Hot take: one 1987 Schwinn brakeless fixie taught me more about wheel building than 2 years of YouTube videos

Taylor Carr · 2026-09-11T07:00:05.64768+00:00

Last Tuesday I spent 6 hours truing a wheel on a late 80s Schwinn World Sport and kept chasing tension instead of reading the rim, so I'd get it close then lose it again every time I hit a tight spoke. An old timer named Dale who runs a co-op in Missoula walked over, flicked the spokes like a guitar, and said my tension was fine but my dish was off by 3mm the whole time. Rebuilt it in 40 minutes after that and it's been dead straight for a week of daily riding. What's the dumbest thing you've spent hours fighting that turned out to be one basic measurement you skipped?

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Hot take: one 1987 Schwinn brakeless fixie taught me more about wheel building than 2 years of YouTube videos | Bicycle Mechanics - HW Forums