spoke tension after wheel rebuild

both wheels, but the rear especially are quite loose after 2 rides post rebuild. i guess this is why they tell you to bring it back soon after. this is the dreaded straight pull spokes rebuild. builder said no problem getting tension but i wonder… is this likely to be a one time thing or is this something that has to be chased around. my last rebuild of the wagon wheels didn't need touching from the get go. still perfect 2 yrs later.

Brass or aluminum nipples?

brass. i asked for prolock but i'm not sure if they used them.

Spokes stretch. Pro wheelbuilders will have tricks to pre-stretch the spokes before the wheel gets handed off to the customer, ensuring a long lasting wheel. Even so, I'd still recommend taking a look at a freshly built wheel after 1 ride max to top up on spoke tension.

Perfect example of shitty mechanics. A properly built wheel should not do that. I build my own and never have to retrue them. I do take my time tho…Most shop these days push thing out to fast and the workmanship is shit.

What they've both said.
I've only had issue with one wheel; an Arch with aluminum nipples. I was running non-existant pressure in the 2.25 Ardent out back and attempting to blow through everything.

Likely not well de-stressed etc, while building. I had 10 park days on my wheel I built and no wobbles until running on a flat on freight train Saturday. Re-tension the wheel and you should be good to go.

I recently rebuilt my rear rim with new DT comp spokes.. this time with new pro-lock nipples.

I thought the juice inside it would negate the need for linseed oil. I think I only got through four days of riding before the tension was seemingly halved. Don't think I'll skip a linseed dip again.

Perfect example of shitty mechanics. A properly built wheel should not do that. I build my own and never have to retrue them. I do take my time tho….

Yep.
Built the wheels for my Bailey in '88 fastidiously pre-stressing w/Locktite on the spoke threads and have never needed a re-true.

I recently rebuilt my rear rim with new DT comp spokes.. this time with new pro-lock nipples.

I thought the juice inside it would negate the need for linseed oil. I think I only got through four days of riding before the tension was seemingly halved. Don't think I'll skip a linseed dip again.

You cooking with that stuff or what?

http://www.wheelfanatyk.com/blog/wheel-building-tip-no-2-lubricating-nipples/

I built these and they never needed a re-tension. DT straight gauge spokes and brass nips. Only used linseed oil on the spokes. He's a light kid but I'm gonna say the constant spin tricks would put a bit of stress on things.

End of the season they had some minor lateral wobbles but I remember them truing out easily.

So basically you got a mediocre at best wheel build. The tension was probably all over the place and they didn't stress relieve the wheels.

I have built a fair number of wheels and I have never had any spokes just come loose on any of them, as far as I know. That includes many bmx wheels. I always use anti-seize which I am not sure if it helps, but it is very easy to work with. Some wheel builders under tension their spokes or they use things like linseed oil, which seems to not hold a spoke at all.

edit: Full Monty, you've had good results with linseed oil huh? I have ridden two sets of wheels built with that stuff and it was a constant headache of keeping spokes tight, until I unlaced them and built them back up with anti-seize.

My current wheel has bladed spokes, has been ridden since Feb and the spoke tension is still fine. Wasn't built by me but by a good builder nonetheless.

Another thing to check is the tension with an inflated tire on it. November Wheels do this. I learned that tight tires will significantly reduce spoke tension. I had a set of wheels with Stan's Crest rims which had a 90 kgf tension recommendation which I built to according to my cheap Park tensiometer. With a tire on that was reduced to about 70 kgf. Even on my ENVE wheels the tension drops when I mount a tire. So if you don't check the tension with a tire mounted then ride on it with low tension and no thread lock of some sort, well that may not end well.

Old guys I worked with said linseed oil was good because it lubricated during the build but then got gummy to provide some thread locking effect. They also liked Locktite a lot better.

I recently rebuilt my rear rim with new DT comp spokes.. this time with new pro-lock nipples.

I thought the juice inside it would negate the need for linseed oil. I think I only got through four days of riding before the tension was seemingly halved. Don't think I'll skip a linseed dip again.

i used pro-locks on my last build and they've been rock solid. i do stress relieve my wheels pretty aggressively tho, and thread locker isn't really required if this is done adequately, and the wheels are build with decent tension. i typically just use grease on nipples.