T
Ted
Guest
Recently, on my daily ride on my MTB to Wolverhampton, I managed to buckle my rear wheel - about
half-way there meaning another 15 miles on a buckled wheel! That's OK I thought, I've buckled it
before, so I'll take it down the LBS and get it straitened. I left it there overnight, and on
return, the guy told me that the wheel was impossible to true but had got it as close as possible.
He told me he had to make some of the spokes very tight, and some very loose to keep it in shape,
replacing 3 spokes in the process - and charged my £9 for the pleasure.
After another 40 miles on the "repaired" wheel, the deterioration is obvious. Is it possible to have
damaged the wheel to the degree that it can't be straightened, or is this bloke at the LBS blagging
me? Possibly his wheel building skills aren't up to scratch? There is no visual damage to the hub or
rim, and the original buckle was not so bad that I couldn't ride the bike home.
If I do need to buy a new rear wheel, is there anything I need to look out for? I want one of a
similar quality to the one off my Schwinn Moab 3 (it was double rimmed, and had a Shimano Parallax
hub whatever that means??!?!?), possibly a bit stronger to cope with my 14 stone ****. Would it be
difficult to take the cassette off my old wheel and stick it on a new one (any special tools etc)?
Should I replace the cassette chain etc(my bikes done 1500 miles)?
What would be the best online bike shop to buy from (whats the customer service like from Leisure
Lakes, Wiggler etc), or would you suggest I pay extra at my LBS?
Cheers,
Ted
half-way there meaning another 15 miles on a buckled wheel! That's OK I thought, I've buckled it
before, so I'll take it down the LBS and get it straitened. I left it there overnight, and on
return, the guy told me that the wheel was impossible to true but had got it as close as possible.
He told me he had to make some of the spokes very tight, and some very loose to keep it in shape,
replacing 3 spokes in the process - and charged my £9 for the pleasure.
After another 40 miles on the "repaired" wheel, the deterioration is obvious. Is it possible to have
damaged the wheel to the degree that it can't be straightened, or is this bloke at the LBS blagging
me? Possibly his wheel building skills aren't up to scratch? There is no visual damage to the hub or
rim, and the original buckle was not so bad that I couldn't ride the bike home.
If I do need to buy a new rear wheel, is there anything I need to look out for? I want one of a
similar quality to the one off my Schwinn Moab 3 (it was double rimmed, and had a Shimano Parallax
hub whatever that means??!?!?), possibly a bit stronger to cope with my 14 stone ****. Would it be
difficult to take the cassette off my old wheel and stick it on a new one (any special tools etc)?
Should I replace the cassette chain etc(my bikes done 1500 miles)?
What would be the best online bike shop to buy from (whats the customer service like from Leisure
Lakes, Wiggler etc), or would you suggest I pay extra at my LBS?
Cheers,
Ted