Good day one and all. I have a creak…yes a creak I say. I have a dm ringmaster which has been well ridden, dropped and generally thrown about the place, and I’ve noticed a creak emanating from the wheel. It seems to creak more when my right foot is down. I think this may be because when I hop I nearly always put most pressure on my right foot and have the right pedal back. What I was wondering was whether it would be most likely to be my hub, or spokes, or cranks or what. If anyone could shed some light on the matter it’d be much appreciated, as I have a horrible feeling that pretty soon it’ll be one hop too many and I’ll have a whole bunch of unicycle spares up for sale.
have you tightened your spokes since you got it?
I bet it’s your spokes, get them tensioned properly if you don’t know how. Unproperly tensioned spokes are begging for a chance to ruin your wheel
you can most likely tell if it is your spokes…
go around the wheel squeezing pairs of spokes together (neighbouring spokes on the same side)
you will most likely find some that are alot looser than the others.
Chances are, they may be so loose that you can spin the nipples with your fingers.
creaking solved, theoretically anyway
I had a feeling it could be the spokes, however since I have neither the skills nor the tools to tighten them I’ll have to visit my local two wheeled cycle emporium and get them to have a gander. However I think I may have a go at tweaking my nipples…Do I need any special tools for this???
Cheers for the advice chaps/chapesses.
go to the bike shop and have them do it first. then, ask them for the appropriate spoke wrench $5-$10
Have it professionally trued first, and then you will be fine to tweak it as you need to. To try getting into wheel truing with an already loose wheel is asking for trouble.
Re: an ominous creaking
Sofa <Sofa@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> writes:
> Have it professionally trued first, and then you will be fine to tweak
> it as you need to. To try getting into wheel truing with an already
> loose wheel is asking for trouble.
Sofa’s right - trying to true a loose wheel is a pain, especially if
the loose spokes have allowed the rim to get bent out of shape.
Still, a patient, methodical first timer can do it successfully.
Besides, there’s little harm in trying to fix it yourself as long as
you avoid overtensioning. Use a spoke wrench that fits well or you’ll
mess up the nipples, and eventually get the spokes good and tight, but
not so tight they bend the wheel out of shape or mess up the nipples.
Loose spokes are a sign of a badly built (undertensioned) wheel, so I
would start from scratch. Loosen each spoke until the threads begin
to show. That will start you off with approximately equal lengths and
you can begin tensioning and truing. See
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html for instructions.
Good luck!
Ken
Re: creaking solved, theoretically anyway
I just use the nearest leaffy branch…
nipple tweaking…cont.
thanks for all the helpful hints chaps, although I think I might wait to try yours out Ethel when i’m next in the park after it’s closed(don’t want to go scaring the kiddies now do we). had a bit of a fondle of the spokes and some of them are seriously dodgy, had a tentative ride and the creak was crazy. However riding up and overtaking pedestrians is made easier as they hear me coming a mile off. I’m amazed the wheels lasted out so long really, I’ve had the unicycle in question for a good two years and never done a spot of maintenance on the spokes. Anyway, thanks again. And until the next mechanical mishap, farewell.
Kit