spoke tension question
 

so my wheels are in perfect true, have about 1000 miles on them. phils laced to velocity
fusions, 3x. is it common practice after X amount of miles to have the wheels retensioned,
or at least checked? do the spokes settle and lose some tension? they are straight as the
day i got them, never needed truing. wondering because just lately, i have thought that
i heard them flex against each other when i initally get on the bicycle, but i could also be
imagining that.

when i go around and squeeze pairs of spokes, tension seems uniform (not un-informed, i
have wheelbuilding and repair experience). should i not worry about it? get it checked
prophylactically?

thanks

rafi

Spokes stretch a little when new, now is a perfect time to retension them. They won't need much and remember, if your rear wheel has a lot of dish, the non-drive spokes will pull the rim over more than the drive side with an equal turn..

Oh, also, a flick with your finger will tell you if they are uniform, the pitch should be the same. on the rear they will not be the same from one side to the other.

^^^Dude, what forum are you in? Dish? Tut tut!

OP: if your wheels are true, spokes have the same pitch, and none FEEL loose, you're fine. Especially if they were built by a good builder.

I know what forum it is. Thats why I said IF you have a lot of dish. I can't assume that this person doesn't also have another bike with dished wheels, and is going to apply my advice to those as well and then wonder why his wheel isn't centered. how many wheels have you built?

not to mention that even a single-sided rear fixed wheel has dish.

seven

no it doesnt, unless you are rocking a bumbike.

^ agreed

okay. i havent built any single-speed rear wheels, only front wheels and
casette style rears. regardless, the thread has been derailed

/continuing the derailment

Sorry generic and rikardi, but you two are wrong. A wheel with a single-sided hub, as in the pic below, does have dish.

Sorry, rafi. Just needed to clear that up.

/end derailment

Yes its been derailed, but we've learned an important lesson... genericbikedude has no clue about bikes.

The fact is I gave rafi valid advice about his wheels, and genericbikedude is only here to start arguments about something he knows nothing about.

what? you use two different spoke lengths for that hub? is it a 120mm hub? more evidence needed.

Thank You!

A well built wheel shouldn't need touched unless you hit a pothole or something. Spokes settling in is a myth. It's called an incomplete wheelbuilt, where the spokes heads weren't set, or the spokes haven't been relieved of twist properly. Assuming the wheel is built well, which it sure sounds like, then you're good to go until it goes out of true... Carry on.

-brad

Why would anyone WANT dish? That hub makes no sense. Has it been respaced, or is it meant for 126mm conversions?

+1

excellent, thank you all. to genericbikedude, i know what i am talking about, i rescind my statement, but that you for your input

I'm happy to admit that I might be wrong, but somebody please explain! Thanks!

damn, if I needed to re-tension every time I hit a pothole that would suck ass. That would make it like once a week or so.

Not much needs explaining. SOME single-sided fixed hubs have dish. Look at the specs. If the distances from hub center to Left and Right flanges aren't equal, there will be some dish. Some manufacturers correct for this by making the entire hub body narrower and having extra space between the left end of the axle and the flange.

I'm not saying every time. Not by any means.

I'm saying that a well built wheel shouldn't need trued unless you obviously took an impact that would have made it go out of true. It shouldn't work its way out of true over time, not with modern components and a skilled wheel build.

-brad

sorry, my sarcasm isn't working too well. but I did have a case where a big pothole cause some spokes to loosed, although it seems to me that it has to be a significant impact to change the tension / shape.

that would make someone a derailer--what are derailers doing here!?!?!

I just had a high flange 32 hole rear hub built up a little over a month ago. Now the tension is dangerously unbalanced, -two of the spokes on one side are completely slack, and the wheel made a creeking sound and felt uneven like it a flat spot or bump on one side, the last time I rode it (I have since removed the wheel). I ride 700c (mavic cxp33's) & 23mm tires and have gone off some curbs and pot-holes . . my question is, shoud my lbs which built up this wheel for me, charge me for trueing it back to the proper balanced tension?