Wheel Truing advice

[Homervanderlay]

I have an old BMX bike which has a back wheel way out of balance.

I looked at some YouTube videos on how I could do some bike truing, bought myself a little spoke wrench and got into action...

I turned the bike upside down, found the problem area and attempted to tighten the spokes.

So I am looking at the back wheel, straight on, from slightly above and, as shown in the videos, am tightening to the left, so counterclockwise.

However, this seems to be making the problem worse and the spoke seems to be coming away from the nipple.

So I started turning the other way and that seemed to be tightening the spoke so progressed this way until the wheel was slightly better balanced.

I will need to attempt it again over the weekend but my question is;

Why do all the videos tell you to tighten counterclockwise when it actually seems to tighten clockwise?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Jdsk]

Are you defining the direction of rotation as seen from the axle or from the tyre?

Jonathan

[Brucey]

the nipple is like a nut on a bolt (the spoke) so as you are looking down on the top (slotted part) of a nipple, it tightens CW.

If the spokes still have tension in them then to shift the wheel rim laterally, you will need to locally slacken spokes on one side (eg the left of the wheel) and tighten them on the other (e.g. right) side.

cheers

[Homervanderlay]

Are you defining the direction of rotation as seen from the axle or from the tyre?

Jonathan

From the tyre I would say..

[David9694]

Put another way, if you’ve got the tyre, etc off, normal rules apply, but if you’re using a spoke tool, as it sounds like you are, then it will appear to be reversed.

A general rule, locate the worst area and do a quarter turn each way on two pairs of spokes and check again.

[Homervanderlay]

the nipple is like a nut on a bolt (the spoke) so as you are looking down on the top (slotted part) of a nipple, it tightens CW.

If the spokes still have tension in them then to shift the wheel rim laterally, you will need to locally slacken spokes on one side (eg the left of the wheel) and tighten them on the other (e.g. right) side.

cheers

Thanks, makes sense, will try loosening as well.

[Homervanderlay]

Thanks for the replies folks

[richardfm]

the nipple is like a nut on a bolt (the spoke) so as you are looking down on the top (slotted part) of a nipple, it tightens CW.

If the spokes still have tension in them then to shift the wheel rim laterally, you will need to locally slacken spokes on one side (eg the left of the wheel) and tighten them on the other (e.g. right) side.

cheers

Thanks, makes sense, will try loosening as well.

Tighten the spokes on the side you want to move the rim to, loosen the other side. Only turn the nipples about 1/4 of a turn at a time.

[531colin]

The nipple is a nut. If you can't work out which way to turn it, you are never going to make a wheelbuilder. (I've tried to teach people. Like banging your head on a wall. I no longer say "I'll teach you to build wheels", I say "I'll sit with you while you learn.")
A quarter turn is the smallest correction you can (sensibly) make, and even then you are going to have to go "past- it- and- back- a- bit" to get round spoke wind-up. So adjusting 2 pairs of spokes the smallest amount you can is going to do very little to correct a wheel which is (in the OP) "way out of balance".
To start, find the biggest buckle....mark the middle of it. Working from the middle, (and knowing which way you need to pull the rim) slacken one spoke one turn, tighten its opposite number one turn. The next two spokes tighten/loosen half turn, the next two quarter turn. Now spin the wheel and see what difference you have made...do you need to (a) extend the region you have worked on? (b) increase the correction you have made?
Once its laterally and radially true, the final repeating cycle is....stress the wheel, true the wheel, balance the tension....etc....until you get the best compromise between trueness and evenness of tension. (this rim has taken a set, so if you use spoke tension to pull it back true, the tension will never be perfectly even.)

[nsew]

Why do all the videos tell you to tighten counterclockwise when it actually seems to tighten clockwise?

No one here can disclose that information. We don’t talk about it.