rebuilt my KENT mtb all on my own. I still have 3 big things left to do on it. I like the truing stand you have Syd.
I need to do this to my Honda C70M Super Cub rim.. I called the Honda shop they no longer True rims they only replace and the other motorcycle shop was like we do it but don't work on bikes that old. So thank you for this video... it will help me do it myself.. so my rear rim is wobbly. Like my wheel is more out of wake then your bike rim... and if I need to go 45mph on it often it is best I true it.
Yes!! I might build a wheel soon and now as I see this I realize my last rear wheel on my mountainbike I had to adjust all the time (as soon as I tried to have some fun / was not just biking straight forward). So ofcourse it can be done with the bike as a trueing device. Baybe I´m mixing up "wobbly wheel" with "trueing" but whatever. Having been both a DJ and having worked with pottery helped actually. And yes I intuitively worked with the sound.
The "right hand rule" always works: point your right hand's thumb in the direction you want to move the nut, screw, or in this case the spoke nipple-- so toward the wheel center to tighten, or into the rim to loosen -- then your fingers wrap the spoke and point the direction to turn.
I took apart my wheels on a BMX bike when I was a kid never thinking that I had to put them back together. Luckily I only took one apart at a time and I used the other wheel to figure out how to thread the spokes. I used a marker held against the fork to mark the high areas and just figured out what she is learning here. I still don't get it sometimes. I found on a motorcycle that if you spin the wheel and let a wrench bounce lightly off the spokes you can immediately hear which spokes are off.
I have watched a bunch of truing wheel videos and i didn’t think I would learn anything from this video . I learned the tone/sound thing . I am an impatient type of guy so and never realized I also had to flip wheel so I could check other side. Yes I almost stop watching video until the nipple giggle joke!
True enough, but if the wheel is slight bent and have up and down wobbles (not side to side) or some other complicated issues, listening to the pitch just won't true the wheel sadly.
The real reason for doing 3 spokes at a time (say a half turn of the wrench on the main spoke, plus a quarter turn opposite on each of the adjacent spokes going to the other side of the rim), is because only tightening one may fix the lateral true, it can mess up the radial true. You'll have fixed the side to side wobble (aka not a taco 🌮), but made the rim more egg shaped 🥚.
This is just what i need, i was gonna comment in the last video if you guys could do a straightened wheel video because i had to do it on one of my bikes Thanks
The website of the late sheldon brown has several excellent pages on this. Even includes what musical note each size of spoke makes. His website has everything you need for bicycle repairs
Hey guys fantastic video, learned a lot. Came away with a question: beyond the listening/pitch method, do you have guidance on when to adjust only a "single side" of spokes as opposed to adjusting both sides? Will most adjustments involve both approaches? In the video it seemed like you begin with only a single side based on pitch then did your fine tuning by alternately tighthening/loosening both sides. Again, thank you. Incredibly helpful
Most of the time we find ourselves doing this method (start with one loose spoke them fine tune with both sides). There are times you'd want to only adjust one side (if your wheel was out of dish, ie wasn't centered, but that's something we don't have much experience with and would probably bring to a wheel builder to make sure we didn't screw it up worse 😁
Wow thanx for the tips! I've been a bike messenger since 1990 in NYC and I never came across the 'musical' tip, not once! Also ive used my brake pads for truing stand but cuz of disc, you can't. And I've never seen a one sided truing stand, how can you 'dish' the rim with one sided stand? Dish meaning: making more room on the cassette side?
This truing stand looks really good but there's one problem. There is a large amount of wheels that have a radial problem up and down this truing stand has no way of really measuring that like others. How would you do radial adjusting with This particular stand?
4:10 You can check approximate spoke tension by plucking the spokes and comparing the sound. Higher pitch is more tension. That will at least let you compare relative tension. Edit: Oh I got to 5:32. Yep!
1:20 Because most of the weight is on the back wheel... The back tire goes flat more often than the front one for that very same reason. Fancy rims btw.
So since we're using pitch to tell which spoke to tighten, and the spokes on each side are supposed to be more or less the same all around, would it be viable to just use a guitar tuner and tune each spoke to a certain note or frequency? Or more broadly, using a tuner as spoke tension meter.
Yup, theoretically you should be able to do that. Be aware though that many wheels (especially rear wheels) have different tensions for spokes on each side of the hub.
Just turn your bike upside down remove the chain and remove the sqewers if you use them.. then get on with it... I think its lateral or right and left wobble first ... then do the ovoid thingy then do the other thingy with the hands on the spokes lolol
when using a wheel truing stand to true a wheel that was in an accident, leaving many areas out of true, how do you know with a truing stand if you are truing dead center on the hub? Never used a stand before, so not sure how to set it up to center on the hub since what you guys are using looks rudimentary and can allow for error?
If you think it is out of dish (meaning not centered compared to the hub anymore) on this stand you'd need to set the pin to almost touch on one side then take the wheel off the stand, turn it around and check the same location to see if the pin is the same distance to the other side of the rim.
"if you build your own wheels.." :D well, yes, i do, but i actually have no idea how well i could re-true a wheel after a mishap. i was very anxious to initially even try wheelbuilding for many cycling years, because i thought i'm never patient enough. but since i tried few years ago, i have been riding my own wheels without having to true them ever again. i doubt i would think that if i can build wheels, i can true them - because i imagine getting a homogenenous tension all around trickier when the rim itself is not round anymore (even if disassembled because of a given mishap). hmm.
and i do build wheels ooonly by sound because it results in SUCH BEAUTIFULLY homogeneous tension - and the more homogeneous the tension is all around one wheel, the less likely you'll have to true it again. spokes sounding all different all around CAN result in true wheels, BUT those will be untrue again with the first curbstone or pothole you hit.
First time e bike owner and I have to admit that I did giggle when she said the words “spoke nipple.” Like it's such an odd descriptive word but is enacts the immature side of me 😂
I haven't tryed it, but clip on tuner clipped on the nipple (not sexualy), I mean spoke nipple, could help those who are tone deaf. Also could be cheaper than the spoke tension measuring thingiewhatits... Now I'm curious... Tested and doesn't work :( You get read out, but different one each time you pick. I don't have perfect pitch by any means, but I'd hear over whole step difference. Not to mention that doesn't make sense for the tension in the one spoke changing that rapidly, on wheel which is completely fine / operational. Maybe tuner with mic would work...
@@sydfixesbikes As I'm thinking about it, even different clip-on tuner might work. That peterson strobo clip I tested could be too "advanced" / precise against its own good in this case. Unfortunately I can't find my old mic equiped tuner at the moment. I'll comment results if I find anything new regarding spoke tunning :)
I love how you make Syd think on her own! When I was a kid, (I'm now 71) my father bought me a spoke tightener tool, because I was trying to remove spokes with a needle nose pliers. I had a hub that broke, so I took another wheel completely apart and switched hubs! Luckily the hub fit on my better bike. I put every spoke back on and after quite awhile, I was able to tighten all the spokes back to true. I loved my dad, because he didn't help me. He aways let me learn by trial and error. He did, however, show me how to pluck the spokes for sound. We were farmers. All my bicycles were hand me downs or junkers.
You guys are really good at explaining! Another thing I would suggest is, before you start the process put a drop of oil where the nipple enters the rim. Also, whenever you turn any spoke, turn it a 1/4 turn more than you want, and then turn that 1/4 turn back. The first thing helps with the nipple getting stuck on the rim and the second helps against spoke twisting.
She did an amazing job at acting like she didn't know what she was doing! She asked all the questions a viewer like me would ask! In short, a fantastic video on how to true your wheel and why!
She's learning stuff. She is a little clumsy , but it is cute :)). Also, mechanic will never have rings on fingers, shirt sleeves over fingers, and her hands are too nice for manual work person. I am mechanic and cant wear even a watch, which is sad, because I like watches :))
As a general rule of thumb, a spoke will never just magically for no reason work itself tighter, it'll almost always be the other side becoming looser. either by stretching or just the nipple works itself a bit loose. If they've become tight its mostly because they've gotten a sharp kink that won't straighten out and at that point its spoke replacement time.. you can loosen it a bit and keep riding a weakened spoke, but in addition to not being as strong the kink will slowly work itself out and you'll need to keep tightening the spoke multiple times.. so just replace it and be done.
That reasoning only works if the wheel hasn't had an attempt at truing from either a bike shop or an owner! As a bike shop employee, the usual procedure would be to loosen the over-tight spokes first, without question!
What I've found works great at keeping track of what spokes you're working on is using painters or masking tape. Rip off a couple of small pieces and stick one to the first spoke of the section you're working on and then stick the other to the last spoke. Once you've finished that section, use the same pieces of tape to mark off the next section, and so on. Works like a charm.
actually blew my mind. genius and yet so simple. plus the tip from Renax the man that spokes way more likely loosen makes everything so much easier. If you are unsure always go for tightening the spokes.
If this video was helpful and saved you time and/or money, consider supporting the channel by hitting the "Thanks" button above to leave a tip.
Hello Syd. My local shop is charging $35-50 USD depending on severity is that a lot?
@@PinkCampfire I don't think it's a lot. You had to buy all the proper tools that I don't have, plus your experience is very valuable! Imagine Sid doing this job without the help of her Husband. Even though I know how to do this job, I'd still rather take it in to a shop.
@@ggebhard1 wrong response. Edit: i took it to another shop that charged me $20
She's Cute! Can we keep her ?
😍😍😍😍
this video is better than both the GCN videos on truing. The fact that Syd goes through all the steps in the process as if she's someone who doesnt know what theyre doing makes it perfect for those who don't know what they are doing!!! thanks sm
I love that you are thinking this through live, and feeling demonstrably frustrated/discouraged, as opposed to just certain telling us a bunch of rules and conclusions. very helpful. thank you
this is extra cool. i love watching a tutorial where im learning along with multiple mechanics, a more experienced person and someone who is actively puzzling it out. this is awesome.
I have been putting off truing my wheel for a while. Your video is both informative and entertaining. Cheers.
Just finished truing my wheel. It's now nice and straight thanks to your video.
Used the zip tie method this morning on a wonky front wheel. With a little trial and error got it looking pretty good.
Now I can adjust and use the front pinch brakes again. Thanks!! Great vid.
Thank you guys so much. Simple, Clear, everyday language people can understand. I really appreciate that so much!
Ya'll are always on point with a new tech tutorial for a maintenance item that I'm in need of performing!
We read minds 😜
This is what I´m trying to get better at. Thanks for the upload!
Wow, imagine my surprise when I tried to true a wheel for the first time and it just seemed to get worse. Then I watched this video and realized that everything I was doing was making it worse! Thank you!
Interesting point on the musical tone, actually made a lot of sense. I have a spoke tensioner and that will make it even easier to find which spoke it is off to focus on
I bet others have said this, but the moment you said you could listen to the sound the spokes make. I immediately grabbed my phone and pulled out my guitar tuner app. I might be terrible tuning by ear, either way, without knowing what was and what wasn't good tension having a relative measurement helped. Pretty much immediately straightened out my wheel no problem.
Holyactually moly, thanks for the brilliant idea m8t.
Next level mate
Smart. And I'm mad that I didn't figure that out myself haha
While matching pitch can be an effective way to compare spoke tensions within the same wheel, (or same flange) it's not reliable for measuring absolute tension since the pitch is a function of spoke gauge and free length along with tension.
So if a guitar app registers a specific note on most spokes that you pluck at the same position ( important ).you could tune a perfect rim tension.
The tuning technique totally saved my bacon on an emergency repair to my partner’s commuter bike: broken spoke and everything I did was making it even less true. Used the ‘spoke tuning’ approach was sorted in 5.
Excellent video, I like the format of explaining it through someone who doesn't quite get it (just like I don't) makes it easier to understand from my point of view!! Thank you!
This is a great video for learning how to do this, especially on a nicer wheel with spoke spacing like this!
I would also tend to squeeze the spokes as well flick them for the sound to check them.
For regular bike wheels i would go to tightening the spokes first, to fix the untrue area on the truing stand because for the most part the spokes are on the loose side and you're only moving it a little bit most of the times anyway.
If you hear the spoke make noise like its tight or its just obviously to tight, then i would switch to checking the spoke again and go for loosening them to fix the area then.
However that's for a more normal wheel with more spokes than these nicer MTB wheels.
Nice bigger & more expensive Mtb Wheels like these with very spaced spokes, make it hard to learn on i would feel like..
It's also just harder to get done as quick to have it perfect and done properly, but the quality of the better wheels definitely makes truing the wheel and keeping it true as you go versus cheaper bikes, much better and just more consistent.
We would see a range of "cheaper" everyday mountain bikes up to 10k$+ mountain bikes and road bikes on a somewhat normal basis because of the sales volume, and at the time before covid, when a full suspension downhill bike was 3-4k$ for a Trek, Specialized or Santa Cruz.
We were seeing at least one sold a day at least to build whether for customer or display model, and a few more over the weekend especially during the Summers.
So we got to see and ride all of the cool bikes up and down the price range for bikes like that and also some other nice model like Giant, Cannondales, Custom build bikes, etc..
This was a good video! I loved to true the wheels as it was kind of satisfying to get a crappy 10$ wobbly wheel back going straight again lol or a really nice bike wheel like this and making it nice and perfect as possible for the guys bike.
I would tend to true peoples wheels on the MTB's on the Bike Stand using the gap of wheel between the frame or where you can see easily on each side or the fork spacing on the front..
One thing i don't like is not having a double sided wheel truing stand, even if you're going to use only one side its still easier with the doubled sided truing stand.. Im sure i could get used to it, but it just feels like why not when its already a full wheel truing station..
This was awesome! The best explanation (and process) of what to do and how to do it. Thanks!
I build my own wheels and for others, you asked, "if you build your own wheels why are you watching this video?" I'm open to seeing how others build wheels, you can always learn something new!!! After building wheels for a few years I learned from " bike man for you" ( he's nolonger making bike videos, how to tighten spokes by tighten #1 then skip 2 and on to #4,so you are tightening rightside then leftside and going around the wheel much faster and straighter, till you get to the fine tuning. Great work!!
I don't think I've ever commented on a youtube video before but felt compelled to for once. This video was so helpful and well done. I love the dynamic and the commentary is so relatable.
Not sure if this was intentional (or if either of you are neurodivergent), but it felt very neurodivergent aware, particularly the comments about what Syd would do normally do out of frustration - This kind of commentary is very relatable and reassuring. Makes me wonder about the number of bike experts that might be neurodivergent. I could see NDs being frustrated away from bike maintenance but also NDs being drawn to it by the hatred of noises and the need to hyperfocus and delve in entirely to be successful.
Anyway ... great video thank you so much!
Great video! Since it's two years old someone probly said it already, but for someone who's tone deaf, there are phone apps, esp. tuning apps, that will tell you the frequency of a pitch.
Yours stand is amazing !!! Loved that 🤙
Syd thinking while trying to true the Wheel is also outstanding 😜
When tightening the spoke, spin the wheel up so the subject spoke is at eye level. This way it'll always be righty tighty.
super helpful, with all the charm of you two interacting, and Syd learning with us!
Thank you Syd & Matt for your invaluable demonstration!❤😊🎉
Great love watching others do the work I used to.
The front wheel on my EBike has a bad wobble, you are now my official SPOKES-person. Thanks!!!!!
🤣
Hi ; I just got done truing my rear wheel on my KENT mtb. I had 2 cases where the single walled rim wouldn't gauge up right. It took me replacing better than half the spoke knipples on the wheel for it to line up right. This last trip I had the wheel in the truing stand with most of the spoke to be loose. Then the wheel trued up nicely. My singled walled rim was a pretzel at the start. I do find the video interesting. I rebuilt my KENT mtb all on my own. I still have 3 big things left to do on it. I like the truing stand you have Syd.
Similar in many ways to tuning drums. I totally related to this vid because I've been tuning drums for most of my life.
I need to do this to my Honda C70M Super Cub rim.. I called the Honda shop they no longer True rims they only replace and the other motorcycle shop was like we do it but don't work on bikes that old.
So thank you for this video... it will help me do it myself.. so my rear rim is wobbly. Like my wheel is more out of wake then your bike rim... and if I need to go 45mph on it often it is best I true it.
Love your channel, I've learned so much from y'all! Thanks for helping me get a better grasp on how to keep my wheels pretty true. Peace!
Yes!! I might build a wheel soon and now as I see this I realize my last rear wheel on my mountainbike I had to adjust all the time (as soon as I tried to have some fun / was not just biking straight forward). So ofcourse it can be done with the bike as a trueing device. Baybe I´m mixing up "wobbly wheel" with "trueing" but whatever. Having been both a DJ and having worked with pottery helped actually. And yes I intuitively worked with the sound.
The "right hand rule" always works: point your right hand's thumb in the direction you want to move the nut, screw, or in this case the spoke nipple-- so toward the wheel center to tighten, or into the rim to loosen -- then your fingers wrap the spoke and point the direction to turn.
so much more A. informative B. entertaining than the one i watched before this one
I took apart my wheels on a BMX bike when I was a kid never thinking that I had to put them back together. Luckily I only took one apart at a time and I used the other wheel to figure out how to thread the spokes. I used a marker held against the fork to mark the high areas and just figured out what she is learning here. I still don't get it sometimes.
I found on a motorcycle that if you spin the wheel and let a wrench bounce lightly off the spokes you can immediately hear which spokes are off.
You guys are the best! Thanks for the awesome video! I am getting bikes ready for spring riding.
I appreciate the sound trick
Incredibly informative and well done thank you very much!
I have watched a bunch of truing wheel videos and i didn’t think I would learn anything from this video . I learned the tone/sound thing . I am an impatient type of guy so and never realized I also had to flip wheel so I could check other side. Yes I almost stop watching video until the nipple giggle joke!
EXCELLENT VIDEO. tOTALLY UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING. wILL BE TRUING MY OWN WHEELS NOW
As I am studying music, the turning part of it may make this task take longer than it should. Mostly because I'll try to make the pitches perfect....
True enough, but if the wheel is slight bent and have up and down wobbles (not side to side) or some other complicated issues, listening to the pitch just won't true the wheel sadly.
Always learning some great info on your channel.
Thank you for the knowledge and understanding.
When using the spoke wrench all you have to remember is that your threading onto the spoke wire which has the threads on it. not the rim itself
The real reason for doing 3 spokes at a time (say a half turn of the wrench on the main spoke, plus a quarter turn opposite on each of the adjacent spokes going to the other side of the rim), is because only tightening one may fix the lateral true, it can mess up the radial true. You'll have fixed the side to side wobble (aka not a taco 🌮), but made the rim more egg shaped 🥚.
This is an excellent video! I finally understand how to true a wheel now. :-)
What a great video!
Good job, you guys addressed all my questions 🙂
This is just what i need, i was gonna comment in the last video if you guys could do a straightened wheel video because i had to do it on one of my bikes
Thanks
Great information. Cast/ non spoke wheels would be so much better, but of course the price can be extreme.
Well done to the both of you, thank you much.. I'm subscribing.
The website of the late sheldon brown has several excellent pages on this. Even includes what musical note each size of spoke makes. His website has everything you need for bicycle repairs
Fun video, I enjoyed it and now have to go check my wheels
Perfect video to share, congrats!! keep the good work
Dont' forget to center the rim with the hub.
Thanks a lot! This is really great. Thanks to both of you.
I love this song.
Hey guys fantastic video, learned a lot. Came away with a question: beyond the listening/pitch method, do you have guidance on when to adjust only a "single side" of spokes as opposed to adjusting both sides? Will most adjustments involve both approaches? In the video it seemed like you begin with only a single side based on pitch then did your fine tuning by alternately tighthening/loosening both sides. Again, thank you. Incredibly helpful
Most of the time we find ourselves doing this method (start with one loose spoke them fine tune with both sides). There are times you'd want to only adjust one side (if your wheel was out of dish, ie wasn't centered, but that's something we don't have much experience with and would probably bring to a wheel builder to make sure we didn't screw it up worse 😁
Yep the girl has character, makes learning less painful, thanks.
Wow thanx for the tips! I've been a bike messenger since 1990 in NYC and I never came across the 'musical' tip, not once! Also ive used my brake pads for truing stand but cuz of disc, you can't. And I've never seen a one sided truing stand, how can you 'dish' the rim with one sided stand? Dish meaning: making more room on the cassette side?
I believe you can't check the dish, so it's very much a truing stand vs a wheel building stand.
"It's illegal to giggle when saying spoke nipples."
I'm calling the police... ;-)
Can't decide whether truing a wheel or adjusting the derailer is more fun /s
Riding only on gravel "fixes" a lot of minor annoyances on your bike.
hmm gonna see if I can use my guitare tuner to help with this!
spokenipple giggle made me subscribe :p
thank you. guys ❤❤❤
It's not lying, it's just bending the truth. :)
This truing stand looks really good but there's one problem.
There is a large amount of wheels that have a radial problem up and down this truing stand has no way of really measuring that like others.
How would you do radial adjusting with This particular stand?
Excellent video
4:10 You can check approximate spoke tension by plucking the spokes and comparing the sound. Higher pitch is more tension. That will at least let you compare relative tension. Edit: Oh I got to 5:32. Yep!
Thank you great video learn alot.
1:20 Because most of the weight is on the back wheel... The back tire goes flat more often than the front one for that very same reason.
Fancy rims btw.
Nice, with my luck I would get wheel perfect and ending up with an oval.
Cool...Really Good Video...Thank You...!!!
Thanks
Thanks!
In no time, this will be my doctoral degree, this is what adult learning is all about not the instructions given in school.
thanks alot for this nice video !
So since we're using pitch to tell which spoke to tighten, and the spokes on each side are supposed to be more or less the same all around, would it be viable to just use a guitar tuner and tune each spoke to a certain note or frequency? Or more broadly, using a tuner as spoke tension meter.
Yup, theoretically you should be able to do that. Be aware though that many wheels (especially rear wheels) have different tensions for spokes on each side of the hub.
Just turn your bike upside down remove the chain and remove the sqewers if you use them.. then get on with it... I think its lateral or right and left wobble first ... then do the ovoid thingy then do the other thingy with the hands on the spokes lolol
Clear as mud 😅
Good video
when using a wheel truing stand to true a wheel that was in an accident, leaving many areas out of true, how do you know with a truing stand if you are truing dead center on the hub? Never used a stand before, so not sure how to set it up to center on the hub since what you guys are using looks rudimentary and can allow for error?
If you think it is out of dish (meaning not centered compared to the hub anymore) on this stand you'd need to set the pin to almost touch on one side then take the wheel off the stand, turn it around and check the same location to see if the pin is the same distance to the other side of the rim.
So if you have a tension meter like the park tool tm-1 does that negate the need for a truing stand?
Nope. But it means you don't have to use the "ping and listen to the tone" method!
"if you build your own wheels.." :D well, yes, i do, but i actually have no idea how well i could re-true a wheel after a mishap. i was very anxious to initially even try wheelbuilding for many cycling years, because i thought i'm never patient enough. but since i tried few years ago, i have been riding my own wheels without having to true them ever again. i doubt i would think that if i can build wheels, i can true them - because i imagine getting a homogenenous tension all around trickier when the rim itself is not round anymore (even if disassembled because of a given mishap). hmm.
and i do build wheels ooonly by sound because it results in SUCH BEAUTIFULLY homogeneous tension - and the more homogeneous the tension is all around one wheel, the less likely you'll have to true it again. spokes sounding all different all around CAN result in true wheels, BUT those will be untrue again with the first curbstone or pothole you hit.
i was riding my bike yesterday and one spoke of the rear wheel suddenly snapped....now the wheel is false
A 17min tutorial, holy Shite!’ Trim this ish down to at least 5mins
What truing stand did you use for this video?
Feedback Sports (link in description)
First time e bike owner and I have to admit that I did giggle when she said the words “spoke nipple.” Like it's such an odd descriptive word but is enacts the immature side of me 😂
great
You can get tension meters for about £/$20. The bikes are 1,000s - why guesstimate?
I haven't tryed it, but clip on tuner clipped on the nipple (not sexualy), I mean spoke nipple, could help those who are tone deaf. Also could be cheaper than the spoke tension measuring thingiewhatits... Now I'm curious... Tested and doesn't work :( You get read out, but different one each time you pick. I don't have perfect pitch by any means, but I'd hear over whole step difference. Not to mention that doesn't make sense for the tension in the one spoke changing that rapidly, on wheel which is completely fine / operational.
Maybe tuner with mic would work...
Thanks for trying and sharing. Bummer that it didn't work. Like you said, maybe with a non-clip tuner?
@@sydfixesbikes As I'm thinking about it, even different clip-on tuner might work. That peterson strobo clip I tested could be too "advanced" / precise against its own good in this case. Unfortunately I can't find my old mic equiped tuner at the moment. I'll comment results if I find anything new regarding spoke tunning :)
So when does Syd center a wheel? :D
🙄Great vid...but i was hoping that the ladies hair plaits were going to get stuck in wheel😁....only joking, great hair👍
The wheel has a hop ok !
I do build wheels and I am enjoying myself, because I watched Syd giggle after saying "nipple".
Thanks!
I actually LOVE that you guys go into the ‘why’. No other trueing video I’ve seen does that. And btw, damn nice trueing stand you’ve got there.
I believe this is from REI but if someone can tell us which stand it is that would be very helpful cause i am in the market for buying a stand.
@SyedtheITguy did you check the video description 😉
I love how you make Syd think on her own! When I was a kid, (I'm now 71) my father bought me a spoke tightener tool, because I was trying to remove spokes with a needle nose pliers. I had a hub that broke, so I took another wheel completely apart and switched hubs! Luckily the hub fit on my better bike. I put every spoke back on and after quite awhile, I was able to tighten all the spokes back to true. I loved my dad, because he didn't help me. He aways let me learn by trial and error. He did, however, show me how to pluck the spokes for sound. We were farmers. All my bicycles were hand me downs or junkers.
You guys are really good at explaining!
Another thing I would suggest is, before you start the process put a drop of oil where the nipple enters the rim. Also, whenever you turn any spoke, turn it a 1/4 turn more than you want, and then turn that 1/4 turn back. The first thing helps with the nipple getting stuck on the rim and the second helps against spoke twisting.
Thank you.. that makes sense.
She did an amazing job at acting like she didn't know what she was doing! She asked all the questions a viewer like me would ask! In short, a fantastic video on how to true your wheel and why!
I thought she actually didn't know anything.
She's actually learning stuff while making the video.
i think you are correct , and for the reasons you suggested
She's learning stuff. She is a little clumsy , but it is cute :)). Also, mechanic will never have rings on fingers, shirt sleeves over fingers, and her hands are too nice for manual work person. I am mechanic and cant wear even a watch, which is sad, because I like watches :))
Syd is a fantastic guinea pig for all of us learners! Love her quirkiness!!❤🎉
As a general rule of thumb, a spoke will never just magically for no reason work itself tighter, it'll almost always be the other side becoming looser. either by stretching or just the nipple works itself a bit loose.
If they've become tight its mostly because they've gotten a sharp kink that won't straighten out and at that point its spoke replacement time.. you can loosen it a bit and keep riding a weakened spoke, but in addition to not being as strong the kink will slowly work itself out and you'll need to keep tightening the spoke multiple times.. so just replace it and be done.
That's a great point.
I replace stuff when it does not work anymore ;) it can work for years with a little wooble :)
Thanks for your help guys you are great,
That reasoning only works if the wheel hasn't had an attempt at truing from either a bike shop or an owner! As a bike shop employee, the usual procedure would be to loosen the over-tight spokes first, without question!
What I've found works great at keeping track of what spokes you're working on is using painters or masking tape. Rip off a couple of small pieces and stick one to the first spoke of the section you're working on and then stick the other to the last spoke. Once you've finished that section, use the same pieces of tape to mark off the next section, and so on. Works like a charm.
I think chalk might help better.
The best "how to true a wheel" video I've seen. The section on tone of spoke for about 5 minutes was a Eureka moment!
Thank you
actually blew my mind. genius and yet so simple.
plus the tip from Renax the man that spokes way more likely loosen makes everything so much easier.
If you are unsure always go for tightening the spokes.
Yeah I was about to go start doing whatever I thought was right and I’m glad I had this moment too with the guitar musical stuff