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Can we talk about the guy at the shop counter who said he never checks spoke tension after a build?
I was picking up tubes at a shop in Tucson last Tuesday and heard a customer ask the guy at the counter if his new rear wheel would hold up on gravel. The guy shrugged and said he never checks spoke tension after a build, he just squeezes the spokes and calls it good. I stood there holding my tubes and felt my stomach drop. I have seen wheels come back to my bench with loose spokes on the drive side only 200 miles after a build, and the rim was already cracking at the eyelets. Squeezing tells you almost nothing about even tension, it just tells you nothing is totally flopping around. If you are building or truing wheels for customers, spend the $80 on a tension meter or at least do the pluck and listen for the note. A wheel that walks out of true in a month kills your name in a small town. I am not saying every shop does this, but hearing it out loud from someone behind a counter made me wonder how many others cut the same corner. Anyone here ever gotten a wheel back from another shop and found the tension all over the place?
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charlie2691d ago
Squeezing spokes and calling it good is like checking if a cake is done by poking it with your finger and hoping for the best. Imagine paying full price for a wheel and the guy's "tension check" is just a firm handshake. Bet that wheel starts making noise on the first bump and he acts like it's a mystery.
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