So I screwed up my bicycle spokes, but good. Now what?

Factual Questions
1

A question for any bike (bicycle) riders out there. The previous owners of my house left some ten speed bikes here, so I fixed two of them up, and started riding again. I decided to get some quick net info, and (mistake #1) try to straighten my rear wheel with a spoke wrench. The wheel was getting a little worse, because I couldn’t figure out what exactly turning the spoke in one direction or another did. I, as a man, decided to seek no further information, and carry on. (mistake #2, and possibly #3) So, I decided that, I would loosen all the spokes, and start from scratch!, a sort of “battle zero”, if you will. (mistake number 4) The wheel now appears to have been is some sort of collision with a lage truck, however I remember no such accident. So I must conclude that I did this, by “straightening it out”.

So, is there anyway to “start from scratch” and straighten this thing out, without taking it to a bike shop? (I am a card carrying member of the male population, remember. Professional help is out of the question, as per our bylaws) Would anyone be able to provide me with detailed instructions on what does what, and how to? Using small words with no ambiguity?(I tend to read into things a bit much)

Also, how good or bad is this bike? It is a Maruishi RX4 ten speed. Is it decent, or a $20 Ames special, not worth anymore fixing?

My thanks, once again, for any assistance.

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Reinventing the wheel Rebuliding a damaged wheel
Bicycle Tune-Up Step 5 - Wheel Alignment

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Don’t know anything about the bike, but spoke “fixing” should be left for people who know what they’re doing, as you may have discovered.

Good spoke “fixers” can tighten spokes by “sound”, tapping them with a spoke wrench to determine tightness; however, the correct method is to mount the wheel in a fixture which includes a dial indicator, then gradually tighten spokes until they are tight, paying careful attention to the amount of pressure being placed on the rim from one side or another, based on the readout of the dial indicator. An enterprising person can make this out of household scrap, assuming your household also has a weld shop and machine shop.

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Dang, nice link, Astro!

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      • Re-straightening a wheel is pretty easy, but takes a bit of practice. Spoke wrenches are bad though, and best avoided…on cheap bikes, they chew the spoke ferrules up until you can’t turn them anymore. -If you remove the tire and innertube and the rubber protective innertube strip, you will see that the spoke ferrules (I think that’s what they’re called…) all have a flat-screwdriver slot on the outside end, so use a flat screwdriver instead. Turn the spoke heads in small increments, spin the wheel frequently to check your progress, make sure the wheel is aligning in the center of the forks/chainstays, and remember that to tighten some spokes, others may have to be loosened. (Although, well, maybe not this time,-but normally if you’re just trying to straighten out a bend in a bent wheel.)
  • If a spoke breaks and you want to replace the spoke yourself, you should still just heft the whole wheel to the bike shop and let them see it, for two reasons: first is that spokes are different lengths depending on how they are laced, and second is that in some instances, replacing one spoke properly can require loosening/unfastening several others, and they can clue you in on what you’re in for.
  • To tighten, turn the spokes until the wheel straightens out; elsewise compare yours to another comparable bicycle’s spoke tension. Cheap bikes spokes can’t be tightened very much, while expensive spokes can be very tight. Spokes that creak or ping while riding are loosening… - DougC