Tighten spokes which way

Spoke tension is best measured using a spoke tension meter tensiometer such as the Park Tool TM First, we need to hold the wheel steady as it spins. We recommend using a truing stand. Truing stands help isolate truing problems and allow for easier and faster work when truing. The bike should be positioned so the wheel is able to spin freely.

Put the bike in a repair stand or turn it upside down. We need a stationary indicator that will help find lateral and radial deviations. A truing stand has built-in indicator fingers that can be adjusted in and out or up and down from the rim to easily identify these deviations. If you are truing in the bike, you can make an indicator by attaching something to the frame like a zip tie.

These can be moved in and out or up and down to show deviations as the wheel spins in the frame. Put one on each side of the rim. Depending how your bike is set up, you may need to get creative with your indicator placement. We increase or decrease tension by turning the nipple, or the nut of the spoke system.

This is done using a spoke wrench - see Spoke Wrench Selection for more information. This presents a good opportunity to point out a common point of confusion: looking from the outside of the rim you will turn the nipple clockwise to tighten and counterclockwise to loosen. Working on a truing stand or bicycle, however, it appears as though you are tightening by turning counterclockwise, since we perceive the nipple as upside down.

If you are just beginning to learn wheel truing, it can be helpful to take the tire off of the rim. If the nipples seem hard to turn or are creaky, put a drop of lubricant where the spoke exits the nipple and where the nipple exits the rim. Bladed or flat spokes can twist around as the nipple turns, which can damage the spokes and work against their aerodynamic properties.

To prevent this, hold the spoke in place while adjusting tension using a spoke holder such as the BSH Pliers can be used in a pinch , but you risk damage to the spoke. If you do not see nipples at the rim or the hub, it is likely the wheel has internal nipples.

Internal nipples are located under the rim strip, inside the rim, and require a special tool to get at them. These are also discussed in the article on spoke wrench selection. Install the wheel in a truing stand or bicycle frame.

Adjust your indicators so they are near the outer edge of the rim, but not touching it. Spin the wheel and slowly move the indicator towards the rim, watching for where the rim gets close to the indicator.

Slowly continue moving the indicator closer until you see it lightly contact the spinning rim. Slow the rim and stop it where the rim is touching the indicator. This area of contact is the most severe lateral deviation on this side of the rim. In fact, we will intentionally find and correct deviations from both sides. This will help maintain the current centering of the wheel. Now we will determine where to make the first spoke tension corrections.

If the indicator seems to touch over a long area, find the spoke nearest to the center of the deviation. Generally it is preferable to tighten spokes rather than loosening them — spokes may loosen themselves over time if they are run too loose, but they will not tighten up on their own.

With this in mind, choose a spoke originating from the flange on the opposite side of the indicator. This will give you an idea of how the rim will move when the tension of these spokes is increased.

Tighten the nipple of the selected spoke. The important thing is just to make a correction and see what happens. Move the wheel back and forth through the area to see if your adjustment made any progress. Spin the wheel and move the indicator closer in very small increments until you find the next-largest deviation on this side, and repeat the process of finding the spoke to adjust and making a correction.

Once you have made three corrections on one side, switch to the opposite indicator. For truing stands like the Park Tool TS Repeat the process of finding and correcting the three largest deviations on each side. As the wheel gets more and more laterally true, you can make smaller corrections. As you work, the wheel will become more and more true. But how true is true enough?

The answer to this question is highly subjective, and depends on several factors, including:. As a general guideline, try for 0. Use this as a feeler gauge to help you visualize what 0. Spin the wheel and adjust the indicator so it just barely touches the rim.

At the point of contact, the distance between rim and indicator is zero. When all is said and done, make any further repairs to the bike like sealing off the punctures and replacing some worn-out components. This may require that you bring in the interventions of qualified technicians as the procedures are generally too complicated for a simple bike owner. Having examined to tighten spokes, we now want to answer some of the questions that are frequently asked:.

There is no standard metric or figure for tightness. Nonetheless, there are a number of factors that determine the desired degree of tightness. These are:. The weight of the bike is by far the most significant determinant of the degree of tension. Heaver bikes generally demand greater tension than their lighter counterparts.

That is to remain steadfast and operational all the while of use. The converse is true for the sizes of rims. Larger rims, as we have already explained above, demand limited tension. They have the ability to dissipate the stress uniformly while at the same time bearing your weight and that of the load perfectly.

YES, you need to! When the spokes are left too loose, they have the tendency to pluck off the wheels at high speeds. Many dangers are likely to arise with this.

For one, the spokes might injure those who are in the same area as the bike at that time. Other than that, they also have the tendency to shake your bike rapidly as to deny you the stability and confidence you need to soldier on with peace.

Tighter spokes are also able to scale faster speeds than their ordinarily loose counterparts. This is besides demanding limited effort on your part. You have two options to explore in the event of such an eventuality. They are:. First and foremost, try to repair the spoke. This requires that you dismantle the spoke, identify the root cause of the issue, and then take the necessary remedial actions.

If the issue is beyond redemption, you may consider replacing the spoke altogether. That, of course, demands that you bring in a brand new spoke altogether and slot in the stead of the existing one. As you may already have realized, we recommended the use of the spoke wrench extensively for the purpose of tightening the bike spokes. Chances are though that you might never have the appliance.

There is still no cause for alarm as it is still possible for you to accomplish that end without the wrench. Use some closely related tools like the spanner, the torque wrench, and of course, the pliers. The precise procedures will nonetheless vary as these tools come in shapes and configurations that are markedly different from that of the spoke wrench.

YES, it is possible! That calls for you to exercise great caution and expertise while attempting to pair the two together. Be sure that you slot the pliers in the designated holes tightly before setting them out.

Then, you should turn the pliers slowly and steadily until you get it right. Rushing may, in fact, pose some damages to the various parts of the bike. Many studies have also indicated that the pliers do not tighten well. You hence have to re-tighten every now and then to maintain the desired tension. Our look into how to tighten spokes comes to an end there. Always start with the most raised part of the bump, and adjust the spokes on either side less one quarter turn, then one eighth turn as you move away from the wobble area.

Really pronounced wobbles may also require you to loosen spokes close to the bump which lead to the same side of the rim. Now spin the wheel again, find the next highest bump, and do the same thing to it. Unless a spoke is noticeably looser than the ones either side of it, try not to turn any one spoke more than a whole turn because otherwise you may start to make the wheel egg shaped. Continue with this process until there are no noticeable kinks in the wheel, or at least until it is good enough to ride home.

Tip: When you first get back on the bike after truing the wheel, you may notice some cracking noises coming from the wheel — this is the spokes relieving tension along their full lengths and rubbing against each other as they find their new positions.