ArSa69

So, I've been asked by a costumer to rebuild a wheel for him. The deal here is that; despite the fact that the spokes are the right lenght, the wheel just won't come true.

Now, I've donde this several times with new rims and hubs and it usually takes no time at all once I get the lenght right and I've noticed that it becomes troublesome when you have used rims and hubs. In this case, the rim is new and it's just being a pain in the ass to get it right.

I'm thinking it's the hub being fatigued and not giving the spokes and rim the "resistance" necessary for the rim to stay true.

i just want to know if anyone has had this happenning, if my theory could be right and if it has also happened the other way around like the rim being too fatigued for it to stay true or spokes that just can't get tight enough.

Anyways...thanks in advance!

bikeman715

Check the hub's flange for any stress or cracks around the spoke holes . if there are cracks they will open up and cost the rim to go out of trueness . The only thing to do is replace the hub .

Moe Zhoost

Yes, a closer inspection of the hub is in order; however I can't see how you would have missed seeing any hub problems during the lacing process.

Bandera

Was said "costumer" a full-on Cos-Play persona or just a casual Halloween Sexy Nurse type?

Even moderate quality hubs have been re-laced for decades of service with the proper spoke length(s) and good wheel building technique.
It would take exceptional loads and mega-miles to deform a hub to render it unserviceable for a re-build, that should be easily observed.
Solid consistent wheel building does take practice, the proper tools and some more practice.

https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Wheel...s=jobst+brandt

-Bandera

catgita

Some wheel builders refuse to use anything other than specific brands and models of rims. Or will refuse to use spec rims. Even brand new rims that look straight out of the wrapper won't always build into a true wheel with even spoke tension. Then you are faced with the time to take the wheel apart and try again with a new rim, and you can't really charge the customer for that time. Do that a few times and you loose your shirt.

So problem rims are pretty common, but there would have to be something crazy wrong for a hub to cause that.

ArSa69

I forgot to mention that the reason I was asked to rebuild said wheel was because the old rim snapped while this guy took a drop. So...yeah...

Darth_Firebolt

Did you get leading and trailing spokes in the right holes on the hub? That's about all I can think of.

nfmisso

I'd go with cracks in the hub - I had a very nice Suzue hub let go - completely pulled out the metal between two spoke holes. It did hold true up until the complete failure though.

Homebrew01

Reusing old hubs should be fine. If the flange is so damaged to affect spoke tension, I would think it would have broken by now. I
Unlike a rim which can cause problems with little cracks slowly getting worse.