Got a DH wheel laced up by a local shop. They used plain guage spokes and nipple freeze. Rode on it for one weekend (albeit a SDA race weekend) and the spokes are noticably loose.

Now I've had wheels built before and been told to pop in for a checkup after a few 100 miles- but this isn't right surely?

I will of course be going back to the shop to give them a chance to resolve it.. but not exactly confidence inspiring!

new ones of mine usually go after one weekend at herts then they get a true and never go wobbly again.

New wheels can do this. Its basically bedding in.

Bedding in is a myth perpetuated by rubbish wheel builders. Properly built, tensioner and relieved wheels should never need to be re-truer unless they get damaged. You need to get a better wheel builder

That really doesn't sound good at all. Sounds like the wheel builder has the kit but knows jack… if he's using spoke freeze, but obviously doesn't know the basics first!
Unless of course you've flat spotted the rim & that's what has made the spokes loose?

matthew_h + 1 – if they need bedding in and re-truing then they weren't built correctly in the first place.

Ok ok. the last time I had a mtb wheel built was 7yrs ago!

There is a dent- but no flat spot as far as I can see. Loose spokes are in clusters of 2/3 intermittently all the way round.

Thats not going to help your case m'dear!

No- but it is a DH wheel and I've done far worse before with no spoke issues.

Disagree now. Its your bad luck but I personally wouldnt blame the bikeshop.

I'm not so sure. I'll admit my wheelbuilding knowledge is limited, but a ding to a sidewall on a rim shouldn't mean that the whole wheel loses tension. I'm suprised its dented as it wasn't a hugely rough course but suspect that I'm going faster not smoother..

The MTX that went to France two years ago ended up with the rim folded in to amost touching the centre, and it was still tight..

v rockthreegozy – Member

No- but it is a DH wheel and I've done far worse before with no spoke issues.
Im sure the shop will take that into consideration. Obviously dents mean the wheel HASNT been abused then….

Theres one ding- its been ridden for DH and as much as i'd like to be as smooth as the pros, its not always the case 😉

Can someone who builds wheels explain why a ding to the sidewall would cause this?

A ding- did you pinchflat? It could be that you punctured and then whacked a square-edge rock very HARD. That could damage any wheel.

I didn't puncture nor was I running less than 30psi.

The ding isn't an issue- its still going to be used.

Dents just mean that you're not running scardy-pants tyre pressures!

When you get it back from them ping all the spokes. They should all make about the same note on each side. The ones by the weld are sometimes a little different. if they're all over the place then its a poor build.

Can someone who builds wheels explain why a ding to the sidewall would cause this?

A ding will generally only cause a flat spot in a loose wheel, unless it's a monster whack and pinches the tyre as well

My guess – not enough spoke tension. sounds to me like the poor wheel build weakened the wheel and allowed the ding to happen.

I'd take it back to the shop and ask them to retrue it and tighten the spokes.

nope.. dings just happen due to tyre pressure. if it was loose it would become a flat spot. Higher tensioned spokes can take more compression before they flex and stop supporting the rim. It sounds like the wheel had enough tension overall to support it, but the builder didn't ping the spokes to find and even out the tension on all of them

Plain gauge spokes – uggh.

My guess is the builder simply didn't tension them high enough for their intended use or stress relieve them well enough during the build, either that or uneven spoke tension which will also cause many spokes to loosen when used. IMO DH racing is the worst abuse you can give wheels.. you spend the whole weekend trying to get from A to B as quickly as possible with little to no regard for where you put them and you'll rarely check them over.

I've built my own wheels for years and years but occasionally I'll buy wheels built by online shops like Merlin/CRC (as it's far cheaper than buying the components seperately) and have never found a mail order wheel tight enough for my liking.

Which shop was it, Wheelcraft?

I can assure you that flat spots are not only caused when spokes are loose.

sounds to me like the poor wheel build weakened the wheel and allowed the ding to happen.

Not true (no pun intended…). A little dent to the rim, as described by the OP, could happen on any quality of wheel build. As he's said, the little dent isn't really an issue.

The issue is that the wheel simply should not have loose spokes, after any amount of time, unless it actually gets properly flat-spotted (written-off rim). matthew_h is on the money: re-truing after a few weeks is a myth. The spoke tension should be checked and perfect at the time of building, if the wheel builder is any good (and, not to blow my own goat, but I'm a pretty fair wheel builder).

Sounds like the wheel build was a little shonky in the first place. I'd get them to re-build it, and not use cheapo plain-gauge spokes. There's no reason to ever use plain-gauge, other than cost.

I stand corrected.

Wheelbuilder here.

allthepies – Member
matthew_h + 1 – if they need bedding in and re-truing then they weren't built correctly in the first place.

+1 also. Unless you've actually damaged the rim (eg hit it hard enough to flat spot it or bend it (side to side) then the spokes shouldn't come loose. On the face of it, the wheel was simply built too loose.

I can assure you that flat spots are not only caused when spokes are loose.

I wasn't saying that. You would need to hit a tight and even wheel a LOT harder to create a flat spot.. Hence why tyre pressures and pinch flats are an indication.

[edit].. Anyway, op has a crappily built wheel. PG spokes don't help; they should always be DB as they conform to loads better, and don't transfer so much force to the rim.

When I've built wheels in the past, I've always spent a fair amount of time stress relieving the spokes, then re-tensioning and repeating till all spokes are of an equal tension and theres no stress in them.

I think I over turn the nipples too, so if I want to add half a turn I add 3/4 then back off a quarter to stop the spokes from twisting.

When I first ride the wheels, non of the spokes tend to make that 'ping' noise i.e. they are al-ready all bedded in.

I never have to re-true after a few rides either.

Id guess your wheel builder never did any of this.

i dont know much about wheel building or material properties but my old dh wheel did exactly the same thing, straight gauge spokes with ex729 built by crc. lost tension on its first outing at an uplfit day at inners, but i got it retensioned and no problems afterwards for a few years. maybe its to do with the spokes stretching? wouldn't use straight gauge again now mind as it seems the cost incurred from getting that wheel sorted out negated the cheaper spokes…

NOT Wheelcraft. No problems with Als wheels

Bedding in is a myth perpetuated by rubbish wheel builders

bedding does happen – but yes from rubbish wheel builders. my first set of wheels did a lot of pinging – but didn't need retruing – second set of wheels were fine.

Bedding in is a myth perpetuated by rubbish wheel builders. Properly built, tensioner and relieved wheels should never need to be re-truer unless they get damaged. You need to get a better wheel builder

disagree, spokes stretch, like cables do.
the best wheel builder i know by far, asks that wheels are brought back to the shop after a bit of riding and he retensions everything.

they have never been out of true when mine have gone back for a retension, but they have also NEVER even developed a slight wobble, after 5 years of hard abuse of light wheels.
this is of course part of the price of building a wheel, not an extra.

i wouldnt ride a brand new wheel on full on DH weekend personally, i wouldnt give it a hard time for the first week or so.

and a flat spot has nothing to do with spoke tensions whatsoever.
unless your rims are made of cheese and the wheel was built by a chimp.

Edit

I wasn't saying that. You would need to hit a tight and even wheel a LOT harder to create a flat spot.. Hence why tyre pressures and pinch flats are an indication.

tyre pressure and pinch flats are an indication of what exactly

You're right, flat spotting is down to how hard you hit a well built wheel and the strength of that particular rim (given the same quality of build)
from experience, I've flatspotted DH rims (721s 729s, WTB speeddiscDH to name a few) running dual plys and DH tubes at 40-45psi without puncturing and vice versa I've done a whole run from the deer gate at fort william on a flat rear tyre without a single ding on another rim (Sun Doubletrack)
where do you get your information from?

i wouldnt ride a brand new wheel on full on DH weekend personally, i wouldnt give it a hard time for the first week or so.

How would you manage that then?
rear DH wheels only fit DH bikes and DH bikes only work on DH tracks.

are you really saying you'd waste the petrol money to get to a DH track and mince down all day coz your wheel is "new"

FFS!

use a wheelbuilder you trust or build your own

and a flat spot has nothing to do with spoke tensions whatsoever.
unless your rims are made of cheese and the wheel was built by a chimp.

er… no.

A flat spot has everything to do with spoke tension. If you don't think so then you don't understand how wheels work. The supporting pressure of a spoke is equal to it's static tension. The wheel stands on its spokes; it doesn't hang on the ones above.

i do build my own and havent had a problem with any of my wheels.
cheers 🙂

The wheel stands on its spokes; it doesn't hang on the ones above.

riiiiiiight.
i suppose that makes 36spoke wheels stronger, as the "next spoke" its "standing on" gets under the hub quicker.

maybe you should invest in some of Mr S Browns POWer wheels?
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/power_wheel.html

the hub is supported equally in all directions mefinks, and a flat spot is cause by a "ding" in the rim, which may or may not cause a pinch flat, depending on how the tube and tyre align during said "ding"

lol @ thread …..

Im with gw …..

Olly, you have no idea how pre-tensioned engineering structures work.

The pre-tensioning is supported by the rim. any compressive forces on the rim act as a reduction on the tension… A reduction on a tensive force is a compressive force. And yes, 36 spoke hubs are stronger for exactly that reason.

spokes stretch, like cables do.

absolutely; and whether cables or spokes and mechanic worth their wages will pre stretch in the workshop so that the rider/ customer never sees the resultant stretch.

bikewhisperer – Member

The wheel stands on its spokes; it doesn't hang on the ones above.

Rubbish – spokes have no strength in compression and a lot in tension.

The wheel hangs from the spokes at the top.