which spoke wrench?
 

how do i know which spoke wrench i need? i have a lemond and a bianchi... will they have the same spokes? i see there are at least 3 different 'nipple' sizes out there. thanks for any help.

In general, 3.23 mm (black) for road wheels and 3.45 (red) for MTB wheels.

sweet, thanks!

I should have mentioned that I don't have any of the new style (low spoke count) wheels so I am not really sure about those.

From my experience with several spoke wrench, by far the best are those of Park Tools. The disadvantages for Park Tools spoke wrench is that you need to by a tool for each nipple size and to buy the all set is expensive. You can by a combined size spoke wrench like you have in Park, but I personally think that Wrench Force and Var Tools spoke wrench are very good.

Either get all three (red, black, green) or get a combo wrench. Wheelsmith 14ga spokes use the red tool, lots of others use the green, and I've actually not run across too many that use the black (smallest). But having all three is good. I use the cheap Performance Spin Doctor spoke wrenches (made by Lifu) and they work excellently for me.

I would get separate spoke wrenches. There are tools with a number of wrench sizes, but if you by mistake use the wrong size notch on one, you stand a good chance of rounding the spoke.

By all means, do not do what I've seen some peeps do around campus -- they tighten spokes with pliers. :(

+1!!!! Not only are pliers awkwardly sized for this purpose, you'll round the nipples off so fast that they'll be unusable after a turn or two. Nipples are small fasteners that require a lot of torque, so a properly fitting spoke wrench is critical.

I'm not so sure about that. I use the '0' size (black tool equivalent) of the Park 3-way spoke wrench for my 14ga Wheelsmith spokes. Sheldon Brown's website lists the black wrench for DT and Wheelsmith.

The 3-way Park tool fits the spokes on all of my wheels. In order to avoid confusion, I cover the unused slots with electrical tape while wheeltruing.

I have the spindoctor/Lifu set I bought at a Performance shop for about ten bucks, and they're fine. They work far better than the all-in-one I had before. I work on older road bikes, and almost all of them take the red or black. I have yet to find one that needs the green.

Remember to apply a dollop of lube to your nipples, that really helps.

Spoke wrench
 

Park Tool has this Triple Spoke Wrench, item SW-7. I carry one in my bicycle tool kit. It covers the three popular sizes. Hope this helps.

I understand that Park has new four sided spoke wrenches, this would be a big improvement over their previous wrenches, I didn't like those. I use Spokey wrenches, yellow and red. It's important that the wrenches fit the nipples very snuggly.

Al

Get a red and a yellow Spokey. You'll use red most of the time on DT & Sapim spokes. They are cheap, don't round nipples as they fit all 4 sides, last for years and are light. I use them in the shop on a daily basis and prefer them to DT, Wheelsmith, Park and Pedros tools.