How much will LBS charge for truing a wheel?



babybunny

New Member
Oct 5, 2004
151
0
0
I guess my back MTB wheel needs some lateral truing because the brake pads hit the rims in one spot when rotating. Would it be cheaper and more educational to get a spoke tool and attempt to true the wheel myself without a truing stand?

I don't know anything about wheel truing other than what Park Tools will provide me. It actually looks like the rim is bent, but Park Tools seems to say only spoke adjustments are necessary. I don't get it. Should I just take it to the LBS? What price would I be looking at?
 
You could probably true it without a stand just using the brake pads for guides, but you could also screw the wheel up pretty badly. If you're not confident in your abilities, it should only be about ten bucks to have a shop true it.
 
I broke a spoke on my road bike, my LBS charged me $20 to replace it and re-true the wheel....

There's quite an art in truing wheels, it would be nice to learn if you have the time and a spare wheel to practice on...

babybunny said:
I guess my back MTB wheel needs some lateral truing because the brake pads hit the rims in one spot when rotating. Would it be cheaper and more educational to get a spoke tool and attempt to true the wheel myself without a truing stand?

I don't know anything about wheel truing other than what Park Tools will provide me. It actually looks like the rim is bent, but Park Tools seems to say only spoke adjustments are necessary. I don't get it. Should I just take it to the LBS? What price would I be looking at?
 
babybunny said:
I guess my back MTB wheel needs some lateral truing because the brake pads hit the rims in one spot when rotating. Would it be cheaper and more educational to get a spoke tool and attempt to true the wheel myself without a truing stand?

I don't know anything about wheel truing other than what Park Tools will provide me. It actually looks like the rim is bent, but Park Tools seems to say only spoke adjustments are necessary. I don't get it. Should I just take it to the LBS? What price would I be looking at?

No harm in trying yourself, if you mess it up you can always take it to the shop. If the rim is not bent and it's just a case of a spoke or spokes being loose you can probably straighten it by spinning the wheel and stopping it where it hits the brake pads.If it hits on the right side try tightening the spokes directly oppisote. on the left side of the wheel. You'll be pulling the rim back toward the center.

Always keep track on how much you tighten each spoke(quarter turn, half turn) After tightening, spin the wheel and see if it spinns truer.
 
chipman said:
Always keep track on how much you tighten each spoke(quarter turn, half turn) After tightening, spin the wheel and see if it spinns truer.
Truing a wheel just by tightening things is a good way to trash a rim. Make sure you loosen as many as you tighten.
 
It's easy to do a fairly good job w/o a truing stand if you know what yer doin. Here's a place to start. Getting it perfect may be a job for the bikLBS (hop on down), but why not try 1st?

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/howfix_truing.shtml

Have patience and tighten gradually, being careful to also loosen opposite spokes as mentioned. I also like to use a dry erase (or permanent marker) to make a tiny mark on the rim where it's protruding (spin wheel on bike whilst upside-down an carpet, hold marker next to rim, and gradually approach rim until you 1st make contact).
 
I tipped over and knocked my daughter off her bike earlier this year, and the rear whell on her mountain bike was moderately bent. I took the wheel to my lbs, and they trued it for $15 - took them about 10 minutes.
 

Similar threads