Road cyclists - how long do your wheels stay true?

[TheJimi]

or perhaps a more accurate question is - how often do you have to true them?

[Dnlm]

I've done 5-10k miles across two wheelsets on main road bike over the last 2.5 years with the same bike shop. They've never seen a need to do it at service (and assume in their interest for me to pay for it). Having said that, they have got a bit noisier since a pothole recently.

The gravel bike took a beating in one trip away and needed it after that...

[Jimbo.]

I’ve a set of Shimano WH-6800s from 2015 which has seen approox 36,000km of goon-like riding over some terrible roads and yet have never been trued. Got to say I’m impressed!

[louiebaby]

I know it's not the answer you're looking for, but I have them trued whenever they go out of true.

I've never had a set go out of true over time, it's always because I've hit a particularly nasty pothole, but luckily this hasn't happened often.

I'm a big fella, and have had the rear of my commuter rebuilt with "double-hard-bd" spokes, and since then never had a problem with it. I snapped a couple of spokes when it was quite new and on regular spokes.

Perhaps it helps that I'm more of a spinner than a grinder, which may put less stress on components. Perhaps I do have a little mechanical sympathy. (Certainly more than my wife.)

[IroningMan]

At 85kg and 7,000km a year - pretty much never. I had some Mavic Ksyrium Elites which needed doing after a pothole thump once, but that's it in 15 years and more.

More or less zero urban mileage in that time, though, which might make a difference.

[okgo]

Depends on a great many things.

[millen]

Never so far (famous last words!). That's after 25,000 ml on £300 Chinese carbon rims and 9,000 on Zipp 303s. Expect I've been lucky!

[waynecyclist]

My Mavics have done 7k in total and have never needed to be trued.

Suprised as well that the hub bearings are still so smooth

[lufbramatt]

Bought my current set of road wheels about 3 years ago, hand built wheels with kinlin xr31 rims. Checked them the other day and both of them are as true as the day I fitted them with no noticeable runout at all. Have never taken a spoke key to them. Used all year round on crappy Kentish country lanes.

[Neil1323bolts]

One set I had trued once in 5 years and another set needed doing after a mechanical when the rear duralier went into the spokes , but i am the sort of person who cannot tolerate any slight wobble no matter how small .

[TheJimi]

Yeah, that's me. Any slight wobble really annoys me, even if it doesn't affect the performance of the bike, as such.

[ukbabz]

On road they seem to hold true pretty well. My current wheelset (Giant SLR 1) has stayed true for just over 7,000km. Fairly impressed with them tbh!

[Mars]

louiebaby said:

Perhaps it helps that I'm more of a spinner than a grinder, which may put less stress on components

The hub, spokes and rim see the same amount of torque for the same road speed or acceleration, no matter if you spin or grind.


My wheels never go out of true once set. My son's needed a quick once over after a fall but only a minor tweak.

[Harpoon]

On my two active road bikes, about 5000km since new. That's a custom built set and some cheapo Mavic Aksium UST.

My old Planet-X which has been living on the turbo for a while now clicked through 19,000km on Strava this morning. Knock off maybe 5000 to 6000km for indoor use and in that time I can only think the wheels (the Planet-X specials it came with) have been trued twice. Once was after the rear mech hanger snapped and the wheel ate the derailleur.

[Kawasicki]

Never.

I buy well developed sturdy wheels (1500gr a pair) and I don't weigh much. I'm careful not to hit edges hard & when I ride over rough roads I unweight the saddle and keep the peak loads on wheels down. My wheels stay straight, until they wear out.

Edited by Kawasicki on Thursday 10th June 13:15

[Jacobyte]

Reynolds DV46 from 2007 - never yet
Dura Ace 7800 from 2008 - once, after being hit by a car in 2010, fine ever since.
Fulcrum Racing 77 from 2016 (CX bike) - never yet

[Neil1323bolts]

Been out this week and riding downhill at about 55kmh and hit a slight bump, my saddle snapped in half ,but my wheels remain true so I guess it takes a lot of force to bend one even a little bit. In my experience most wheel troubles have been in transit is where you need to be careful .

[Dnlm]

Harpoon said:

On my two active road bikes, about 5000km since new. That's a custom built set and some cheapo Mavic Aksium UST.

My old Planet-X which has been living on the turbo for a while now clicked through 19,000km on Strava this morning. Knock off maybe 5000 to 6000km for indoor use and in that time I can only think the wheels (the Planet-X specials it came with) have been trued twice. Once was after the rear mech hanger snapped and the wheel ate the derailleur.

The bike lives on the turbo and you've trued the wheels twice??

[Mars]

Colleague was talking about his bike. He has a turbo that applies pressure to the back wheel of the bike, to the degree that over time, the bike wheel has gone egg-shaped. I suspect he hasn't used it much or it wouldn't have egged, however it sounded odd that it could apply so much force that it'd damage his wheel.

[sclayto2]

Like others have said it depends.

I've got a set I bought whilst at school (I'll be 50 next year) that still run true, but then I'm careful where and how I ride.

I have noticed that some wheels from the Far East need to be trued quite soon after getting them, though. The spoke tension is ok, but sometimes a bit inconsistent. After you start riding and they flex, etc it can cause a bit of a wobble soon after. Once that is corrected they are generally fine after that.