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Simplified Rear Wheel Lacing and Truing

When I wrote this in 2019, I did it with too much math, measuring and in general complexity. The part about the lacing is still good but getting setup is much easier/better in this simplified version and this version somewhat covers the actual truing.

When I rewrote this, I deleted the blog-style dates and the parts that were about setup. I show where today's new content starts. This rewritten first part is getting the wheel ready for truing.

To get started you must loosely lace the wheel. The spoke pattern is easy if you get started right. On both the drive side (first picture) and timing side (second picture) you'll see that there is a spoke aligned with the valve stem hole and the spoke goes to the right to the nipple hole four away (skip three holes) from the valve stem hole. From the first spoke, every other spoke is installed like the first on both sides (total 20 spokes). Once those are all in, then the outer spokes are installed, going the other way.

The inner and outer spokes are different. The spoke with the longer bent end is the outer. To get started, I opened the inner spoke package from my set, and applied anti-seize to each nipple. To do that, I dip a spoke in anti-seize, screw a nipple on and off, and set the nipple aside. Once all 20 are done, I clean up that one spoke and wipe any excess from the nipples.

After installing the new bearings, I lightly greased the rim on the inside to make sure the nipples don't gall the rim when tightening. Then I installed all inner spokes. Notice that the outers often cause marks on the hub, so I ensured that I started in a hole with no mark.

It just went to hell on me! I took the spokes from the outer package and started applying the anti-seize when I realized that there was a problem. All told, I was given 28 inner spokes and 14 outer spokes! So, eight too many inner and six too few outer. So, now I'm stuck.

The supplier is out of spoke sets but has a partial set with the outers I need. They are on the way.

I went ahead and installed the drive side outer spokes and set the wheel aside while I waited for the spokes to arrive. Note that all nipples are only screwed on 3-4 threads at this point.

The replacement spokes arrived and I once I had them in and started truing, realized that they are too long by 3/16";. So, now I'm stuck on this wheel.

Finally got a set of CWC spokes. Carefully measured each one to be sure they were the same length and then re-laced the wheel. It's now trued and this page won't be very instructive because this was another nightmare that took hours. I have places where the spokes seem way too long and others where they seem short - but there's nothing wrong with spokes, truing, or offset. It turns out that there are two issues. 1) The holes in the hub are drilled wrong in one area.

2) The dimples in the rim are not as consistent as they should be.

The red circle is around the worst spoke - no more threads, fortunately it's properly tightened. Note that it is right next to the weld in the rim. The yellow circle is around the second worst - not a big deal - there are a few of these. The blue circle is around one that still has threads showing on the other side.

I'll grind off the long ones - that's not abnormal - you just don't expect any to need so much taken off. I even took the wheel partly back apart, remeasured the spokes, and then put them in different locations to prove it wasn't the spokes. The last picture shows it trued. Truing was not a big deal, but trying to figure out why some spokes seemed too long took many hours. At least I have a good rear wheel now.

Next time I do one of these, I'll update this page as I originally intended showing the truing step by step. Basically, I got rid of the centering issues first using only my fingers and then got the offset right, again using only my fingers, and then finally started tightening all equally while keeping an eye on the centering, offset, and side-to-side movement.

So, here starts the new content...

Just about any truing stand will work here as long as it will hold the wheel stability. I bought mine Oct 13, 2016, from Amazon for $59.99. Today a slightly improved one at Amazon is $68.58: https://a.co/d/0biiAaxj

With the wheel laced and all nipples roughly the same tightness with fingers - 1-3 threads showing, mount the wheel firmly in the stand.

My stand is not very accurate. The first picture shows the crooked mounts - that does not matter - it only matters that the wheel is stable - not that it is straight as all work is done at the bottom.

Put a piece of tape across the stand base. Draw a line across it roughly in line with the legs of the stand on the side you will work from. I like the line a little out from the legs where I will have the pointer sitting later but it is not critical as long as the line is close to perpendicular to the wheel in the stand. Then using a straightedge against the drive side hub and down to the tape, mark the tape. Everything from here on uses that mark so get it right. In a perfect world, a square sitting on the base of the stand and touching the top and bottom edges of the hub at the same time is good, but if that won't happen, then just be sure it's touching the top and bottom of the edges of the hub.

Note: The measurements are shown as the caliper display them in inches and then in mm when I switched the caliper from inches to mm. There is no need for this much precision, it was just easier to record what the caliper said.

Measure the width of the hub - calipers are plenty accurate enough for this. It's best to measure in a few places and average in your head - a few thousandths are no big deal just try to get the average width. Mine is 2.805" (71.25mm).

Divide that measurement in half and set the calipers to that setting. For me, 1.4025" (35.62mm)

Transfer that measurement from the first mark over towards the timing side on the line you drew - that mark is the center of your hub as mounted in the stand. Unfortunately, my phone hung up transferring the picture to my computer and I lost that one. You'll see what I mean in later pictures.

Now measure the width of the rim. The one in the picture is a WM3 (Norton usually is WM2 and Triumph/BSA is normally WM3) My measurements varied in width a few thousandths and the average is 3.014" (76.56mm). Divide that in half and add 3/16" (.1875"), in my case that comes to 1.6954 (43.04mm). Make a mark from the center of the hub mark towards the timing side on the line at that width. This the where the rim must align when truing. Transfer this line up to your pointer and lock the pointer in place.

Notice that the wheel has a long way to go to the right before it is correct!

Here's the "executive overview" of the truing if using a spoke torque wrench, if not then it will have to be a "arm torque wrench" but go lightly - no gorilla work here! I'm using left side and right side to denote the way it is in the pictures, and if you prefer drive and timing sides, left is drive and right is timing like you are looking from the rear of the bike.

1. Tighten all spokes to about 20 in-lbf.
2. Check the "hop" (up and down movement)
   1. If you find an up spot, loosen 2–3 spokes on both sides a little and tighten the same number of spokes 180 degrees on the rim.
   2. If you find a down spot, do the opposite.
   3. Re-tighten all spokes to about 20 in-lbf.
   4. Repeat step 2 until there is very little hop.
3. Check for true (side to side) and if way out partly correct by tightening/loosening the two sides.
4. The rim most likely has to go further right so tighten all the right-side spokes to about 40 in-lbf. This will automatically make the left side tighter.
   1. If it still has farther to go, loosen the left-side spokes a little.
   2. Retighten the right-side spokes to about 40 in-lbf.
   3. Recheck for hop and true. If off a little don't worry about it right now, but if more significant go back to step 2; otherwise back to step 4 and do this until close to being far enough right.
5. Tighten both sides to about 44 in-lbf. That is my target because tapping each spoke makes them ring instead of sounding flat. Adjust this so they don't sound flat and that's the tightness you want.
6. Go back to step 2 and keep going until there is no hop and the wheel is true. Keep in mind that where the rim was welded at the factory, there will usually be a little hop that cannot be removed and probably a little out of true that cannot be removed. Also, once in a while, recheck that the left side is still aligned with the first tape mark. My wheel shifted a couple of time and I would have never gotten it right if I had new re-aligned it.

Patience is the key here. It takes me many tries until I'm happy - being a perfectionist is a PITA truing wheels! It can take a long time to get it right. The required offset in the Norton rear wheel turns an easy task much harder. Trust me, the Norton front wheel truing is even more difficult!

If you would like to understand how CWC rims/spokes are made, look: here.