My front rim has a slight wobble, is this a job for a complete spanner noob or is it best to take it to the lbs? I don’t mind having a stab at it if it’s fairly straightforward. It I’m also aware that I could royally mess it up. So is it easier and cheaper for the bike shop to do it for me or shall I attempt to buy a spoke key and give it a go?

get a key. useful to know what you’re doing in case you need it on a ride anyway. take a look at the sheldon brown site, and work through in a methodical fashion.

Give it a go, if it’s all going tits then take it to the shop?

Nothing to lose, some experience/useful skill to gain…

plenty online videos etc too I think.

About £6

http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html see Tensioning and truing

Tightening a spoke (turn nipple anticlockwise) will pull the rim towards the hub flange that that spoke comes from, and vice versa. Generally, it is better to add tension than remove it, though with bigger buckles you’ll have to do both, and maybe re-do the radial trueness too.

Work half a turn at a time over the entire surface of the rim that is out. It is too tempting to just crank one spoke right up and stop it rubbing/noticable wobble, but it won’t be right. Slowly slowly catchy monkey.

Thanks chaps. Spoke key and some patience are on order 🙂

The lbs charged a mate £8

£10 at my LBS and Alpine bikes @ GT

Spokeys are better than the Park jobs:

Better grip on the nipple – far less rounding. The red one is for the most common size.