xxamr_corpxx said:
Hi,
My rear 27" wheel is buckled, from what I don't know exactly. Is this easy to fix or should I head down to the bike shop? (I'd prefer not to, the bike is only worth $NZ35 and a wheel retruing costs $NZ20). I have a spoke wrench to adjust the nipples.
Is there any method I can retrue the wheel with the equipment I have on hand? Any good methods to do so?
"Buckled" and "out-of-true" are two very different phenomena. If the wheel is not tacoed, it's just out of true and you should be able to handle that with a spoke wrench and a little patience.
Flip the bike upside down. Fashion some guides out of wire tires or the like and start truing the wheel. There are some good truing resources out there
like Barnett's, Parktool, or Sheldon. The key is to make many
little adjustments (like 1/4 turns or less).
Briefly: Half the spokes on a rim pull the rim to the left. Half the spokes pull the rim to the right. Truing involves tightening and loosening appropriate spokes closest to the bend to pull the rim in the direction you want it to go. You tighten the nearest spoke that will pull the rim back into place, and loosen the opposite spoke the same small amount. If the rim deformation falls in the middle area between spokes, tighten the appropriate spokes on each side of the deformation and loosen the appropriate spokes on each side. Then spin the wheel. Re-check trueness. Then repeat as necessary. You may have to repeat the process 20+ times, depending on how badly out of true the wheel is.
Sometimes there are several spots on a rim that need truing. Deal with the biggest deformations first, and systematically work your way down to the smallest. Be patient. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of making many
small adjustments. It's like steering a car in a straight line. You make many tiny adjustments on the steering wheel, rather than making big adjustments, overcompensating and ending up swerving all over the road.
An old beater bike wheel is a good wheel to learn on.
Bob
