i have finally bought a trueing stand(park tool ts2), a tension tool, and finished my tune/crono f20 wheels. they're true now and the spokes are more or less tensioned similar(enough for the first try).
i think i'm going to ride them now and retrue them afterwards. but how long should i ride them? i don't want to retrue them after 1 hour of riding, then after the next ride again...how do experts do this?
retrue wheels
Moderator: robbosmans
In fact good wheelbuilders don't retrue wheels after the first time, no need for that.
If you got the right amount of tension, no twisted spokes and you stress-relieved the wheel then it should be ok "forever".
Make sure that the spokes are not twisted, otherwise you will hear some "ping" the first time you use it: those are the twisted spokes that untiwsts and loose tension -so you have to re-true it.
If you used a tensionmeter to check that every spoke is about the same tension then you should be fine.
All the wheels built by my favourite wheelbuilder have never needed retruing after many many kms.
(If you have patience to read) here is my experience:
My first attempt of wheelbuilding: I had to retension the front wheel once because a couple of spokes went loose, then it was fine and it has not gone out of true until now (about 3000km).
Different story for the rear: I had to retrue it several times, I ended up letting a wheelbuilder do that as I was becoming mad.
He found that the rim was badly out of round but he tried anyway. A good number of spokes went loose after a couple of rides, so he replaced the rim...
My mistake probably is that I didn't use a tensionmeter (nor a truing stand btw --I used the frame and some zip ties
), however I don't know if the rear rim went out of round because of my bad build, because of some bump I hit or if it was bad from the fabric... I guess I'll never know (maybe better 
)
If you got the right amount of tension, no twisted spokes and you stress-relieved the wheel then it should be ok "forever".
Make sure that the spokes are not twisted, otherwise you will hear some "ping" the first time you use it: those are the twisted spokes that untiwsts and loose tension -so you have to re-true it.
If you used a tensionmeter to check that every spoke is about the same tension then you should be fine.
All the wheels built by my favourite wheelbuilder have never needed retruing after many many kms.
(If you have patience to read) here is my experience:
My first attempt of wheelbuilding: I had to retension the front wheel once because a couple of spokes went loose, then it was fine and it has not gone out of true until now (about 3000km).
Different story for the rear: I had to retrue it several times, I ended up letting a wheelbuilder do that as I was becoming mad.
He found that the rim was badly out of round but he tried anyway. A good number of spokes went loose after a couple of rides, so he replaced the rim...
My mistake probably is that I didn't use a tensionmeter (nor a truing stand btw --I used the frame and some zip ties
), however I don't know if the rear rim went out of round because of my bad build, because of some bump I hit or if it was bad from the fabric... I guess I'll never know (maybe better )
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chisa
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good answer, i find that my wheels occasionally need the odd tweak here and there as i often find myself on crappy roads and enough bumps on a 28h wheel and it is going to go out of true.
don't try to get exactly the same tension - experience hs taught me that this is impossible to do and still have a true wheel. the odd couple of spokes difference is common.
make sure that the spokes are not twisted (as posted above) but also press them in about 1 inch above the hub - this will "straighten" the spokes to the proper angle at the head and, like making sure the spokes are not twisted, will dispense with the need to re-true after a first ride. p.s. you need to be quite firm when doing this, use you thumb and give it a good push in toward the centre of the hub.
if you do need to tweak the wheel though make sure you do it evenly as to retain the dish of the wheel.
don't try to get exactly the same tension - experience hs taught me that this is impossible to do and still have a true wheel. the odd couple of spokes difference is common.
make sure that the spokes are not twisted (as posted above) but also press them in about 1 inch above the hub - this will "straighten" the spokes to the proper angle at the head and, like making sure the spokes are not twisted, will dispense with the need to re-true after a first ride. p.s. you need to be quite firm when doing this, use you thumb and give it a good push in toward the centre of the hub.
if you do need to tweak the wheel though make sure you do it evenly as to retain the dish of the wheel.
Good set of tools you have there. Normally in the shop, i'd ask the rider to take the wheel back after 1 solid week of riding to do the final tweeks and then it should be no more problems then.
Assuming that the first build was solid and i must stress, PRE-TENSIONED! You must always do this so that you can tell if your build is strong. The way i do it is by putting the wheel on the floor and put my body weight evenly on the rims and do it evenly on both sides and all areas.
After each pre-tension, i re-true the wheels in the stand and keep on doing it for 6-7 times. This process is time consuming but it makes sure that the wheel will not go out of wack after 1 ride. My general rule is to do it 6 times but if the rider is heavy (more than 90kg) i will do maybe 8 times. Also, after each true, check the dishing as that must be 99% spot on.
With regards to equal tension, it is good practice but it isn't in the real world. The front wheel is always good to have equal tension and no disputes there.
For the rear, i always start with 3 more turns on the non-drive side because when you start truing with equal tension, most often then not you will end up having the drive side spokes more tensioned than the non-drive side in the attempts to get the wheel in proper dishing. If stiffness is a must then solder your spokes at the joints. I recommend that for heavier riders and i'm firmly against loctite on nipples because it makes the truing harder in the future.
You don't have to true the wheel after every ride but do it once a month since you have the tools at your convenience.
Good luck and hope this helps.
Assuming that the first build was solid and i must stress, PRE-TENSIONED! You must always do this so that you can tell if your build is strong. The way i do it is by putting the wheel on the floor and put my body weight evenly on the rims and do it evenly on both sides and all areas.
After each pre-tension, i re-true the wheels in the stand and keep on doing it for 6-7 times. This process is time consuming but it makes sure that the wheel will not go out of wack after 1 ride. My general rule is to do it 6 times but if the rider is heavy (more than 90kg) i will do maybe 8 times. Also, after each true, check the dishing as that must be 99% spot on.
With regards to equal tension, it is good practice but it isn't in the real world. The front wheel is always good to have equal tension and no disputes there.
For the rear, i always start with 3 more turns on the non-drive side because when you start truing with equal tension, most often then not you will end up having the drive side spokes more tensioned than the non-drive side in the attempts to get the wheel in proper dishing. If stiffness is a must then solder your spokes at the joints. I recommend that for heavier riders and i'm firmly against loctite on nipples because it makes the truing harder in the future.
You don't have to true the wheel after every ride but do it once a month since you have the tools at your convenience.
Good luck and hope this helps.
