buckled wheels



ditts

New Member
Oct 17, 2002
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g'day, just wrecked two rims in two weeks and wondering if you know whats going on. I havent done any major drop-offs, the biggest being about waist high. Perhaps its bunny hopping and spinning in the air trying to make 180 degrees, (can't quite get there yet). People who i've talked to say that i have fairly good rims (came with latest model mongoose rockadile AL) I thought they would be designed to cope with all this. What sort of rims are the strongest? <br />Please help as i am running out of money (uni student).
 
cant help as to why they are buckling, but perhaps a way to save a little cash is to fix them yourself. there are various articles around that can help you do this and it's not the difficult (just take lots of patients)
 
[quote author=ditts link=board=13;threadid=2527;start=0#21698 date=1034924238]<br />g'day, just wrecked two rims in two weeks and wondering if you know whats going on. I havent done any major drop-offs, the biggest being about waist high. Perhaps its bunny hopping and spinning in the air trying to make 180 degrees, (can't quite get there yet). People who i've talked to say that i have fairly good rims (came with latest model mongoose rockadile AL) I thought they would be designed to cope with all this. What sort of rims are the strongest? <br />Please help as i am running out of money (uni student). <br />[/quote]<br /><br />are you a &quot;big&quot; guy? some wheelsets specifically say &quot;not for riders over 200 lbs.&quot;<br /><br />just a thought.
 
thanks for your ideas, I might try to learn how to fix them myself, i guess it'll just take a bit of time to learn to do it. (but i have plenty of rims to practice on!) Im only light (65kg) probably less than 150 lbs
 
It sounds more like your spokes are giving you issues.<br />I know I go thru plenty of those. I've had my rear wheel re-spoked 3 times in 12 months.<br />For solid rims try Sun Rhyno Lites or Velocity Cliffhangers.<br />Both are around the $100 mark but are bullet proof.<br />Spokes I dunno. I'm using DTSwiss and they seem pretty crappy (seem?? :-\??).<br />I've got the Velocitys and haven't wreckt them after a year (touchwood) so I'm kewl with'em.<br />I've also had the Rhynos and they are great too.<br />Hope this helps (I'm a student/bankrupt as well)<br /><br />Jasen ;D
 
Ditts,

Lot of misinformation here. The main contributor to wheel strength is spoke tension. Like RokeMS said, it sounds like yours is a spoke issue. Unlike him though, I wouldn't point the finger at the brand of spokes (DTs are the best spokes money can buy), I would be more likely to look to your wheelbuilder. By the sounds of your problem, your wheels haven't had enough spoke tension. Ask around to find a respected and competent wheel builder. Once you have found this person, ask them if they have read Jobst Brandt's book The Bicycle Wheel, if not, keep trying. An even better option than this is to get a copy of the book for yourself, read it cover to cover, and start building strong, reliable wheels for yourself and your friends.

Sam.

Oh yeah, you can destroy even a well built wheel on a waist high drop off if you land it badly :)
 
how do you fix buckled wheels, i juz buckled mine bad and have no money to buy a new one, so if anyone out there could help me out it would be much much appreciated. thnx.
 
Originally posted by ditts
. Perhaps its bunny hopping and spinning in the air trying to make 180 degrees, (can't quite get there yet). <br />Please help as i am running out of money (uni student).

if you are landing your 180s bad that will wreck your wheels right quick. wheels are not designed for a sideways impact like that. i would recommend mastering the 180 on a very cheap wheelset and get some good practice straightening those.