Spoke Tightening

[HondaOnly]

I read somewhere that I'm supposed to tighten spokes every 3, is this correct? This doesnt seem right for some reason, as it puts me back to the next spoke on the same side of the rim. Am I just thinking of this wrong?

Also, the spokes on my bike are really loose, they wiggle like a loose tooth, I guess I sort of let them get away from me...oops. The bike is just over 3 weeks old, so I guess the spokes stretched out? How should I go about tightening my spokes so that the rim stays trued? Almost every spoke is finger tight, I really have no clue how I did not pick up on this, as I believe they were all tight before this weekend. What should I do?

Thanks

[dinorex44]

Wow, the spokes are already loose on a 3-week old bike. I would ask the dealer to fix it, as that seems way too soon for them to loosen up that much.

[HondaOnly]

I would but they are going to charge me 80 dollars an hour, because it falls under "routine maintenance". Oh well, I am planning on going riding this weekend, so I'm going to learn how to true a wheel fast. Im about to go and check out the wheel now... Hopefully the wheel wont wobble that bad.

[hondageek]

how far are you from Providence, RI? I'm a wheel truing machine.

[HondaOnly]

Originally posted by hondageek
how far are you from Providence, RI? I'm a wheel truing machine.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm quite a ways... maybe 3-4 hours? I'm just about in the far south west corner of CT.

I found a few tight spokes and started at the opposite side and went every 3rd spoke, a few times around... It has a minor wobble, but not too bad, I can hardly notice it when I eye it, rolling the bike backwards. All the spokes are tight, all make almost the same ting noise. I figure, if I didnt notice the many loose spokes when I rode it Saturday, I most likely wont notice an out of true wheel. What a pain...

[HondaOnly]

Update:

I tightend all my spokes front and rear. Now the bike tracks much straighter, it no longer feels top heavy and loose in corners and it even jumps smoother. The bike feels like it is on rails, I can take corners way better, I can cut them sharper and dont have to go to the outside anymore. You would be suprised at how much difference tight spokes make. As far as how close to being trued the wheels are... I'm really not sure, but I do know one thing, i cannot see or feel any wobble front or rear all the way up to the top of 3rd gear...I guess thats a good thing. Thanks again to everyone who helped or tried to help.