Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Wheel building question - Spoke tensions

I built my first wheel yesterday.

It is a double sided fixed wheel so no dishing was needed.

All components are new. (phil fixed hf hubs and velocity deep vs. 32h)

The rim is within 0.2 mm rue sideways and up and down.

I rode the wheel for 5 hours and everything is still true.

The wheel has been stressrelieved several times during building and at the end.

Elbows and spoke line at the nipples has been straightened.

Overall I am quite happy with it, but the one thing I am wondering about is the fact that when I pluck the spokes the tension sounds uneven. Not from every spoke to every spoke but I don get quite a range of sounds. Now my question. Should I undo the wheel again and try to get more even tension? Or, am I good to go because the wheel stayed true after stressrelieving and riding? Any help much appreciated.

If I remember correctly, you should hear the notes from "amazing grace" as you pluck the drive-side spokes in a counter-clockwise rotation.



well, actually I think they should sounds pretty "in tune" with each other, but small variations shouldn't be a problem. If you they're off by a couple of steps, you may want to take a look at that puppy.

PS. 5 hours isn't enough time to let everything settle down. give it a coulple weeks for the wheel to "settle"

Get a tensionmeter? Apparently a very good investment when building wheels.

I use a tensiometer, but usually only on the phase before final truing. By that, I mean that I bring the spokes up to the desired tension, and then true, stress-relieve, etc. as many times as it takes for the stress-relieving process not to affect the trueness. I then ride said wheel(s), and re-true and stress relieve as necessary. So far I've had no problems, and have nothing but very true, very strong wheels.

Having said that, I do get different tones from different spokes. I figure if I can get it true enough that it doesn't become untrue with reasonable use, then the tension is taking care of itself.

I use a tensiometer, but usually only on the phase before final truing. By that, I mean that I bring the spokes up to the desired tension, and then true, stress-relieve, etc. as many times as it takes for the stress-relieving process not to affect the trueness. I then ride said wheel(s), and re-true and stress relieve as necessary. So far I've had no problems, and have nothing but very true, very strong wheels.

Having said that, I do get different tones from different spokes. I figure if I can get it true enough that it doesn't become untrue with reasonable use, then the tension is taking care of itself.

I did build the wheel like you describe. Used tension meter to get it up to average tension. Then trued until true. Spokes are within a range of 120 to 150.

I did build the wheel like you describe. Used tension meter to get it up to average tension. Then trued until true. Spokes are within a range of 120 to 150.

That sounds a little tight (assuming you mean 1200 N to 1500 N), but if it works and stays true, then no problem.

When i built my wheels, i came in a slightly narrower margin of 130 to 135, then the final true.

Sorry for the vagueness, my numbers are referring to the final post trueing tension.

Before the final true the were around the 130 +/- 5.

Give this a look over.

Click (http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=52)