slightly bent rim help and progress report

al.dyne said:

*How bent can a rim be before it is time to fix it. I think due to
the way I used to mount, my wheel rim is bent (only slightly). i.e.
when I spin the wheel freely, whilst look down at it. it kicks a bit
ot the left. it isn't coming in contact with the frame yet. and how
would I go about fixing it? do I just use some guessing coupled with
some well placed force, or should I take it somewhere to be fixed.
Knowing that this is only my first unicycle, and therefore I am quite
prepared to be told that it is rubbish and I need a better one. *

What kind of unicycle? From that we can figure out what kind of wheel
it has.

Most likely you've got a wheel with a steel rim. That's what most entry
level unicycles come with. The steel rims aren't the strongest rims and
are more prone to bending.

It's possible that your rim is just out of true and not actually bent.
Can you see that it is obviously bent? If it's bent there will be
something like the start of a crease mark where it's bending. If it's
just out of true there will just be a smooth gradual wobble. Is it
still round (no flat spots)?

If the rim is bent it can be physically bent back in to shape. It does
involve getting physical with the rim.

If it's just out of true then fix is to tighten the spokes to remove the
wobble.

Take the wheel to a bike shop. They'll be able to tell you what's wrong
(is it actually bent or is it just out of true). If it's just out of
true then have them true it up and then tension up all of the spokes.
Getting all the spokes tensioned up is important. Be sure to tell them
to tension up all the spokes in addition to truing it. When the spokes
are loose the wheel will be weak and the rim will go out of true easily
and possibly even bend. You can figure that it will be about $15 for
the bike shop to true the wheel and tension up all the spokes.

The stock wheel on most unicycles is not built very well. The spokes
will be too loose. The wheel may not even be very true. It takes time
to build a good wheel which means money. The factory built unicycles
don't get that kind of special treatment cause they don't have the time
and building a better wheel would make the unicycle cost more.

So, when you get a new unicycle it is a good idea to take that new wheel
to a bike shop and have them tension up all the spokes and give it the
TLC that it needs. Doing so will give you a better wheel.

If your rim is actually bent then it may make more sense to get a new
wheel. You can get it bent back so that it is true and round again, but
it will never be as strong. Once bent, it's going to want to bend
again.

--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
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Just a small point from a past life working in a bikeshop.

Tyres are very rarely the right shape, and it's very easy to be fooled
into thinking the wheel has a wobble when it is really an optical
illusion caused by the slightly misshapen tyre.

Try, probably with the help of an assistant, spinning the wheel and
using your finger against the rim, while bracing on the frame and see
how much it is really wobbling.

John is right, should be an easy job for your lbs (local bike shop) to
sort out should it have a problem.

Good Luck, and happy riding.

--
Gumbo
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