Just cruising

[Jim H]

along this morning at half throttle, looking forward to a couple of hours in the saddle. Cruising slow because I'm concerned about the wobble in my drive wheel,(is it worse than yesterday?) Looking down at the seat tube I can see it; the tire is scrubbing the pavement like crazy! Well, take it slow, ride a little longer... ping! ping-ping!...look down, wheel's wobblin like a hula dancer... mercy, ten miles from home, no way I'm calling wife, sloooowly I proceed home without further incident. String her up, check the wheel, four broken spokes... on the phone to the bike shop, ordered a steel workmaster w/ 12guage spokes as per advice sans Bama... won't be in for a coupla days but hoping to nip the wobbleys in the bud. Also time to put that tool kit together; a pocket knife can only do so much...

[bamabikeguy]

Jim,

When I snap a ring on a Workmaster, I want to get it as right as possible.

The easiest thing I've found is cutting 3 small peices of electrical tape.

The first I put on the rim, establishing "12 o'clock".

Then I spin the spokering around, 1 position at a time, looking to see if the spokes line up with the notches. Most times one or two spokes look to be a little off, but when I find one that fits, I put a peice of tape on the ring (corresponding to the 12 o'clock).

Try a few more, and find a second "perfect fit". When I selected the best match, the tape on the ring and the tape on the wheel guide me as I snap it on, gauge the gap.

Also, on the last rear wheel I ordered monday from Paul I changed the tube to Punctureproof (instead of slime), $9. I told him to put the Mr. Tuffies' in too, he said that wheel/tire/tube should be indestructible...

[azbill]

glad you never got hurt
if it had happened at speed, coulda been bad

[Jim H]

Good tip Bama. Never had any probs lining the ring up on previous wheels but will be extra vigilant. So, anything else to look out for as to tightness of spokes in the ring itself? Hey Kronic, I had pm'd bama for some info and had told him my concerns of possible catastrophic failure re: rear wheel just last night. Yeah, the speeds we attain on our mb could get us seriously killed...

[bamabikeguy]

I zip tie first, little chance of the spokes being "truer" than when they are brand new.

Liquid soap works as good as oil, doesn't effect the brakepads if you slop it around, but wash it off completely when done snapping, cuz it will intensely rust very quick if you don't.

I hold the first 4 spokes I snap in (12/6/3/9 o'clocks) superfirmly, after those are snapped in and the thing is kind of "torquing itself down", the rest of the spokes are less prone to bending.

But I always have the left hand partially pressing the spoke at the same time as snapping, to keep any from bending. The more soap the better to prevent that from happening.

And I wrap 3 layers of electrical tape over the spoke ends, in addition to the rubber gasket. High speeds/firm air psi, will cause a flat because of the ends abrading thru.

[Jim H]

Thanks Bama, I'll definitely follow all advice you've given. I have used the ties but after the fact... live and learn. The wheel I was using was a rhyno lite 14g that I bought from staton a year or so ago with a 44t sprocket attached (I attached it) when my 80 was on the bike then switched to a gebe system... long story short, I probably shouldn't have crossed parts like that, one application to another and should have stayed application specific... nothing wrong with the wheel just got used harder than it was built for.