Truing a wheel - how long?

Badger wrote:
|| I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have
|| a new tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it
|| after installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I
|| immediately got the feeling that something was wrong, but that he
|| wasn't telling me what.
||
|| Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying
|| the brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt
|| like I was riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked
|| at the wheel closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and
|| obviously no longer 'trued'.
||
|| I took it back today and was told:
||
|| "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
||
|| Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower
|| speed than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.
||
|| Then he tells me "it's going to take over an hour to true the
|| wheel." (!)
||
|| Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are
|| hard to true". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus
|| 'off the bike', and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't
|| understand what he was getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I
|| could borrow.
||
|| What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true
|| when he changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps,
|| busy.
||
|| I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a
|| typical Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
||
||
http://www2.trekbikes.com/Bikes/City_Bike_Path/Hybrid/FX/7500_FX/index.php
||
|| According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we
|| discovered the wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about
|| 1/2 hour.
||
|| Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

I popped a spoke on my rear wheel earlier this year. I took the bike in.
they supposedly trued the wheel twice (they didn't solve the spoke problem
the first time, so I took it back and the rebuilt the wheel), but neither
time did they get it right. I bought a new set of custom built wheels and
haven't had a problem since. I won't trust my LBS to true a wheel. I don't
think they do it enough to become good at it. YMMV.

Badger said:

I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have a new
tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it after
installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I immediately got the
feeling that something was wrong, but that he wasn't telling me what.

Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying the
brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt like I was
riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked at the wheel
closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and obviously no longer
'trued'.

I took it back today and was told:

"you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".

Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower speed
than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.

it may have been slightly out of true - since the new brake pads are
bigger, you are noticing it now.

Quoted message said:

Then he tells me "it's going to take over an hour to true the wheel." (!)

not sure whether he meant spending entire 60 mins on the wheel.. because
i have the same wheels and got it trued at my LBS in about approx. 15 or
20 minutes. And i took my bike in when one of the spokes came loose -
meaning i didn't notice the wheel was out-of-true for sometime before i
took it in.

Quoted message said:

Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
true". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus 'off the bike',
and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't understand what he was
getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I could borrow.

my LBS didn't charge me - infact they said i should have brought it to
them even when it was slightly out-of-true...

Quoted message said:

What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true when he
changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps, busy.

I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a typical
Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.

http://www2.trekbikes.com/Bikes/City_Bike_Path/Hybrid/FX/7500_FX/index.php

According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we discovered the
wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about 1/2 hour.

Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

my first guess is may be the guy was not in a good mood. i'd give him a
second chance - but again he should have found out that the wheel was
out-of-true when installing/adjusting the new brake pads - the basic
test being to spin the wheel and see if there is uniform gap between the
wheel and the pads....

+ravi

Quoted message said:

-B

Ravi said:

Badger said:

I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have a new
tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it after
installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I immediately got the
feeling that something was wrong, but that he wasn't telling me what.

Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying the
brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt like I was
riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked at the wheel
closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and obviously no longer
'trued'.

I took it back today and was told:

"you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".

Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower speed
than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.

it may have been slightly out of true - since the new brake pads are
bigger, you are noticing it now.

Didn't get new brake pads. Only got a new tire and tube. Not sure you
caught it but a mechanic at Performance looked at the tire when I got my
clipless pedals and said 'it has a shimmy. Looks to me like the bead of the
tire was not installed correctly, and is off by a little bit.' (I had
mentioned being puzzled I couldn't ride it no-hands, and he said 'no
wonder...'😉

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Then he tells me "it's going to take over an hour to true the wheel." (!)

not sure whether he meant spending entire 60 mins on the wheel.. because
i have the same wheels and got it trued at my LBS in about approx. 15 or
20 minutes. And i took my bike in when one of the spokes came loose -
meaning i didn't notice the wheel was out-of-true for sometime before i
took it in.

He said "it's going to take me -over- an hour to true the wheel". Bear in
mind they just trued it 6/16/04 and though I've ridden it a lot, I've not
run over -anything-, zero, nada. Maybe a pebble now and then.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
true". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus 'off the bike',
and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't understand what he was
getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I could borrow.

my LBS didn't charge me - infact they said i should have brought it to
them even when it was slightly out-of-true...

What I figured. Again, I don't mind paying. I just don't like the feeling
that he -knew- there was a problem, but sent me away, ostensibly so he ould
say 'oh you ran over something since I put in the new tire'.

I'd think that putting on a new tire would include balancing the wheel, but
I could be wrong on that.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true when he
changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps, busy.

I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a typical
Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.

http://www2.trekbikes.com/Bikes/City_Bike_Path/Hybrid/FX/7500_FX/index.php

According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we discovered the
wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about 1/2 hour.

Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

my first guess is may be the guy was not in a good mood. i'd give him a
second chance - but again he should have found out that the wheel was
out-of-true when installing/adjusting the new brake pads - the basic
test being to spin the wheel and see if there is uniform gap between the
wheel and the pads....

Again, sorry if I confused you...he just put on a new tube and tire. I
mentioned it blew as I was pumping it up, and also mentioned the 'shimmy'
the other guy mentioned. This shimmy was -not- the out of true, I could
clearly see it was the rubber part that was rippled or something.

Quoted message said:

+ravi

Thanks a lot, ravi!

BTW, you're not a 'Fravia' fan are you? Thought I recognized the "+".

-B

Badger said:

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:17:55 -0800, Ravi <[email hidden]> wrote:

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

Didn't get new brake pads. Only got a new tire and tube. Not sure you

sorry my bad. i misread your post. i know i shouldn't have stayed up so
late playing Halo 2 |-0

Quoted message said:

caught it but a mechanic at Performance looked at the tire when I got my
clipless pedals and said 'it has a shimmy. Looks to me like the bead of the
tire was not installed correctly, and is off by a little bit.' (I had
mentioned being puzzled I couldn't ride it no-hands, and he said 'no
wonder...'😉

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

What I figured. Again, I don't mind paying. I just don't like the feeling
that he -knew- there was a problem, but sent me away, ostensibly so he ould
say 'oh you ran over something since I put in the new tire'.

I'd think that putting on a new tire would include balancing the wheel, but
I could be wrong on that.

not sure about that.

sorry for the misread 🙁
+ravi

Ravi said:

Badger said:

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:17:55 -0800, Ravi <[email hidden]> wrote:

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

Didn't get new brake pads. Only got a new tire and tube. Not sure you

sorry my bad. i misread your post. i know i shouldn't have stayed up so
late playing Halo 2 |-0

Quoted message said:

caught it but a mechanic at Performance looked at the tire when I got my
clipless pedals and said 'it has a shimmy. Looks to me like the bead of the
tire was not installed correctly, and is off by a little bit.' (I had
mentioned being puzzled I couldn't ride it no-hands, and he said 'no
wonder...'😉

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

What I figured. Again, I don't mind paying. I just don't like the feeling
that he -knew- there was a problem, but sent me away, ostensibly so he ould
say 'oh you ran over something since I put in the new tire'.

I'd think that putting on a new tire would include balancing the wheel, but
I could be wrong on that.

not sure about that.

sorry for the misread 🙁
+ravi

Hey, no biggie. I 'm just glad for your quick and supportive reply, Amigo.
;-)

-B

(Uh, in case you missed the 'Fravia' reference, he ran an infamous
"hacker's challenge" back in the middle 90s, and only those that won got to
put the honorary '+' in front of their online handle.)

Badger said:

What I figured. Again, I don't mind paying. I just don't

like the

Quoted message said:

feeling that he -knew- there was a problem, but sent me

away,

Quoted message said:

ostensibly so he ould say 'oh you ran over something since

I put in

Quoted message said:

the new tire'.

Sounds like either that, or he didn't want to deal with the
problem then.
Either way is poor service. He should have told you the
wheel was somewhat out of true, and then let you decide what
you wanted done.

Quoted message said:

I'd think that putting on a new tire would include

balancing the

Quoted message said:

wheel, but I could be wrong on that.

Regardless of how long is reasonable, there clearly is
significantly more time in new tire + truing than just
installing a new tire, and time is $. Installing a tire
shouldn't put the wheel out of true.

In terms of "how long" between wheel truing -- that's sort
of like asking "how long" between flats. A good mechanic on
a good wheel on smooth roads can last for years. On the
other hand, I've gotten a new wheel on Tuesday and seen it
end up as trash on Friday.

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 22:16:20 -0600, "Mike Kruger" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Badger said:

What I figured. Again, I don't mind paying. I just don't

like the feeling that he -knew- there was a problem, but sent me
away, ostensibly so he ould say 'oh you ran over something since
I put in the new tire'.

Sounds like either that, or he didn't want to deal with the
problem then.
Either way is poor service. He should have told you the
wheel was somewhat out of true, and then let you decide what
you wanted done.

Yeah. My inner voice at the time was saying 'ride bike around in parking
lot...' I didn't listen, b/c I didn't fully understand the vibe of
'something's wrong' that I was picking up. Next time I'm gonna listen.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'd think that putting on a new tire would include

balancing the

Quoted message said:

wheel, but I could be wrong on that.

Regardless of how long is reasonable, there clearly is
significantly more time in new tire + truing than just
installing a new tire, and time is $. Installing a tire
shouldn't put the wheel out of true.

Yeah, but I before I took it in my braking was perfect, no 'grab' caused by
any lack of 'true'. Then the very next time I rode, the brake grabbed and
it felt like I was riding across mini-rail-road tracks, or similar to when
the ABS kicks in on your car. IOW, day 1, Wheel fine, but tire blew. Took
bike to LBS immediately. First ride after new wheel installation - brake
problem.

What bothers me immensely is that the LBS guy -let me leave knowing there
was a problem-. I fear if I had tried to ride one of my usual steep
downhills I would have had a problem braking, and who knows what else. I
think it's almost criminally irresponsible to let an innocent newbie leave
the bike shop knowing there's something wrong with the bike and not
disclosing it. Problem is how do I prove it, or object without causing
massive denial and the mechanic saying 'leave and don't come back' out of
humiliation of being caught doing poor practice. ;-(

Quoted message said:

In terms of "how long" between wheel truing -- that's sort
of like asking "how long" between flats. A good mechanic on
a good wheel on smooth roads can last for years. On the
other hand, I've gotten a new wheel on Tuesday and seen it
end up as trash on Friday.

Just to be clear, the difference in the braking was startling between the
time of changing the tire and the next ride. There's no doubt in my mind
something happened either when the tire blew or when he did something
prying the new tire on the wheel. After he did the install, he started
mumbling to himself, and then playing with the brake caliper adjustments.

Now just putting a new tire on the bike, istm would not require brake
caliper adjustment to the degree he was futzing about. This is what made me
think he was hiding something that he did, hoping that simply adjusting the
calipers would 'mask' the problem.

-B
Grrrrr!! ;-)

Badger said:

I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have
a new tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it
after installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I immediately
got the feeling that something was wrong, but that he wasn't telling
me what.

Sounds to me like you zapped your wheel out of true precisely when you
exploded the old tire and tube, this is a fairly common thing to happen
with blowoffs. I imagine it would happen more easily with lightweight, low
spoke count wheels. I would say the problems you're having are not your
mechanics fault, although he should have pointed it out and offered to
repair it the first time, like you say.

Jacobe Hazzard said:

Badger said:

I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have
a new tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it
after installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I immediately
got the feeling that something was wrong, but that he wasn't telling
me what.

Sounds to me like you zapped your wheel out of true precisely when you
exploded the old tire and tube, this is a fairly common thing to happen
with blowoffs. I imagine it would happen more easily with lightweight, low
spoke count wheels. I would say the problems you're having are not your
mechanics fault, although he should have pointed it out and offered to
repair it the first time, like you say.

OK, fair. I =told= him that it exploded off the rim and told him to look at
that and check it. Now, I'm sure he saw it and just didn't feel like fixing
it, though I'm glad he put the tire on right away.

I'm thinking I'm gonna go elsewhere. As I said it's negligent to see a
problem and not say anything and imo, unethical to send a newbie out with a
bike that has a mechanical problem. I shudder to think what would have
happened on a fast descent the way the brake was shuddering.

Uh, don't believe I said it was the mechanic's fault, though, but thanks
for the comment.

-B

Badger wrote:
|| On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 02:36:48 -0500, "Jacobe Hazzard"
|| <[email hidden]> wrote:
||
||| Badger wrote:
|||| I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to
|||| have
|||| a new tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it
|||| after installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I
|||| immediately got the feeling that something was wrong, but that he
|||| wasn't telling
|||| me what.
|||
||| Sounds to me like you zapped your wheel out of true precisely when
||| you exploded the old tire and tube, this is a fairly common thing
||| to happen with blowoffs. I imagine it would happen more easily with
||| lightweight, low spoke count wheels. I would say the problems
||| you're having are not your mechanics fault, although he should have
||| pointed it out and offered to repair it the first time, like you
||| say.
||
|| OK, fair. I =told= him that it exploded off the rim and told him to
|| look at that and check it. Now, I'm sure he saw it and just didn't
|| feel like fixing it, though I'm glad he put the tire on right away.
||
|| I'm thinking I'm gonna go elsewhere. As I said it's negligent to see
|| a problem and not say anything and imo, unethical to send a newbie
|| out with a bike that has a mechanical problem. I shudder to think
|| what would have happened on a fast descent the way the brake was
|| shuddering.
||
|| Uh, don't believe I said it was the mechanic's fault, though, but
|| thanks for the comment.

IMO, if you decide to go elsewhere, you should let them know why.

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

Quoted message said:

I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have a

new

Quoted message said:

tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it after
installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I immediately got the
feeling that something was wrong, but that he wasn't telling me what.

I would respectively suggest that you learn how to change a tube/tire
yourself. What would you do if you had a flat during a ride?
I never go anywhere without a spare tube, levers and a patch kit. This
will ensure that you will never get a flat 🙂

Cheers,

Roy

"Badger" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Then he tells me "it's going to take over an hour to true the wheel." (!)

Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
true".

Quoted message said:

I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a

typical

Quoted message said:

Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.

http://www2.trekbikes.com/Bikes/City_Bike_Path/Hybrid/FX/7500_FX/index.php

A hybrid with low spoke count wheels is like a minivan with a hood scoop.
If you had standard wheels it would be a simple matter to learn to true
them yourself. Checking wheels, brakes, bars/cranks/stems for cracks,
adjusting cables, etc. should be skills mastered by cyclists. The reason is
that it's just impractical to bring a bike into the shop frequently enough
for this if you ride a lot.

If you had standard wheels, I'd say the mechanic was full of it, but never
having worked on wheels like those, I don't know, he may have been telling
it like it is.

araby said:

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

Quoted message said:

I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have a

new

Quoted message said:

tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it after
installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I immediately got the
feeling that something was wrong, but that he wasn't telling me what.

I would respectively suggest that you learn how to change a tube/tire
yourself. What would you do if you had a flat during a ride?
I never go anywhere without a spare tube, levers and a patch kit. This
will ensure that you will never get a flat 🙂

Cheers,

Roy

I have a hip/lower back injury which makes it painful to do things like
change a tube or tire, but, surprisingly, not too painful to ride, though
it does bother me, and had flared up yesterday rather severely.

The flat occurred at home on my front porch while inflating the tire, and
it looked to me like the tire itself had a problem; iow, I could see the
metal of the wire around the rim of the tire exposed in the section that
blew out. Since I didn't have a tire, I took it in for both to be replaced.

HTH,

-B

Peter Cole said:

"Badger" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Then he tells me "it's going to take over an hour to true the wheel." (!)

Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
true".

Quoted message said:

I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a
typical Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.

http://www2.trekbikes.com/Bikes/City_Bike_Path/Hybrid/FX/7500_FX/index.php

A hybrid with low spoke count wheels is like a minivan with a hood scoop.

Haha, good one. Well, blame Trek. I don't make 'em, I just bought one off
the rack. ;-)

Maybe Mike J. can chime in and explain why this odd config of race wheels
on a hybrid?

Quoted message said:

If you had standard wheels it would be a simple matter to learn to true
them yourself. Checking wheels, brakes, bars/cranks/stems for cracks,
adjusting cables, etc. should be skills mastered by cyclists. The reason is
that it's just impractical to bring a bike into the shop frequently enough
for this if you ride a lot.

I was told by the LBS guys that if I did this I'd only mess up the
adjustment, to bring it in instead. I check those things before I ride, but
with my lousy vision not sure I'd be able to see a crack. I had to get help
reading the max pressure on the new tire, lol.

Quoted message said:

If you had standard wheels, I'd say the mechanic was full of it, but never
having worked on wheels like those, I don't know, he may have been telling
it like it is.

According to another poster, he had his done in 15-20 minutes. I don't
understand why the mechanic kept saying 'on the bike' and 'off the bike'
truing (or something like that).

So if I did decide to learn these things, where would I go for instruction?

Thanks for the input, PC.

-B

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

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 13:54:36 GMT, "Peter Cole"

Quoted message said:

If you had standard wheels it would be a simple matter to learn to true
them yourself. Checking wheels, brakes, bars/cranks/stems for cracks,
adjusting cables, etc. should be skills mastered by cyclists. The reason

is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

that it's just impractical to bring a bike into the shop frequently

enough

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for this if you ride a lot.

I was told by the LBS guys that if I did this I'd only mess up the
adjustment, to bring it in instead.

You probably will, but this is the only way too learn, it's not difficult
to adjust shifting or brakes (that's why they have adjusters built in).
Wheel truing is a little more of a challange to learn, but still within the
easy grasp of most.

Quoted message said:

So if I did decide to learn these things, where would I go for

instruction?

Sheldon Brown has a number of bike repair/maintenance articles on his site.
I actually had the very good fortune of having him as my mechanic when I
was starting out. The Park Tool site is also very good. Jobst Brandt has a
book just on wheels that's probably overkill if you're not into
wheelbuilding, but most of the important points are covered in the FAQ and
in the articles written by him that Sheldon hosts. My hometown (Boston) has
a very rich cycling community, so we have additional resources, like
organizations that will teach bike repair, rent tools and shop space, but I
realize most places don't have that stuff. There are always books, but I
don't have one to recommend off the top of my head.

Peter Cole said:

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

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 13:54:36 GMT, "Peter Cole"

Quoted message said:

If you had standard wheels it would be a simple matter to learn to true
them yourself. Checking wheels, brakes, bars/cranks/stems for cracks,
adjusting cables, etc. should be skills mastered by cyclists. The reason

is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

that it's just impractical to bring a bike into the shop frequently

enough

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for this if you ride a lot.

I was told by the LBS guys that if I did this I'd only mess up the
adjustment, to bring it in instead.

You probably will, but this is the only way too learn, it's not difficult
to adjust shifting or brakes (that's why they have adjusters built in).
Wheel truing is a little more of a challange to learn, but still within the
easy grasp of most.

Yeh, uh, the only problem with trial and error is that if I mess something
up, gouge the rim, step on the spokes while limping around with the bike on
the floor then I miss that day's ride, most likely.

Sounds defeatist, I guess.

When I got the bike I tried to get the LBS guy (actually the owner) to go
over how to adjust those things and he kinda shouted at me across the room
to 'turn this knob'. Tough for the mechanically dis-inclined. Me scientist,
not toolie. ;-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So if I did decide to learn these things, where would I go for

instruction?

Sheldon Brown has a number of bike repair/maintenance articles on his site.
I actually had the very good fortune of having him as my mechanic when I
was starting out. The Park Tool site is also very good. Jobst Brandt has a
book just on wheels that's probably overkill if you're not into
wheelbuilding, but most of the important points are covered in the FAQ and
in the articles written by him that Sheldon hosts. My hometown (Boston) has
a very rich cycling community, so we have additional resources, like
organizations that will teach bike repair, rent tools and shop space, but I
realize most places don't have that stuff. There are always books, but I
don't have one to recommend off the top of my head.

Heh, don't think that's the kind of thing I could learn from a book. Some
ppl may do well with the 'insert slot A in tab B', stuff, but me, I dunno.
I'll look around locally - there is a UVa cycling club but they seem very
elitist and won't really answer simple questions about good routes around
town.

Thanks, though.

-B

Badger said:

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 17:12:54 GMT, "Peter Cole"

Quoted message said:

You probably will, but this is the only way too learn, it's not difficult
to adjust shifting or brakes (that's why they have adjusters built in).
Wheel truing is a little more of a challange to learn, but still within the
easy grasp of most.

Yeh, uh, the only problem with trial and error is that if I mess something
up, gouge the rim, step on the spokes while limping around with the bike on
the floor then I miss that day's ride, most likely.

Sounds defeatist, I guess.

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a spare set of wheels to me.

<g>

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's
the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
-Dan Quayle

Dane Jackson said:

Badger said:

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 17:12:54 GMT, "Peter Cole"

Quoted message said:

You probably will, but this is the only way too learn, it's not difficult
to adjust shifting or brakes (that's why they have adjusters built in).
Wheel truing is a little more of a challange to learn, but still within the
easy grasp of most.

Yeh, uh, the only problem with trial and error is that if I mess something
up, gouge the rim, step on the spokes while limping around with the bike on
the floor then I miss that day's ride, most likely.

Sounds defeatist, I guess.

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a spare set of wheels to me.

<g>

If, by that, you mean get a real road bike, I'd say, yep, that's a great
idea.

That's why I'm hoping there will still be a Trek 1200C, or LeMond BigSky SL
2004 model available, come December 1st (payday).

-B

Badger said:

If, by that, you mean get a real road bike, I'd say, yep, that's a great
idea.

or check out the seasonal sales at the online shops and get a really
sturdy set of 36 spoke wheels for a hundred bucks or so and mount some
cyclocross tires on em and throw some really fast rubber on your stock
light wheels. Two bikes in one. 🙂