truing a wheel

this is something i've wanted to learn about for some time. and, one wednesday, the opportunity presented itself. this wheel was taco-ed. the kid said he hit a curb. but honestly, i don't know how you hit a curb with such force and no go head-over-heels-over-head.

people who do this well--experts in wheel building--would probably look at the pics, chuckle to themselves, and figure they could have it operational in ten minutes. but it took me some time. a couple of key learnings emerged.

1. never try to true anything while drinking beers. it sounds like a good idea, and just like in pool or darts, you do get a bit better at it by the second beer. but by beer number 3, you're all kinds of sideways again. best to just put it away and face it again tomorrow.

2. it's counter-intuitive. because the spokes are screwed in from the outside of the rim, and in truing, you're working from the inside of the rim, i believe the adjustments are backwards...righty loosy; leftie tightie. maybe not, maybe i just got lucky. but it took me quite a while of putting this things even further out of whack before i finally figured out what i was doing.

3. behavior change happens in small amounts. even though it appears that you need to make a sea-change of movement, very little gets accomplished by more than 1.5 turns. it's always best to shave a little here, add a little there, and re-calibrate. wash. rinse. repeat. these things take time.

4. give then get. it's easier to loosen then tighten. tighten then loosening provides no real traction. so, if you're moving the rim from left to right, loosen the left side, then pull it right by tightening the right. taking first and then giving does nothing.

5. focus everything by optimizing your time. i could have saved so much time by simply doing what i did after i was almost done.  the spoke wrench has 3 settings. only one fits. and when you're focused on the wheel, the wrench sometimes shifts. by eliminating the other possibilities, i could have spent so much more quality time on the rim.

maybe these tips will help you. maybe they'll just convince you to go to a professional. either way...

happy riding,

OMB

"You never have the wind with you -- either it is against you or you're having a good day." ~ Daniel Behrman