Truing up bent wheels....How to?



ChrisCarson

New Member
Jul 24, 2006
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I seemed have learned the hard way that bumping up and down kerbs soon buckles wheels. It seems to be the rear wheels that are the most vulnerable. My rear wheel is only about a ¼ of an inch out of true, but it’s enough to want to get it fixed.


What’s the cheapeast and easiest way of truing and straightening buckled wheels?


I wouldn’t be adverse to learning how to do it myself? Any ideas?
 
Loads of info onthe web, try googling.

Now you need to differentiate between a wheel out of true and a bent/dented wheel. A wheel with a dent from coming off a high drop may not be able to be fixed up by truing.
 
takes a bit of patience.

if you don't have a truing stand, another way is to suspend the bike off the ground, tighten the brakes a bit, and use the brake pads as your truing guides.

be conservative: start with small turns, like 1/8 to 1/4 turns

If the wheel is round, to keep it that way, make sure the tightening or loosening you do on one side is countered on the other side. In other words, if you loosen a spoke, tighten the opposite spoke the same amount, otherwise you could end up with flat-spots or humps.

'tension' the wheel periodically by placing the end of the axle on the floor and flexing the wheel -- both sides. You might hear some "pinging" of the spokes.
 
capwater said:
Loads of info onthe web, try googling.

Now you need to differentiate between a wheel out of true and a bent/dented wheel. A wheel with a dent from coming off a high drop may not be able to be fixed up by truing.
Check the spokes where the wheel is crooked. If you have tight tpokes that seem to be pulling the rim out of true, adjusting the spoke tension will fix it. If the spokes at the out of true area are loose, then the rim itself is bent. If that's the case, you can usually fix it well enough to get yourself home but you should expect more problems with that wheel until you replace the rim.
 
ChrisCarson said:
I seemed have learned the hard way that bumping up and down kerbs soon buckles wheels. It seems to be the rear wheels that are the most vulnerable. My rear wheel is only about a ¼ of an inch out of true, but it’s enough to want to get it fixed.


What’s the cheapeast and easiest way of truing and straightening buckled wheels?


I wouldn’t be adverse to learning how to do it myself? Any ideas?
It depends on how much your time is worth and how many of the tools and skills you already have.
If you don't have any of the skills or tools, the cheapes and easiest way it to have a replacement rim with the same ERD installed by a professional. Keep the tires well inflated, put on as large a tire as the rims/frame/fork/brakes will clear and ride more carefully.
Check out "The Bicycle Wheel"by Jobst Brandt and/or read Sheldon Brown's seb pages on the subject:
http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
Tensioning and Truing section talks to some of what you might be dealing with. Remember the spokes never tighten themselves, but they can loosen if they become totally slack as when going up/down curbs (nipples back off and the cycle worsens). Once a rim has been bent it is very difficult to straighten it; and it likely will have lost some of it's strength at the bend due to original damage.
 
ChrisCarson said:
I seemed have learned the hard way that bumping up and down kerbs soon buckles wheels. It seems to be the rear wheels that are the most vulnerable. My rear wheel is only about a ¼ of an inch out of true, but it’s enough to want to get it fixed.


What’s the cheapeast and easiest way of truing and straightening buckled wheels?


I wouldn’t be adverse to learning how to do it myself? Any ideas?
G'day mate,, go straight to your local libray and borrow a book called "bicycle wheel building." tis all there.