Help!
Tightening my spokes (first time, and maybe the first for this bike) and was surprised by how my room tighten there was on so many.
I just go to this one and it’s like this
Can I ride the bike?
What am I doing wrong?
What should I do next?
Thanks
by Gorba-chav
2 Comments
Are you tightening them because they are loose? How are you measuring how tight to make them? Is the wheel true?
That looks like the nipple is cracked and there are signs of corrosion , which may have contributed or caused the weakness. The crack *appears* to be in the unthreaded part of the nipple, but it may not hold for long, especially if there is corrosion playing a part.
On a properly tensioned wheel, one spoke failure shouldn’t cause an immediate catastrophe. On an unbalanced tension wheel, it could be a problem immediately.
Also, did you use the correct tool to grip and turn the nipples? Pliers and the like will crush nipples and they often look like that.
At the very least, that spoke nipple should be replaced. You need to use a proper spoke wrench, and ensure spoke tension is close to even when truing the wheel. There are tons of videos on doing this on YouTube U.