Truing Bicycle Wheels & Making Adjustments

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Part of the video series: Common Bicycle Repairs

Summary: When truing bicycle wheel, make adjustments like loosening the spokes slightly, and get more tips from a bicycle expert, in this free bicycle repair video clip.

Views: 4,556 | Tags: repair, biking, riding, bicycle, bikes, bicycles, fit, cycling


About the Expert

Parker Ramspott Parker Ramspott has owned and operated a bicycle store in Amherst, Massachusetts for over 20 years. This experience combined with his skill as a mechanic mak... read more

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Video Transcript

Truing Bicycle Wheels & Making Adjustments

So we find the spot where it is really out of true relative to the brake pads. I'm going to tighten this spoke, always work in quarter turns at a time so you don't make more trouble. I'm going to loosen this spoke slightly. I'm going to tighten this one; usually work in groups of threes, perhaps four depending on how wide an area of truing needs to be done. At this point I'm going to let it spin. It is not rubbing but it is still going over to the left at that spot so we've gotten a little better and actually loosen this again a little bit, a quarter turn or an eights turn. Tighten this a little further. Still slightly out. Again, this is a basic recreational bike, this wheel is never going to be back for true but you do want it to run reasonably well. Loosen this a little. And there we go, it is not rubbing on the brakes, it is running fairly straight. Often time you will find on an older bike all the spokes on the nondrive side are fairly loose, the drive side are really tight. Don't think you are doing anybody favors by tightening all the loose spokes on the nondrive side, the entire rim will shift over and the bike will no longer track straight. Also if you have an older bike and you evidence of rust and corrosion on all the spoke nipples, if the wheel is reasonably true, leave it alone. Trying to true it will probably end up with broken spokes. You should probably look into a replacing the wheel.

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