How to tighten / torque your spokes: Don't neglect this easy task, especially on new bikes!

A part of bike maintenance that is normally overlooked (I didn't need do it for years) is proper spoke torque. Keep your wheels strong and true for years with some simple maintenance!

[@oregonmotojohn]

Cool, that makes sense. 👍 I like the Fast Company torque wrench because it is so compact, but Tusk makes one that is adjustable so it would work well too. I agree, it wouldn't hurt to have one on hand.

[@kx8960]

Huh, that's interesting. I always did it by sound. I'd tap them, and if one sounded a bit dull, I'd tighten it a bit until it "sounded" right. So far the rims seem nice and straight on both my dirtbikes. didn't know there was a "torque wrench", I'll have to look into it.

[@oregonmotojohn]

You can keep doing it the way you are going by sound, the manual does say this is a correct method but it does require some experience with that method. It sounds to me like you have the knack for doing it that way. Maybe keep doing what you are doing and double check with a torque wrench for fun! Good work! Ride on!

[@kx8960]

@@oregonmotojohn I like the idea of a torque wrench, I just never knew they existed, I'll have to look for one. Any recommendations?

[@shaneburesh9173]

No no no
Start with a spoke. Your grab two spokes…. You SKIP both spokes you grabbed then tighten the next spoke (spoke 4) then skip 2 and do the next one (spoke 7)
Spoke 1, 4, 7, 10 etc
Then you start over on spoke 2…. 5, 8,
Then you start over on spoke 3 6, 9, 12
Do you see how above you never hit the same spoke twice this way? With your method you are doing every other spoke my man……

[@scottdrew6403]

Agreed. This is the way I’ve seen other professional tuners do it. Start with spoke 1 next to the valve stem, tighten spoke 1, skip spoke 2, skip spoke 3, tighten spoke 4. Do the whole wheel. Then start 2nd spoke from valve stem and continue the process. This also causes you to alternate sides of the tire.