UKC

I have stock Giant PR2 wheels on my road bike and have noticed that the spoke tension is pretty low, they are quite flexible and the spokes click annoyingly when you put the power down.

Is there any use in getting a wheel builder to tweak and tighten them up a bit? Would it do anything to sort out these problems?

I know they are cheap but I'm not a competitive cyclist and have plenty of other things to spend my spare cash on before I buy new wheels.

Thanks,

Gethin.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Have they got looser over time? Do the spokes all have similar tensions are there a few looser than the rest? If yes, then its worth getting your wheel looked at. If theyve always been like this, then its unlikely you will be able to improve them too much without changing spokes and/or rims. A nice new set of wheels can be had for not too much and can make a world of difference.

In reply to balmybaldwin:
There does seem to be some looser than others but the wheels run true so I doubt they have come loose over time, it's probably just that they are crap machine built things.

It's the clicking that's most irritating, I could deal with the flex but not the clicking.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Its quite common for a spoke or 2 to come loose, but the wheel remain true. Its likely these are the spokes that are clicking as they get weighted. Get it retensioned and it should quiten down. I have known people to use vascaline on the crossing points of the spokes to stop them clicking.

How old are the wheels?

In reply to balmybaldwin:


They are quite new, 10 months old but that covers winter and a good chunk of time not riding due to illness. So probably only 6 months use.

In reply to gethin_allen:

I bought a new road bike last year (Planet X Pro Carbon). The stock wheels were poorly set up - spoke tension was all over the place and the wheels were out of true by up to 2mm! I had already returned an entire bike to Planet X (frame damaged on delivery) and was reluctant to return a pair of wheels. My LBS has a great wheel technician, who trued and tensioned both wheels for £24 - what a difference!
My 'best' wheels (Mavic Ksyriums) were also very creaky when new. A quick Google suggested spraying the bladed spoke crossings and nipples with silicone lubricant. Once that was done, silence was restored.
N