Any wheel experts about?

[Rob S]

I broke a spoke the other week and am in the process of replacing it. The rim was way out of true and I've been giving the nipple a quarter turn at a time and it's now running out by 2-3mm. For the size of the thread it now feels pretty darn tight, is that as good as I can expect? The end of the spoke is flush with the end of the nipple. Many thanks for any replies.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Sometimes you'll have more success loosening opposing spokes.

[Rob S]

The two spokes either side of the new one, coming from the other side of the hub?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Yep

[Rob S]

Thanks, I'll get back out in the garage in the morning and have another go.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Good man - just remember that loosening a spoke has a similar effect as tightening the opposing spoke. Hopefully, you'll be able to get it it something like true without resorting to having the new one overly tight ... good luck.

[redefined_cycles]

It's also quite possible that you've got a knackered/warped rim there now. Bet if you loosen all the spokes off it'll come out a pringled shape. If thats the case then its time to bin as you'll never get the torque/pressures equal on either side and be running a very out of balance wheel...

Bottom line... grab a new rim and chuck this one (if it looks pringled when removal of tightness all round (sorry for the simpletons terms... very difficult to concentrate...)

[Mr conners]

https://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/wheelbuildfull.html

I watched this fella’s YouTube video. It’s about an hour. After stripping a nipple resulting in the aforementioned Pringle shaped rim I decided to have a go at rebuilding the thing myself and it was a fantastic resource.

[Alpinum]

Good man - just remember that loosening a spoke has a similar effect as tightening the opposing spoke. Hopefully, you'll be able to get it it something like true without resorting to having the new one overly tight ... good luck.

Doing this, it may be worth checking that the spokes have a similar tension. Just flick them with your fingers like a string. Once the rim is true, run through the whole wheel, flick every spoke and find a baseline of the pitch. Those of a lower pitch can do with some tigthening, those with a higher pitch some loosening.

A good (strong) wheel isn't just true, but also has a very uniform spoke tension.

[Lazarus]

Even tension and a true wheel is the goal of any wheel builder and as above sometimes you need to loosen the other side not tighten, it just depends on tension

Ping [better but i play guitar so may be more attuned [ see what i did there] or pinch spokes to measure tension.

[Rob S]

Sometimes you'll have more success loosening opposing spokes.

Thanks, that helped a lot, less than 1mm out now. I can't honestly say all the spokes are the same tension but I think I'll make it worse if I keep playing with it.
If you were going on a weeks trip, would you take spokes with you? I think there are several different lengths in a wheel aren't there, you'd have to take one of each.
First time I've ever had one break, in 43 years.

[Rob S]

Had a devil of a job trying to get the bead to seal, harder than when I first went tubeless. The wife suggested I use the 12v mini compressor we keep in the car, that did the job.
Might be worth contemplating if anyone else struggles, cheaper than one of the various airshot thingies.

[pistonbroke]

I think there are several different lengths in a wheel aren't there,

No, a front wheel will normally only have 1 size of spoke and a rear 2, all the drive side are the same and the non drive side a little bit longer so you would need a maximum of 3 to cover all the bases.

[redefined_cycles]

Sometimes you'll have more success loosening opposing spokes.

Thanks, that helped a lot, less than 1mm out now. I can't honestly say all the spokes are the same tension but I think I'll make it worse if I keep playing with it.
If you were going on a weeks trip, would you take spokes with you? I think there are several different lengths in a wheel aren't there, you'd have to take one of each.
First time I've ever had one break, in 43 years.

Ping all your spokes on either side. They should return you a ping thats similar in ping-i-ness. Whilst doing that you'll also notice if some are a bit too tight and some are a bit too loose. Use a plastic 'thing' to save your nails. If you have too much extremes of tension on either side/adjacent spokes then it's only a matter of time before they loosen off again. Not to worry though as it could be the start of a beautiful wheel-building relationship

You're right, that if you feel you've got em upto tension then overtensioning is only gonna send it all out again and that'll be a pain.

I never carry spokes but then I never go more than 200 miles away from home. At your current rate of needing to respoke, you'll be well into 2063 before you need to do another. There's also the possibility that you've been riding well built and evenly tensioned wheels for them last 43 years

[Dyffers]

If you were going on a weeks trip, would you take spokes with you?

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/spokes/fibe ... ent-spoke/

I've carried one of these for ages; never had to use it in anger so maybe just having it is enough.

A chap on the Tour Divide a couple of years ago did about 1000km with one in his rear wheel. In theory they are as strong as a replacement spoke, easier to fit and (arguably, taping a spoke inside your seatpost isn't really hard) easier dimensions to carry.