Guy at the co-op in Portland showed me a better way to true wheels and now I feel dumb

I was at this community bike shop in Portland last Saturday just working on my old wheel and this dude maybe 60 years old walks over and says "you're fighting the spoke way too hard." He showed me how to use a lighter touch and actually back off the tension before tightening. Has anyone else had a random stranger change your whole approach to something you thought you had figured out?

3 comments

3 Comments

shanem371mo ago

My buddy Mike was at a co-op in Seattle a couple years back just trying to fix his derailleur and some old-timer came over and showed him you can actually bend the hanger with an adjustable wrench. Mike had been trying to adjust the limit screws for like an hour and the guy just eyeballed it (bent it maybe 2 degrees) and it shifted perfect after that. He still talks about that dude like he's a wizard or something.

sethhernandez1mo ago

That old wizard trick works until you snap the hanger clean off, then you're walking home like I did last summer.

patriciah5123d ago

Honestly, I've got no room to judge since I once brought my bike to the shop where I work and asked my coworker if he could fix a noise I'd been ignoring for weeks. Turns out the derailleur hanger was bent so bad it looked like a cheap twist tie, and he fixed it with a park tool in 30 seconds flat. @shanem37, that story about Mike's wizard is total goals, because I'd kill to be that smooth with a wrench instead of just messing up my limit screws every time. Ngl, I bet that old-timer's been bending hangers since before Mike was born, and he's probably never snapped one. I'd still be scared to try it myself, but maybe I'll practice on some junk frame first so I don't end up walking like Seth said.