On Apr 6, 9:03 pm,
[email protected] wrote:
> On Apr 6, 5:05 pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On Apr 6, 5:45 pm, [email protected] wrote:
>
> > > As I rotate wheel , in some place there is a big gap between brake pad
> > > and tire rim and in other places its so tight that tire stops rotating
> > > from friction between pad and rim. This is true for both my tires. One
> > > of my rims is almost new so i was wondering what is happening and if
> > > this is common? Thank you in advance.
>
> > My hunch is, your wheels are not 'true', i.e. they wobble side-to-
> > side. Your lbs can quickly verify if this hunch is correct. It might
> > be as simple as a couple minutes with a spoke wrench, in the hands of
> > a trained mechanic. Sometimes new wheels require tweaking a spoke or
> > two, after the bike has been on the road a bit. If your lbs says this
> > is a really big expensive deal, get a 2nd opinion from lbs #2 - J.
>
> interesting. One of my tires was new from a lbs. I think they were
> time constrained last time they did a check up so I will make sure to
> ask them about this. thanks.
Whoever sold you the new rim should definitely be willing to true it
for you at no charge. If they can't, or won't, I would take my
business elsewhere, regardless of how busy they are.
In high school, I had a part time job building wheels in a Schwinn
warehouse. It is not difficult, but one needs a little training and
the proper tools. A truing stand
http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=16&item=TS-2
is not absolutely necessary, but it makes the job a lot easier. If
your spoke tension is really screwed up, it might take more than a
couple minutes to straighten it out.
>From what I have seen in Chicago, most small bike shops have one guy
who knows what he is doing, and one or more other part timers who
could be described as trainees, hired for the busy season. So when
they get busy, your wheel repair might have been done by someone with
limited experience and training.
Before I became familiar with my current bike, I had some problem with
it, I don't recall exactly what. One of my lbs's told me I needed to
have my 6-month-old bottom bracket rebuilt, for around $20 labor. I
came back in an hour, and as I recall the bike was OK. I found out
weeks later that my BB is a sealed cartridge unit. There is nothing to
rebuild. I have no idea what was actually done.
So don't assume that what a lbs repairs for you has been done
correctly. And the person you are talking to might be more of a
salesman than a mechanic, and a part timer to boot - J.
