The wheels on the trike go pling pling pling.
 

wrote:
Hi all,

got a question here. I have a trice classic. I have noticed that when
I turn the front wheels make a pling pling sort of a sound.

The faster I go and the harder I turn the louder the plinging. I am
guessing it's something to do with loading and unloading the spokes.

Does this happen with anyone else? is it something I should be getting
worried about?

Everso

This happens when there is insufficient tension on the spokes- as you
surmised, it's the sound of the spokes moving as they are loaded &
unloaded.

*Immediately* take your trike to a qualified mechanic and have the
spokes tightened and the wheels trued. They may be salvagable yet.
However, spoke breakage is caused by fatigue in the spokes- the looser
the spokes, the more they move, and the quicker they'll break.

After the wheels are trued and tensioned, you may break some spokes. If
this starts happening, you'll need to have all the spokes replaced.
There's no way to stop them from breaking once the fatigue process has
started.

Jeff

The wheels on the trike go pling pling pling.
 

wrote:

Thanks - I'll do this tomorrow (got a few days off). The guy I'll be
taking it to is the one who built these wheels - am I making the right
choice here?

It's only a spot of basic tensioning and though I don't trust myself to
build or true wheels it's easy enough to tension to stop a "pling".

pluck the spokes and any that are clearly loose and give a dull thud
rather than a ping need a quick turn with a spoke wrench (if you've a
multitool there should be a couple on that).

Having said that, if this guy is local and built the wheels you might as
well get him to tension them up properly!

Should I be telling him anything like "extra tight please"?

No, there's a right tension and going beyond it doesn't help.

I am also
planning a century on Sunday - wonder if I should be putting this off
for a while. Maybe if he does them up and on Saturday I go for a 10
mile or so ride - see if anything snaps. If not go out on Sunday, if
it does delay the ride till fixed. Does this sound like a good plan?

Sounds a bit paranoid. Should be fine as soon they're tensioned up.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

The wheels on the trike go pling pling pling.
 

Peter Clinch, Medical Physics IT Officer, wrote:
wrote:

...
Should I be telling him anything like "extra tight please"?

No, there's a right tension and going beyond it doesn't help....

Herr Jobst Brandt claims that tension spoke wheels should have the
spokes tightened to the limit of the rim's ability to stay true [1]
while statically unloaded to maximize lateral strength of the wheel.
However, Herr Brandt's sock puppet detractor, "jim beam", insists this
will lead to premature fatigue cracking of the rim.

[1] Beyond which it elastically deforms into a "taco" or "potato [2]
chip" shape.
[2] "potatoe" for DePauw University political science majors, class of
1969.
--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley

The wheels on the trike go pling pling pling.
 

Jeff Wills wrote:
...
*Immediately* take your trike to a qualified mechanic and have the
spokes tightened and the wheels trued. They may be salvagable yet.
However, spoke breakage is caused by fatigue in the spokes- the looser
the spokes, the more they move, and the quicker they'll break.

After the wheels are trued and tensioned, you may break some spokes. If
this starts happening, you'll need to have all the spokes replaced.
There's no way to stop them from breaking once the fatigue process has
started.

Jeff,

If I recall correctly, Jobst Brandt reported cases (in the 1960's, I
think) of his wheels breaking spokes. Said wheels had the broken spokes
replaced, were re-tensioned, trued and stress relieved. Mr. Brandt
reported that further spoke breakage did not occur on the subject
wheels.

As always, your kilometerage may vary,
--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley