How tight should your spokes be?

Bimbling around in the garage and noticed the spoke tension in my different wheels varied dramatically from no flex however hard I squeeze down to seriously loose.

How tight should they be based on the precise measure of squeezing two adjacent spokes together to see how much they flex?

Does it make a difference between 26″ and 29″ wheels?

should be a nice “ping” if you tap them. Thats the only way I know to check – all a similar note. Any spokes that go “clack” and sound flat are too lose

If you true your wheels so they all sound the same they will be very wobbly indeed! Generally your spokes should have some ‘give’ if you squeeze them, impossible to actually quantify though.

Wheels are true just some are much flexier than others.

i know the spokes with be different tensions but they should be similar I guess.

F# I think.

Tighter the better but one side will usually be less tight than the other due to wheel dish.

http://www.cyclebasket.com/products.php?plid=m5b88s280p2327&rs=gb

you need one of these if you want to check tension

Next rainy Sunday I will tighten some up a bit

If you true your wheels so they all sound the same they will be very wobbly indeed!

Rubbish.
The most essential key to a long lasting wheel is even spoke tension. They should be nice and tight and even all round. Any spoke that is tighter than the rest may cause ones next to it to loosen, and is more likely to snap as it’s taking more strain than it should do. Loose spokes arent pulling their weight and will cause the wheel to buckle quickly.
If you are patient and you follow a set procedure when building, being careful and methodical then every spoke will have even tension and the wheel will be perfectly round and true. You shouldn’t even get bedding in “pings” on the first ride if done properly, that’s just a sign the wheels weren’t de-stressed properly. And they shouldn’t need a true after a few miles either after they have supposedly “bedded in”.
EDIT Spoke tension meter – you don’t need one of those either.

I’ll second what Rob said above except the bit about the tensiometer. I find mine very useful but maybe I’ve just not got a very musical ear. Stan’s rims say a max of 100 kgf. Most eyeletted rims say about 120~130 kgf. When I bought some Hope Hoops with flow rims, they read at 150 kgf. Now, chances are, my Park tensiometer isn’t giving a true reading but as I always used the same gauge of spoke, it gives me something consistent to aim for. Also, it’s useful for comparing spokes in the same wheel. I know all the stuff about the repeatability and accuracy of the tool but the wheels I build for my self are normally plus or minus 5% on the tension. Last wheel I had built by a shop ranged from 65 to 124 kgf. Compared to the Hope Hoop I benchmarked, it was neither well tensioned or evenly tensioned.

It works for me anyway.

Fair enough, they can be useful but you don’t need one. I suppose if a rim is limited to the spoke tension then it’s worth using to avoid damage. I don’t think I’d use a rim which was limited in that way though.

judging from the way Hope tension the flow rims, I don’t think it’s that much of an issue. They wind them up nice and tight.

Agree with what rob says, except “I don’t think I’d use a rim which was limited in that way though” is a bit misleading as all rims have a maximum tension limit, whether they state it or not.

Mavics are rated 70-90kgf IIRC
They had some problems with rim cracking around the eyelet on X517s. I’ve seen them bulge on the rear drive side too – the alu surface goes a bit pearly. I’ve built my XM719s up to 100kgf and they’ve been fine though.

Loose spokes arent pulling their weight and will cause the wheel to buckle quickly.

rob is correct bar the above hyperbole – the truth is it’s a matter of degree. I too cba with a tension meter.

OP it’s tricky to describe but you should feel a little give squeezing ds spokes rear and a bit more non ds. Basically the wheels should be as tight as possible without creating rounding and or galling when turning nipples.

(Mr MC posting)

if in doubt refer to the late great sheldon brown. I built my first wheel ooh maybe 15 years ago using his site. I was/am enough of a geek to have bought Jobst Brandts book (an engineering overview, not a building guide) but all the info is there. Never used a tension meter and my spokes are pretty tight (much tighter than most OE wheels), just a bit of give/flex as cynic-al says.

http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

The Roger Musson (sp?) book is very good for practical wheelbuilding advice…

as other say they should be about the same tension all over [each side] with some affect of dishing. Some rims seem to give tighter spokes. a bit of give as a rough rule of thumb.

Onzadog :

When I bought some Hope Hoops with flow rims, they read at 150 kgf. Now, chances are, my Park tensiometer isn’t giving a true reading

Hope build their ZTR wheels very tight and I’ve seen plenty at 150kg (some even more) so your Park Tensiometer is probably correct. Crest come out pretty tight too. They are not consistent though, some are lower.