Chongo

Hi wheel builders,
I've built quite a few wheels for friends and myself, and every so often I'll build a wheel (using brand new parts) in which I have to really over tension one of the spokes, and under tension a corresponding spoke on the opposite side of the wheel in order to bring it into true. I've tried loosening the spoked and re-tensioning them in small increments and I've tried unlacing the wheel, rotating the rim and rebuilding it. It's frustrating and makes my spoke tension meter useless. I can only think that the rim was wacky. Any suggestions? Thanks.

qmsdc15

I think the rim was wacky. Did you make sure it was perfectly flat before you built the wheel?

Dirtbike

i used to have a POS schwinn and the rear rim got buckled off a 4 stair and i stripped the
spoke nipple in an attempt to get it to be truer

Chongo

I didn't check to make sure that the rims were flat, but I assumed they were since they were new. I'm thinking that the problem area may be at a weld where the rim may be thicker in width, but I've had the problem with a carbon Zipp rim too.