Spoke problems?

Forwarded message:
> Hey all,
>
> We’re having some trouble with our 24" CyclePro’s spokes. As we ride, they
> creak and sound generally loose. Will a simple spoke wrench be able to
> tighten them?

You might try plucking the spokes. They should all have a tone, and not a thud
or less. You want the spokes to be pretty tight, or they will tend to break due
to greater variation in the stress on the spokes. A spoke wrench is fine for
simple tightening. You may find, though, that the wheel needs to be trued.
You’ll want to read instructions on this in a bicycle book, or pay to have it
done. I attempted it on my Schwinn, and it worked ok, but it was a tedious job
and I am sure a pro would have done better. One problem I will mention is that
you or the repairman might need a special jig to hold the axle. The square axles
on cotterless cranks, for example, don’t spin very well. You can try tuning it
on the uni, which helps with this problem.

In summary, I would probably just go over it with a spoke wrench, and try to
keep the wheel straight. When it gets too far out of whack, though, it will take
more work.

> Weather permitting, we will also update our unicycling portfolios and have
> some new pictures available from my machine at
> http://unicycle.cs.tulane.edu/unicycling Michelle has made enourmous progress,
> but all of our photos picture us about to fall. We need some new ones!

I’m looking forward to it.

Beirne

Beirne Konarski | Subscribe to the Unicycling Mailing List bkonarsk@mcs.kent.edu
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