Spokes, how tight do i do up a replacement ?

Had a snapped spoke in the rear a week or so ago, Hope Pro2/Crest 29. Replaced spoke as hope supply spares.

Yesterday though I had a horrible rattle all ride, I put it down to the new pads as they were the only thing I could find rattling while out on trails… But when I got back, the replacement spoke was loose, which I now suspect was causing it.

However, I’ve re-tightend, but no idea how tight to actually go.. ?

If the wheel is basically true then I’d put the new spoke in as tight as all the others but no tighter.

Ping it like a guitar string, if the sound is lower than the rest then tighten it up a bit if it’s higher than you’ve gone too far and you might want to loosen it off a bit.

The replacement will bed in so may need tightened 24-48 hours after initially putting it on the wheel. I’ve learned to leave wheels or a day or two then go back and re-true.

The replacement will bed in so may need tightened 24-48 hours after initially putting it on the wheel. I’ve learned to leave wheels or a day or two then go back and re-true.

Metallurgically, that makes no sense, sorry.

The correct answer is “as tight as it needs to be to make the wheel true” – in theory that’s the same tension as the other spokes, but because of variations there can be reasonable differences, and pinging is only an approximate way of measuring tension.

Best way is to true the wheel – in the frame if you don’t have a truing jig.

remember to have a good old squeeze of the spokes while you’re at it – relives the stresses or some other engineery guff, but does seem to help keep things stable after building

seems OK now, won’t really know till I get back out and give it a good hammering. Thanks for the tips and advice gents. Much appreciated.