Repairs to a Wheel

[Spez247]

Last night I slammed my rear wheel into a hole. Saw it too late, and was only able to clear it with the front wheel.

 

Question: is it possible & viable to repair an aluminium rim? Its an American Classic 29r rim. The tire burped, but kept its air all the way back home with no problem. This morning, the tire was still up, so it isn't critical, just not great to look at.... It's as if it has been pinched inwards, on both sides.

 

Is there a repair specialist out there that can sort it out, or is it a case of paying up for a new rim & wheel build?

 

Appreciate your input.

[Dirkitech]

It is possible to repair, that I can tell you. I had a nasty dent in an aluminium rim about 3 years ago, took it to a shop and they fixed it for a fee.

 

Although I couldn't advise on a specific shop, it would help anyone else reading this if you added a province or town.

[Louis for real]

just replaced my american classic rear wheel.  after one month of riding.

 

It is possible to repair it yes https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/143169-dings-in-mtb-rim/

 

I found this a few weeks back..easy job.

[Soufflé]

Start qoute:

The fundamental problems with repairing wheels with bends is that when metal bends it elongates. Bending it back will not shrink it again. Bending it back just elongates it more. What this implies is that once a rim is bent, it can never be fully straightened. One big dent can be changed into a series of small, less obvious dips and bumps, but in cannot be eliminated. The more severe the bend is, the less likelihood of a successful outcome. The more over-correcting and recorrecting is done, the less likely the repair will ever make it to a successful point.

End quote.

[Skylark]

Rim will never be perfect again but if you knock out the dings carefully it'll still work like a champ, 1 or 2mm run out is still good to go.

[David Marshall]

If the damage is limited to the wall of the rim where the tire bead sits you can straighten it and you will hardly notice that it was ever bent, especially on a disc brake wheel.  With a rim brake you would feel it when applying the brakes.  If the dent has caused the rim to bend either radially or laterally - to the extent that the spoke tension is uneven when you true the wheel you will never get it 100%.

 

You can slacken off the spokes and improve it by bending it over blocks etc and then retensioning the spokes but you will never get it right.

[missioner]

The problem with this scenario is that the true of the rim is measured both vertically and horizontally.

 

I built wheels professionally when I worked at a number of prominent cycle stores, your AM classics are soft and ding easily, my recommendation is rather have the rim replaced as you will now start having issues with the wheel due to uneven spoke tensions. The tight spokes will carry more load and possibly break, damaging the hub and eventually get you to buy new wheels as a grudge purchase as opposed to an upgrade.

 

If I can make a suggestion change the rim for a Stan's No Tubes Crest rim. It's lighter than your existing rim by around 80 grams and somewhat sturdier. As a bonus Crests are also cheaper than the AM classic

[Daniel J Méssem]

agree with what everyone else said

 

I had the same issue, fixed it myself. Could never get it properly trued, worked for a while, but the uneven spoke tensions caused spokes to start breaking, it got worse 

 

I eventually replaced it with a Stans ztr flow ex, which has taken a load of abuse now and still runs true 

[Spez247]

Hi Gents. Thanks for the response. The consensus seems to be it can be repaired, but will never be great. In my original post, I forgot to mention that it is way out of true, as it was a big hit. Thanks again. N