Okay, so I finally got around to putting spoke skins on my 29-inch wheels. Been meaning to do this for ages, just never had the time, you know how it is.
First off, I ordered a set of these spoke skins online. They’re pretty cheap, you can find them on like, any of those sites. I went for a bright blue color, figured it’d add a little something to my bike.
When they arrived, they were just long plastic tubes, already cut to length, thankfully. The biggest pain was getting them onto the spokes. I started by cleaning the spokes first, just with a damp cloth, nothing fancy. Gotta get the grime off, right?
Then, I started slipping the skins on, one by one. This is where it got tedious. Some went on easy, others were a real struggle. I found that twisting them slightly as I pushed them down the spoke helped a bit. And man, my fingers were sore after doing all those spokes!
Pro-tip: Have a pair of pliers handy. If a skin gets really stuck, you can gently grip it with the pliers and pull it down. Just be careful not to scratch the spoke underneath.
Once all the skins were on, I had to trim them. They were a little too long, sticking out past the nipples. I used a pair of side cutters to snip them off, being careful to cut them all to the same length for a clean look.
After trimming, I went around and made sure each skin was sitting flush against the nipple. Some needed a little nudge to get them in place.
Another tip: Use a lighter to gently heat the cut ends of the spoke skins. This will melt the plastic slightly and seal them, preventing them from fraying or splitting over time.
The whole process took me a couple of hours, start to finish. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it does require some patience.
The Result?
- My bike looks way cooler! The blue really pops against the black frame.
- The spoke skins add a bit of extra protection to the spokes. Not a ton, but every little bit helps.
- They make the bike a little easier to clean. No more scrubbing individual spokes!
Would I do it again? Yeah, probably. It’s a cheap and easy way to customize your bike and add a little bit of personality. Just be prepared to spend some time and have some sore fingers afterwards. Worth it though!
