Used to freehand spoke tension until I snapped 3 nipples in one wheel build

I used to just eyeball spoke tension based on feel. Thought it was fine since I'd been building wheels for years. Then last month I was lacing up a 32-hole rim for a customer's touring bike and cracked three nipples on the drive side. Had to buy a Park Tool TM-1 tension meter for $85 and redo the whole thing. Now I check every spoke in sequence and aim for exactly 100 kgf on that side. Has anyone else had a similar wake-up call with a specific tool that saved them time and money?

2 comments

2 Comments

karen_shah5623d ago

You ever had one of those builds where you just feel like you're getting it right, then bam, three nipples break? Yeah, been there. I used to go by feel too, but after snapping two on a 36-hole tandem build I just gave up and got a DT Swiss tensiometer. It's not the cheapest thing, but it pays for itself after one or two builds if you're doing them regular. The thing that really helped me was marking each spoke with a little piece of tape after I check it, keeps me from losing my place in the pattern. Another tip is to go around the wheel three times at lower tension before bringing it up to spec, lets everything settle in without the big stress.

the_abby23d ago

Taping each spoke after tensioning saved my sanity on the last build.