Trueing a Wheel?

fender

I have an old 20" wheel with a coaster brake.

The wheel is out of true, probably as spokes are loose in places. Would tightening them help true the wheel?

Thanks.

jimbo_the_jetset

Yes. I have done this with a bike wheel. Ideally you fit it in a jig which has precise guides so you can get it as near as damn it perfect, you could probably fabricate something to use as a guide to see if it needs to go in or out

djheath

I had this done at my local bike shop - not halfords.

It cost £20 to true the wheel and they did pretty good job of it. They said some wheels if really off cant be made straight again, or round or whatever shape you make a wheel!

molerat

You need to ensure the wheel is true (no wobbles in the rim), not dished (the rim sits centrally above the axle) and not flat spotted (the circle squashed). This is all done by adjusting the tension on the spokes. It is fairly simple to do and if careful you can do it with the wheel in the frame although a wheel jig is best.

daveonline

I learnt how to do this back in the 80s when i had BMX bikes. As its been said it is fairly simple to do, this website gives clear step by step instructions-

http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/3041

The instructions look a bit complecated, but work through them and you should be ok.

PS - I still use the upturned bike method with a pointer.