Buckled rims

How buckled is it?

Still round enough to ride on, but unable to get any decent braking on it since the wheel wobbles and hits both the left and right callipers sometimes.

xxamr_corpxx said:

Still round enough to ride on, but unable to get any decent braking on it since the wheel wobbles and hits both the left and right callipers sometimes.

Take it to your LBS where there is a mechanic with wheel building skills and they can either straighten it out or tell you if it is repairable or not. A good wheel builder can do wonders.

xxamr_corpxx said:

Hi,

My rear 27" wheel is buckled, from what I don't know exactly. Is this easy to fix or should I head down to the bike shop? (I'd prefer not to, the bike is only worth $NZ35 and a wheel retruing costs $NZ20). I have a spoke wrench to adjust the nipples.

Is there any method I can retrue the wheel with the equipment I have on hand? Any good methods to do so?

"Buckled" and "out-of-true" are two very different phenomena. If the wheel is not tacoed, it's just out of true and you should be able to handle that with a spoke wrench and a little patience.

Flip the bike upside down. Fashion some guides out of wire tires or the like and start truing the wheel. There are some good truing resources out there
like Barnett's, Parktool, or Sheldon. The key is to make many little adjustments (like 1/4 turns or less).

Briefly: Half the spokes on a rim pull the rim to the left. Half the spokes pull the rim to the right. Truing involves tightening and loosening appropriate spokes closest to the bend to pull the rim in the direction you want it to go. You tighten the nearest spoke that will pull the rim back into place, and loosen the opposite spoke the same small amount. If the rim deformation falls in the middle area between spokes, tighten the appropriate spokes on each side of the deformation and loosen the appropriate spokes on each side. Then spin the wheel. Re-check trueness. Then repeat as necessary. You may have to repeat the process 20+ times, depending on how badly out of true the wheel is.

Sometimes there are several spots on a rim that need truing. Deal with the biggest deformations first, and systematically work your way down to the smallest. Be patient. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of making many small adjustments. It's like steering a car in a straight line. You make many tiny adjustments on the steering wheel, rather than making big adjustments, overcompensating and ending up swerving all over the road.

An old beater bike wheel is a good wheel to learn on.

Bob

xxamr_corpxx said:

Hi,

My rear 27" wheel is buckled, from what I don't know exactly. Is this easy to fix or should I head down to the bike shop? (I'd prefer not to, the bike is only worth $NZ35 and a wheel retruing costs $NZ20). I have a spoke wrench to adjust the nipples.

Is there any method I can retrue the wheel with the equipment I have on hand? Any good methods to do so?

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=81
http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#tensioning

daveornee said:

parktool.comreadhowto.aspOpen ↗
sheldonbrown.comwheelbuild.htmlOpen ↗

This poster is right on...the Sheldon Brown site will tell you everything you need to know about building and tensioning a wheel. Read it from the top however.

daveornee said:

parktool.comreadhowto.aspOpen ↗
sheldonbrown.comwheelbuild.htmlOpen ↗

2 excellent sites!

Thanks all.

Have somewhat corrected the wobble on the wheel, could have done a better job if some of the nipples hadn't been reamed circularly by the previous owner.

Speaking of wheel truing, how much does a good truing stand cost?

xxamr_corpxx said:

Thanks all.

Have somewhat corrected the wobble on the wheel, could have done a better job if some of the nipples hadn't been reamed circularly by the previous owner.

Speaking of wheel truing, how much does a good truing stand cost?

Park TS-2 is ~$170 US + shipping. There are less expensive options from Park and others. It depends on your budget and what you call "good".

Make sure to lubricate spoke/nipple threads + Rim/nipple seat areas before trying to turn nipples. Spokey "spoke wrench" holds nipple more securely and helps prevent rounding nipples. DT Spoke Wrench does the same, but is more more stout and expensive.
There are at least 3 different nipple sizes. Make sure you have the tool with the correct mating dimension before trying turn a nipple.