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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