Rear Wheel keeps going out of true

G'Day All,

I bought a 2003 Giant OCR3 in March this year. It has Alex DA-22 rims. I am having trouble keeping the rear wheel trued. I take it to the bike shop, they true the wheel, I ride it once or twice for about an hour each time, and the wheel is then so far out of true that it is binding on the brakes. The roads I ride are not particularly rough. Why is this happening? Are the spokes to soft and stretching? Does the wheel need to be re-spoked? The front wheel does not seem to have the same problem. Any help would be appreciated.

Jason

How much do you weigh???
If the back wheel is going out of true, it is often because it is taking all the load....In which case you may need to get a rim with more spokes.(ie 26)...nothing wrong with this, just sometimes the standard bike sold over the counter comes with wheels that dont suit the individual......you will soon learn that durable wheels are one of the most important pieces of cycling equipment.....lightweight or cheap wheelsets are not always the most durable......your bike shop should be aware of this fact, and should have a fair idea if the wheels dont suit you.... then again if you are lightly built....different story......you may just have a dodgey wheel....and again the bike shop SHOULD sort this out for you.....the wheel should not be going out of true that often....unless you are hitting kerbs etc!!!!!

Shaneo,

Thanks for your reply. I weigh about 120 kgs so I am definitely not a dainty little petal. I must admit that the bike is at the bottom end of the scale for cost/quality. I guess I will have to talk to the bike shop and I may have to consider upgrading the wheelset.

Jason

120 kg puts a lot of strain on a lightweight set of wheels. I ride a tandem though and we weigh in at 150kgs. Velocity DeepV rims,
DT 14/15 spokes and Chris King hubs does the trick for us. We use 36h but being a lightweight you could most probably get away with 32h rims.
A good wheel builder is a must. Ask around to find out who is the best in Hobart.
Never use tires smaller than 23C. 25C would be better. I buy mine from the US.

jason

i use cxp30 deep section rims with 26 spokes....never have to true them!!!!

shaneo