Hit 47 loose spokes on a single wheel before I finally trued it right

I was chasing a wobble for weeks on my commuter and finally counted every single spoke that had zero tension. Has anyone else found a ridiculous number of loose spokes after ignoring a wheel for too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

blake43219d ago

Picked up a used wheel from a garage sale once, figured it looked straight enough. Got it home and poked at a spoke and it was like playing a harp, every single one was loose. Counted 44 before I lost track and just started tightening them all by feel. Took me a solid two hours and I was so embarrassed that I'd paid actual money for something that was basically a taco in disguise. Learned my lesson about assuming anything metallic and round is actually rideable.

caseyclark20d ago

Used to think a few loose spokes were no big deal if the wheel still rolled straight. Then I ignored a rear wheel for about three months and found 30 something spokes completely slack when I finally checked it with a spoke wrench. Spent an hour bringing each one up gradually and the wheel came out dead straight. Now I check tension on every wheel I build or true because that experience changed my whole approach. You really cannot rely on the wheel just looking round, the tension makes all the difference.