Recently noticed i have like 4 loose spokes on my 36er? Is this bad to continue riding with it like that?
Guess i need a spoke wrench right? But which one?
Thanks.
Spokes shouldn’t just get loose. I would try to figure out why they are loose before deciding how to fix it. If you hit something hard, and it dented your rim that could cause loose spokes. If the wheel was under-tensioned from the beginning that could cause spokes to loosen. In the first case you can tighten the spokes, and you will have a flat spot when you are done. In the second case it might be prudent to detension the wheel, and bring the tension up evenly to the right amount.
Either way you need a spoke wrench. I like the ones that grip Four sides, but not the Park version (a little too tight). Spokey is a nice one.
I must be unlucky then? my trials uni they got loose heaps too from the first week and with the 36er I have gone off small ledges and a little offroad, but 90 percent of the time is road and distance riding. Noticed the wheel has a small buckle too.
I will give the spokey ago.
Thanks.
i would just bring it in to a bike shop. if you over tention you’ll bring the wheel out of true. just let them do it it’ll cost a bit more, but it’ll be done right!
tensioning a wheel isn’t rocket science, but it takes care. I would definitely recommend learning how to do it yourself. Don’t just wing it though. Use a good resource like the Sheldon Brown wheel page, or the Roger Musson book. Better yet, if you have a good relationship with your LBS (local bike shop) see if they would be okay with showing you the ropes. That last suggestion is more likely to bear fruit in the off season.
Over tensioning doesn’t make wheels untrue; however, it isn’t good for the rim or the long term reliability of the wheel. Uneven tension can make the wheel untrue, and certainly makes it weaker.
the Guy at my local bike shop said the size of the 36" wheel is so big that the spokes do come loose alot… hmmm… not sure why… well the wheel apparently is too big for their truer machine, so they just tighten the spokes for real cheap, it is riding much better then it was, I just got a spokey so can do my own tension on the spokes.
Longer spokes have more deflection at the same tension as shorter spokes. That being said, if the wheel has proper tension to start with the spokes won’t become loose. My 36’er wheel was undertensioned when I got it, and I immediately added tension. I never had problems with it loosening up, and going out of true.
My current 32 hasn’t needed any work since I built it. Granted it’s not a 36, but it’s still got long spokes.
The guy at the bike shop said similar thing actually,
All fixed now, i found the spokes havent loosen since i been doing running mounts i was doing like jump mounts to a hop then riding off, which couldnt be good for it as im quiet an aggressive rider, rides like a dream now since i got it back from bike shop also got a decent spoke key now
Managed a 20 mile ride today and no problems.