important: Nuts and bolts on your bike should always be tightened to the manufacturer's specifications.

How to True a Wheel

Aspects of wheel truing covered include radial, lateral, centering (or dishing) and spoke tension.

Wheel truing is a delicate procedure that requires time and patience. In this tutorial I’ll try and demonstrate the many aspects as clearly as possible. Ideally you’ll want to have a wheel truing stand, good lighting and a comfortable workspace.

Wheel Truing Tips

If you don’t have a truing stand, lateral, or side to side adjustments can be done using your brake pads as a guide. If truing the wheel on your bike, be sure to deflate the tire before you begin. For radial, or up and down adjustments, you can use an L-square as a guide by attaching it to your fork or frame.

It is very important to use the correct size spoke wrench to avoid stripping the spoke nipples.

Before you begin, carefully inspect your wheel for any bent or broken spokes. Make sure your hub bearings don’t have any play and then carefully squeeze a drop of light oil into all of your spoke holes.

Spoke nipples have a regular right-hand thread, but that while you’re truing a wheel, you will be looking at the nipple upside-down, so you have to turn the spoke wrench clockwise to loosen and counter-clockwise to tighten.

Make sure the spoke doesn’t turn with the nipple, which will cause it to twist and break. If it does turn, apply some light oil to the nipple threads and try again.

If a spoke does break while you’re truing, it’ll shoot out the spoke hole with great force, so be careful not to place your face in line with the rim. Safety glasses are highly recommended.

Radial (Vertical) Adjustments

To check radial alignment, place the guide near the highest point on the outer edge of your rim. Find the high spots in your rim by spinning the wheel and correct them by tightening both left and right side spokes evenly. Correct any low spots by equally loosening the spokes in the effected area.

Tighten or loosen spokes in 1/4 turn increments. For example, if the effected area spans the length of four spokes, tighten all four spokes 1/4 turn, and then tighten the middle two spokes another 1/4 turn. Then re-check the radial alignment and repeat the process as needed.

Lateral (Side to Side) Adjustments

To check lateral adjustment, place the guide close to the rim sidewall and look for high spots on either side. To correct a left or right high spot, tighten the spoke that leads to the opposing hub flange and equally loosen the spoke that leads to the hub flange on the same side as the high spot.

Just like radial adjustments, tighten or loosen the spokes in 1/4 increments. Again if the effected area spans four spokes, loosen and tighten all four spokes 1/4 turn, and then loosen and tighten the middle two spokes another 1/4 turn.

Re-check the lateral alignment and re-adjust as needed. Remember that on the rear wheel, the right side spokes have a lesser angle and effect lateral movement less than the left. The left side spokes have greater angle and effect radial alignment less than right. To compensate for this difference, the right side spokes should be adjusted two turns for every turn on left.

Centering (Dishing)

Rims should be exactly centered between the axle nuts. To check this you can use either a dishing tool, or your frame to check the measurement on each side.

If the rim is off-center, pull it in either direction by equally tightening all of the spokes on one side 1/4 turn, and loosening all of the spokes on the other. Then check the alignment again and repeat the process until the rim is centered.

Spoke Tension

To check spoke tension, pluck each spoke in the middle and listen to the sound. On the front wheel, all of the spokes should sound the same on both sides. On the rear wheel, each side should sound slightly different, but the spokes on each side should sound the same as each other.

Most people don’t have a spoke tensiometer, so it’s a good idea to compare the sound of your spokes to the sound of a wheel that you already know has proper tension. Remember that spoke changes effect the whole wheel, so you might have to repeat these steps several times before it is true.

Stress-Relieving Spokes

After the wheel is true you should always pre-stress the spokes and re-adjust before riding. Failure to do this could cause broken spokes later. There are two ways to do this. The first way is to squeeze together the parellel spokes on both sides of the wheel. The second method involves resting the wheel sideways on the floor and gently pushing down on both sides of the rim, all the way around the wheel in 1/8 increments.

After pre-stressing the spokes you will usually have to re-check and make some minor adjustments. If after stressing the wheel you notice that your rim is severly warped, it means that your spoke tension is too high. Loosen all of the spokes 1/2 turn and re-true the wheel.

Alex Ramon

A bicycle geek since early childhood, spent his twenties as a mechanic in bike shops. His passions include flatland BMX, unicycles, cycle touring, mountain biking and road riding.

Recommended Tools

Discuss this topic in the Bicycle Repairs and Mechanics Forum

What to do about scratched carbon fork?

Lastest post 6 hours ago

Hello, cycling lovers! A couple of days ago I had a lesson of riding in a group, which ended with crashed bike =) Fell to the side, so the main impact was absorbed by my shoulder and hand, so I believe no major damage was caused by this crash except some paint removal. So I'm thinking about what to do with stripped carbon on the front fork - to me it seems that only paint is damaged and I'm thin...

Does the B limit screw cause grinding in the drivetrain if not set correctly?

Lastest post 5 hours ago

It happens only when I’m pushing a big gear up a slight gradient in the saddle. My first thought was the BB needed to be replaced but I took it to the shop and they said it was fine. They thought they fixed the problem with adjusting the b limit but it only helped it maybe a little. It didn’t solve the issue. Would there be any other causes? I have Shimano GRX 810. Happens when the clutch is ...

Water in tube.

Lastest post 7 hours ago

I'm fixing up my wife's old bike to sell and when I pulled the tube on the front tire it had water in it. Haven't seen that before. What would cause that and is it a problem I need to take care of? Thanks. John...

MODERN GRIP AND THUMB SHIFTERS: POOR ENGINEERING?

Lastest post 17 hours ago

So as some who rides and maintains bikes from the 1960s to through the 2000s, I find disturbing that there are some many problems with modern shifting mechanisms on low to midrange bikes. I have an engineering background and it seems that basis quality in function and durability has gone by the wayside in this department. Is just a cost issue? I would be embarrassed as a manufacturer if I had the ...

Shimano GRX shifter with 11-speed mountain derailleur

Lastest post 1 day ago

Hey all, My CX/Gravel bike came with a Shimano GRX-810 (1x) drivetrain. The derailleur has a 34T max cog and, living in a flatter area, it's more than fine but I'm planning on getting in some climbing-heavy gravel rides later this year so was looking to get something that can take more teeth in the rear. A little digging around has identified the XTR-M9000GS, another 11-speed RD, as a viable opti...

Need advice on crack in steerer tube

Lastest post 2 days ago

Looking for ideas and opinions on this crack in my steerer tube. It seems pretty small and only on the outside surface, and the carbon is rather thick too. I have enough room to potentially slam the stem by cutting the area off, or I could try using a metal tube insert to brace the area. Or is it small enough to ignore for now? What do you think 20210723_211713.jpg (Size: 19.97 KB / ...

change gears on my giant trooper

Lastest post 2 days ago

Hey, I got a giant trooper, with the gear ( Sram Twist Grip Rotary Handle DualDrive ) and cable broken and not working, do you guys know if its hard to change it myself? I live in amsterdam and in a shop is too expensive to replace the gears. Any thoughts about this? Where i can buy those type of gears? it is possible to change only the gears part that got the numbers? When i change gears on ge...

Shifter repair

Lastest post 2 days ago

So my front derailleur shifter is not going in 3 Everytime I push it for a slight moment the chain stands on the 3rd gear.And when I stop pushing it goes back to 2.The last pic is when I pushed the shifter to 3.And the shifter is very hard to push IMG_20210724_201313.jpg (Size: 63.04 KB / Downloads: 22) IMG_20210724_201418.jpg (Size: 64.34 KB / Downloads: 24) ...

Beware Park Tool CCP-44 Incompatible with Shimano Octalink

Lastest post 3 days ago

Purchased this last week and went to pull the crank off today. What I found is that the threaded hollow on the non-drive side is too shallow to fit both the bullet and the threaded extractor nut. With the improvisation, I was still able to remove the non-drive by using a small, thick washer. Certainly not recommended though. I believe I saw Shimano makes their own crank puller for Octalink, so tha...

Removing pedals with allen key

Lastest post 3 days ago

Hi, I am trying to pack my bike for travel and cannot get my pedals off. I know that the left side pedal is reverse threaded etc so am pretty sure I am trying to loosen them the correct way on each side. But both pedals are stuck fast and I dare not force it in case I crack the crank. Any good way of loosening pedals which are screwed on too tight?...

Shifter Doesn't Have Clicking Sound

Lastest post 5 days ago

Hi, Pardon me if this is not the right place to post the below question. My bicycle gear was not shifting properly so I decided to fix it after watching several youtube videos. Several videos advised that the gear should be shifted to the highest speed (i.e. smallest cog) before doing any tuning i.e. adjusting the High/Low limit screws or adjusting the cable adjustment barrel of the derailleur. ...

Bike won't shift gears at all, please help!

Lastest post 1 week ago

So, before I explain the issue, a bit of background. I took my bike to college, but ended up not riding it much, so it sat outside for the majority of the academic year, chained to a bike rack. Because of that, many of the screws and gears and such have rust on them (I know, I'm an idiot for leaving it outside and probably ruined it, but I'm trying to fix what I can). The bike is still ride-able ...

Crank Puller Failing to Pull Crank

Lastest post 1 week ago

Hello there, I have been trying to remove the cranks from an old bicycle frame. I use a crank puller (with an attached arm) according to the tutorial on this site—turning the external threading clockwise into the crank, then turning the inner bolt of the puller equally clockwise against the spindle inside the crank in order to force it off. Nevertheless, the crank will stick in place. I have tr...

SRAM Apex 1 hydraulic vs mechanical lever

Lastest post 2 weeks ago

Just wondering about the possibility of upgrading only the front brake of an Apex 1 mechanical grupo to hydraulic. I figure the front brake does way more and it would save a ton of $$. What I'm wondering about is if the left hydraulic brake lever/hood would have a different shape compared to the mechanical brake right shifter. Anyone know exactly how different they are and if it would f...

Horrible caliper brakes on cheap kids' bike

Lastest post 2 weeks ago

Hi, everyone, My 6¾-year-old son was due for a new bike. Without consulting, his grandfather bought him one from a box store. My son loves it. Honestly, it's mostly an OK bike from what I can tell (with all the caveats about serviceability, etc., that come with a cheap bike). However, the brakes are dangerously bad. From running speed, the stopping distance is on the order of 40 feet (12 m) (my ...

Post your question in the forum →