Wobbly Wheel Question

how bad is it bent? is it the rim itself? can a tire still seat on the rim?
do you trust your lbs? i guess that is the main thing.

fretjock said:

Recently I was riding with some friends. I stopped at an intersection because
of a car approaching on my left. The rider behind me was looking to his
right and BAM, down I went. My rear wheel is now wobbly. My LBS says that
the rim is bent and I need a new one. To my eye it doen't look distorted so I
was wondering how you can tell if the wheel cannot be straightened by
truing adjustments. The wheel is a Bontrager Select with 1500 miles on it.
Thanks.

Try truing it yourself. If it makes spoke tension very uneven from one side to the other, remembering that the drive side is normally tighter than the other side, then the rim is toast.
If you're not happy to try this, then you need a second opinion from another bike shop.

your LBS is right.

you should not use spoke tension to pull a bent rim back into line. the wheel will be very weak and will potato chip again very easily.

a bent rim should be replaced. spoke tension is meant to be used to hold a relatively straight rim in place. it should not compensate for a bent one.

a test. if there are some very loose spokes after the wheel is trued, then the rim is bent. get rid of the rim.

regarding spokes: unless you have very nice and relatively new spokes, get high quality spokes and replace the ones on your wheel now. spokes are like rubber bands - you know how the old ones just snap when you try and stretch them out? well spokes also "stretch" and will break when they are fatigued. as a rule, I recommend replacing ALL spokes if you break two spokes on one wheel (the first spoke might be a fluke, the second probably not). they're like light bulbs - once one breaks, they'll all start popping. this is especially true with low spoke count, high tension wheels.

cdr

carpediemracing said:

your LBS is right.

you should not use spoke tension to pull a bent rim back into line. the wheel will be very weak and will potato chip again very easily.

a bent rim should be replaced. spoke tension is meant to be used to hold a relatively straight rim in place. it should not compensate for a bent one.

a test. if there are some very loose spokes after the wheel is trued, then the rim is bent. get rid of the rim.

regarding spokes: unless you have very nice and relatively new spokes, get high quality spokes and replace the ones on your wheel now. spokes are like rubber bands - you know how the old ones just snap when you try and stretch them out? well spokes also "stretch" and will break when they are fatigued. as a rule, I recommend replacing ALL spokes if you break two spokes on one wheel (the first spoke might be a fluke, the second probably not). they're like light bulbs - once one breaks, they'll all start popping. this is especially true with low spoke count, high tension wheels.

cdr

This is good advice, with the proviso that some small wobbles don't condemn a rim. On my MTB rear wheel, I've straightened out numerous small wobbles over the last 13 years and it is still going strong. Road rims tend to be less forgiving...