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Front wheel isnt centered in forks

7K views 22 replies 12 participants last post by  RickBullottaPA 
#1 ·
So I noticed that my wheel isn’t centered between the forks like all the other bikes. It’s massively over one side. I turned the wheel around and it shifted to the other side. I built this wheel myself and my friend said it’s because something to do with the spokes hanging out more on one side than the other? Which I’d never heard of.

many ideas what’s causing this? Is my wheel just out of dish? I seems straight as when I spin it
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#11 ·
No, you haven't properly dished the wheel. :rolleyes:

You've claimed to have trued the wheel laterally. So, did you happen to notice that when you tension a spoke on one side, it pulls the rim towards that side...and when you loosen a spoke on one side, the rim moves towards the other side?

Let's see if you can work this out...
 
#12 ·
So I trued it 100% straight but I must have trued it using a wrong reference lol. I just used a zip tie on the fork which obviously was shorter on one side and that’s why it was so far over lol. I’ve tightened and slightly loosened and it’s almost bang on Center now. Thanks guys
 
#13 ·
Now that it is center, check for proper and even tension on each side respectively. The rotor side spokes will have a higher tension than the right side. Make the tensions as equal as possible (on the same side) while keeping the rim runout as true as possible. A little runout on a MTB you won't notice, but poorly tensioned spokes can be a rim failure waiting to happen. To a degree, spoke tension trumps rim trueness. Borrow or acquire a tension meter if you aren't familiar enough to do it by feel.
 
#15 ·
The flanges on a disc hub are not centered, so when you properly dish a wheel, the rim is not exactly between the flanges. The spokes on both sides have different angles. You dish the wheel based on the axle, not based on the flanges. It's pretty easy to fish if you have a dish measuring tool, or give it to a bike shop, it's usually a cheap fix (no parts).
 
#17 ·
The spokes coming out differently on each side isn't quite correct either. You can imagine when you brake hard, the spokes will pull differently on the rim, one side more from the center, and the other side, more from the outside. its not a huge effect so probably fine. The last thing to look for is that the two spokes next to the air hole should be parallel(ish) when looked at from the side. The air hole is a stress riser and the parallel spokes here put the least stress on that location.
 
#18 ·
I would shorten your handlebar a bit on one side to help balance it out.
 
#20 ·
The spoke head on inside or outside is open to debate and in practical terms in the end doesn't make much difference. Spokes have strength in tension so some feel its best to have the ones under most tension force on the outside, so the ones on your disc side are "correct", I believe. But If you were ascribing to that, then the rear should be built like your front, since disc side and drive side have more tension force in opposite directions. Looking at my "professionally" built wheels, one set is all in one direction, the other is same direction per wheel, but front and rear is different.
Anyway, carry on, sounds like you're figuring it out. Main thing is its straight and has enough tension. If spoke lengths are wrong, you'll eventually run into the nipples bottoming out and not tightening enough, or seeing exposed threads and not having enough spoke insidfe the nipple and cracking nipples.
 
#22 ·
If you read the manual that Shimano 'prints' (maybe 'publishes' would be a better term, now) with their hubs, they actually describe that they should be built the same as the right flange on the OP's post, mimic'd on the rear/left, and opposite on the rear/right. The idea is that under the prevailing high force (braking in the front for both sides, driving/braking [different on both sides] in the rear), the spokes that would lose minor tension/tend to bow out are captured by the cross and prevented from doing so.

Luckily, this makes little-to-no difference in the real world. It need[s/ed] special attention on road bikes/older mountain bikes when super tight clearances on the spokes/other components (brake calipers, rear derailleur in lowest gear) might be allowed to touch if the wheel flexed. I would say that on most everything made in the last 5-6 years, it is not a real problem.
 
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