Balancing wheels

Andrew said:

Hi,
I have an OCR3 road bike which I use to commute to work. I have just
replaced the front tyrefor the first time. I notice at about 35kph or
higher (Thats downhill with the wind for me) there is a wobble. The bike
has just been for a service at the lbs and rims straightened but wobble
still there. Moving the wheel reflector around to a different position
has improved the wobble to an acceptable level.
Would anyone have any handy hints on wheel balancing as I think this is
the problem
Thanks in advance Andrew

This is a new one on me... I curious if you tried riding with th
reflector removed if the wobble lessened or even went away

-

Andrew said:

Hi,
I have an OCR3 road bike which I use to commute to work. I have just
replaced the front tyrefor the first time. I notice at about 35kph or
higher (Thats downhill with the wind for me) there is a wobble. The bike
has just been for a service at the lbs and rims straightened but wobble
still there. Moving the wheel reflector around to a different position
has improved the wobble to an acceptable level.
Would anyone have any handy hints on wheel balancing as I think this is
the problem
Thanks in advance Andrew

G'day Andrew

Firstly...take the damn reflector off!......now at least I fee
better!....If that doesn't solve your problem, have a gander at th
headset......make sure everything is ok there. The most likely source o
your issue is wheels, tyres, or headset...check 'em all
see..BTW...those reflectors make great frisbee's

cheers

Hitch

-

andrew said:

Would anyone have any handy hints on wheel balancing as I think this is the
problem

As someone suggests, remove the reflector and see what happens.

If it is the reflector
You might need to make sure the reflector is mounted inside the
spokes.
You might need a pair on opposing sides.
You might need to change to a different design.
I prefer the circular reflector that is a complete ring, but I use
two set off-centre as lapping ring (seen from side)

Still there without the reflector?

Flip the bike upside down and spin the wheel
look for wobble and buckles.

I find that once I buckle an aluminium rim, the buckle remains. Steel
rims can usually be straightened a bit more.

"andrew" <andrew [email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

I have an OCR3 road bike which I use to commute to work. I have just
replaced the front tyrefor the first time.
I notice at about 35kph or higher (Thats downhill with the wind for me)
there is a wobble. The bike has just been for a service at the lbs
and rims straightened but wobble still there. Moving the wheel reflector
around to a different position has improved the wobble to an acceptable
level.

Would anyone have any handy hints on wheel balancing as I think this is

the

Quoted message said:

problem

Thanks in advance
Andrew

Is it only since you replaced the tyre? I found that this happened to me
and took it into the LBS I bought the tyre from. They didnt do anything.
Anyway I replaced the tube and the problem went away. There must have been
a kink or something.

Peter

Hitchy said:

Firstly...take the damn reflector off!.....

Oh Hitchy, you look so cool with no reflectors, that deep tan and the
cigarette hanging out of your mouth. What a rebel!
Nice to know that if the lung cancer doesnt get you first, there is
always a change of the truck hitting you at night.

but seriously folks, do any cyclists go so far as to balance their wheels?
I'd assume the OP has an untrue rim, or bulging or badly seated tyre.

If you do want to balance it, remove reflector, let wheel rotate
so heaviest part down, then replace reflector at top.

Of course, thats just static balance, for dynamic ... don't be so silly.

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 26 Feb 2004 13:40:21 +0800

Mike said:

Hitchy said:

Firstly...take the damn reflector off!.....

Oh Hitchy, you look so cool with no reflectors, that deep tan and the
cigarette hanging out of your mouth. What a rebel!
Nice to know that if the lung cancer doesnt get you first, there is
always a change of the truck hitting you at night.

Heh.. if he's close enough for the reflector on the side of a wheel to
make a difference, he's already hit you.

Zebee

Originally posted by Mike

Hitchy said:

Firstly...take the damn reflector off!....

Oh Hitchy, you look so cool with no reflectors, that deep tan and th
cigarette hanging out of your mouth. What a rebel! Nice to know that i
the lung cancer doesnt get you first, there is always a change of th
truck hitting you at night

G'day

You've obviously missed the point Mike......the poster said that th
'wobble' improved when the reflector was 'moved'......you've obviousl
never tried to 'true' a wheel?. you wouldn't do it with a reflector o
(or maybe YOU would!)......As for smoking...I don't....but I'll take i
up if I can have some of whatever you're on!

cheers

Hitch

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Andrew said:

Hi,
I have an OCR3 road bike which I use to commute to work. I have just
replaced the front tyrefor the first time. I notice at about 35kph or
higher (Thats downhill with the wind for me) there is a wobble. The bike
has just been for a service at the lbs and rims straightened but wobble
still there. Moving the wheel reflector around to a different position
has improved the wobble to an acceptable level.
Would anyone have any handy hints on wheel balancing as I think this is
the problem
Thanks in advance Andrew

Hi you guys

Firstly, lets keep thing cool and casual. ;

IMO, it's alright to use humour as long as there is real help i
replies. Otherwise, it would be just mocking around (which some peopl
are OK with anyway)

As long as the refelectors go, I personally don't use any on my bikes
but I don't want to be liable to anyone else. So I don't recommen
anyone remove them. I appreciate the safety side of the reflectors. LBS
are required by law to provide refelctors with new bikes. If someone i
inclined to remove them, it'd be absolutely wise to use alternative gea
such as reflective material on clothing, active devices such as flashin
lights, etc

As long as the problem with the front wheel goes, the road tyres ar
generally so thin that any inconsistency in manufacturing would no
generate such a big imbalance. As stated by others, the problem is mos
likely to be (if with the wheel) from the installation of tyre. Jus
undo and do it again, and remember if you want to look cool, try t
align the sticker on the tyre with your valve! :

Cheers, Amir

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amirm:

Quoted message said:

I appreciate the safety side of the reflectors. LBSs
are required by law to provide refelctors with new bikes. If someone is
inclined to remove them, it'd be absolutely wise to use alternative gear
such as reflective material on clothing, active devices such as flashing
lights, etc.

Use strips of reflective tape on the rims, in the areas between the
nipples and the brake tracks. Fill up half circumference on one side,
the other half on the other side. Use red for the rear wheel, white or
yellow for the front.

Very funky when you're rolling along!

Jose Rizal said:

(snip)
Use strips of reflective tape on the rims, in the areas between the
nipples and the brake tracks. Fill up half circumference on one side,
the other half on the other side. Use red for the rear wheel, white or
yellow for the front.
Very funky when you're rolling along!

Ah, I was reading the text too fast, so I missed the "rim". Jose's sentence looked like: "...put the tape in the areas between nipples...", and I think: Oh My Gawd! How about the back? I hope he's not going to say: ...put the tape vertically on both chics alongside of the c***... Then I thought, this is too good to be true, let's read it slowly, and not hyperventilate!

But seriously, the set up should look pretty nice. But not sure ho
would it look during day! :

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Jose Rizal said:

amirm:

Quoted message said:

I appreciate the safety side of the reflectors. LBSs are required by
law to provide refelctors with new bikes. If someone is inclined to
remove them, it'd be absolutely wise to use alternative gear such as
reflective material on clothing, active devices such as flashing
lights, etc.

Use strips of reflective tape on the rims, in the areas between the
nipples and the brake tracks. Fill up half circumference on one side,
the other half on the other side. Use red for the rear wheel, white or
yellow for the front.
Very funky when you're rolling along!

got that on my commuter. a driver once whined my wheels were to
bright!!! :confused

The whell wobble thang, hm

when you say, wobble. are we talking a physical "I can feel it thru m
hands wobble at higher speeds" OR a "I can see the wheel wobbling" ??

If its the latter, are you sure its not a visual trick caused by som
modern tyres which have stripes on the upper wall or even on the runnin
surface which has simply just had the stripe put on crooked? Very commo
complaint apprently according to my LB

The most common cause of a downhill wobble is your forks (assuming you
wheels are 'true'

-

Hitchy said:

You've obviously missed the point Mike......the poster said that the

Sorry, I may have misunderstood the emphatic command to remove
reflectors. So many cyclists remove them, which is OK I guess if
replaced with reflective tape, or tyres. Personally, I use both
cateyes, and tape as they have very different reflective properties.

Quoted message said:

'wobble' improved when the reflector was 'moved'......you've obviously
never tried to 'true' a wheel?. you wouldn't do it with a reflector on
(or maybe YOU would!)

Actually, I would. Is that bad?
Isn't truing about the shape of the wheel, not the balance?
And unlike cars, bike tyres are too light to throw the balance off.

Quoted message said:

......As for smoking...I don't....but I'll take it
up if I can have some of whatever you're on!,

Just an ounce of self-righteous indignation at cyclists who ride without
reflectors because they're not cool. (or lights often!) :-)
Maybe its because I hit one once. No serious injury, luckily.

BTW, a bump in the tyre could be an urgent warning to replace it before
it fails, rather than just re-seating it.

What I did after all your suggestions

Quoted message said:

Flip the bike upside down and spin the wheel, look for wobble and buckles.

No buckles or sideways wobbles, only up and down motion when holding
handlebars off ground.

Quoted message said:

replaced the tube and the problem went away.
has an untrue rim, or bulging or badly seated tyre

No bulges or bad fitting tyre

Quoted message said:

remove reflector, let wheel rotate so heaviest part down, then replace

reflector at top.

Did this but when replace reflector, it rotates wheel so reflector is at
bottom, maybe I need a reflector that is half the weight.

After rotating tyre around rim and adjusting reflector the balance wobble
has gone away almost, I think rim, tube, tyre, reflector all had their
'heavy points' at the same location therefore creating the wobble.
I didn't notice any wobble this morning after the changes so i think problem
is fixed.