True Love in Color

[spokewrench]

I managed to install a new spoke, but I had to bend the s*it outta it to get it in there and get it threaded on,..


Tightening it up helped to straighten it out,..
Hopefully I didn't stab it into the tube.

I had to bend my first replacement spokes because they were 5mm too long, I discovered. The ends extended about 5mm beyond the nipples, and I could see that wouldn't be a problem.

 

[PCeBiker]

The noise came back in December so I had to do an inspection.

The wheel was warped again so I tried to tighten that spoke and it didn't work, then I realized that it was either stripped or broken and it just pulled out of the nipple.

The spokes I bought were a few mm too short, I couldn't find my size, and the next size longer was a few mm too long and I didn't want to poke the tube or bother cutting a spoke.

I didn't want to buy longer spokes and start over, so I reinstalled my Special two-piece Sapin spoke.

My Sapin spoke was a perfectly fine spoke to begin with, that was manufactured to spec, on site, in my own backyard.

Of course while farting around dialing in my homemade spoke I managed to poke the damn tube and now I had a flat.

I wasn't about to remove the damn wheel to replace the tube if I didn't have to, and I managed to patch the tube without removing the wheel.

Of course the first patch didn't take so I had to do that all over again.

So it's back to looking like this,..

 

[PCeBiker]

I am warning you now that I am stealing that idea. Thank you.

Check out this thing !!!
Thirteen Dollars !!!

I'm sure you can use it as a truing device, and now I can check to see if I have a crooked seat or if my ass is out of alignment !!

@PedalUma can hook up his Photon Phaser-Laser to it and burn the offending high spots of tread clean off the tire !!

It'd be like having the brake rotors machined on a car.

 

[spokewrench]

The wheel was warped again so I tried to tighten that spoke and it didn't work, then I realized that it was either stripped or broken and it just pulled out of the nipple.

The spokes I bought were a few mm too short, I couldn't find my size, and the next size longer was a few mm too long and I didn't want to poke the tube or bother cutting a spoke.

Doesn’t your wheel have a rim strip to cover nipple holes and protect the tube? If you didn’t remove the tire, tube, and nipple, bending the spoke would have been necessary even if it were the right length. (Actually, I didn't remove the rim strip when I replaced spokes. I just cut holes over the nipples I needed to remove. When I finished, I covered the holes with "postage stamps" of stiff plastic to keep the tube from bulging into the holes.)

I think your spoke had inadequate thread engagement. My spokes have 10mm threaded. My nipples also have 10mm, starting at the head and leaving 6mm at the shaft end unthreaded. If the end of the spoke is flush with the slotted head, I’ve got 10mm of thread engagement. As long as it doesn’t extend more than 6mm beyond the head, I’ve got at least 4mm of engagement and the spoke isn’t too long. On the other end, if I can’t see any threads, I know I’ve got at least 4mm of engagement and the spoke isn’t too short.

That’s 12mm of leeway. I believe spokes are marketed in increments of 5mm.

 

[Chargeride]

Check out this thing !!!
Thirteen Dollars !!!


View attachment 206974


I'm sure you can use it as a truing device, and now I can check to see if I have a crooked seat or if my ass is out of alignment !!

@PedalUma can hook up his Photon Phaser-Laser to it and burn the offending high spots of tread clean off the tire !!

It'd be like having the brake rotors machined on a car.

Thats excellent, do they make one to check your helmet is on the right way round.

 

[spokewrench]

Check out this thing !!!
Thirteen Dollars !!!

As I rode, I could see runout on my front tire. I braced my finger against the fork so the end of my nail lightly dragged the rim. A spin persuaded me that the rim was within 1mm. I held a felt-tip pin against the fender to make a line along the center of the tire. I measured the runout at 3mm. It amazed me that I didn't feel it while riding.

The bead looked properly seated on both sides, but I reduced the pressure to 8 PSI and rode 100 yards. When I pumped it back up and made a new red line, I found no runout.

 

[PedalUma]

Thats excellent, do they make one to check your helmet is on the right way round.

It takes another one to position it correctly on the bike or everything else will be off.

 

[PedalUma]

@PCeBiker, Knows that I use pastel oil crayons. With each color change I can see the progress. Then it cleans off with soapy water and rubbing alcohol. When a mechanic with great training and experience heard that I true tires he laughed at me. Why is it not okay for a rim to be 3mm off true, but not a tire? And it is not just left/right, it is also up/down or round. Foldable tires that are tubeless are always out of true and normally by a lot.

 

[PCeBiker]

Doesn’t your wheel have a rim strip to cover nipple holes and protect the tube?

The spoke poked right through it.

If you didn’t remove the tire, tube, and nipple, bending the spoke would have been necessary even if it were the right length.

Yeah, I knew that, but I didn't want to put twenty dollars worth of effort into a two dollar e-bike.

I think your spoke had inadequate thread engagement.

Yeah, I probably stripped out the threads.
The spokes were a few mm too short. It held for a while then they stripped.
They are cheap spokes too. I could bend them and bend them back straight a little too easily.

The nipple was fine because my original two piece spoke threaded right in (and right into the tube. I didn't know how far to wind it in before I connected the two halves together.)

 

[PedalUma]

When the t-shirt is kind of worn, it is a little easier to discern the nipples to twist them with the correct torque spec.