Originally Posted by
Duragrouch
. . . What's tricky for a non-pro is stress-relieving the spokes. This involves stressing the spoke just beyond its yield point, then releasing, so that under normal operation, the stress is less. The relieving is happening mostly at the J-bend I think. This can be done by grabbing a couple parallel spokes and squeezing together laterally, thick leather gloves helps. I seen described that some folks put the rim flat on the ground and walk on the spokes, I think that may have been in Jobst Brandt's book The Bicycle Wheel but my memory could be off. . . .
Here's Brandt on the subject, from
this page:
"Stress relieving with a light grasp of spoke pairs is worthless, as is bouncing the wheel or bending it in a partially opened drawer. Pressing axially on the hub, while supporting the rim, requires a force larger than is manually possible but is effective for spoking machines (except the left side rear spokes that would collapse the rim). Another not-recommended method is laying the wheel on the floor and walking on it with tennis shoes, carefully stepping on each pair of crossed spokes. The method works but bends the rim and is difficult to control."
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