Trueing Wheels

[potent]

Hi all,

 

looking for a bit of advice. did the illovo eston on sun and have managed to "buckle" my rear wheel. when spinning the wheel it jams on the left v-brake pad. this is not a v-brake adjustment issue.

 

is it best to take the bike to the LBS and see if they are able to true it or is there a way of doing it myself?

 

thanks in advance

 

Byron  

[Tumbleweed]

take it to the shop if you don't know what you're doing.

 

practise on an old wheel, if you want to learn how to do it yourself.

 

did you fall at eston?

[Conti]

LBS normally charge about R45

[potent]

didn't fall. had a fairly good race thats why i'm surprised it happened. no big hits either!

[Nuffy]

If it's a good wheel and you don't know what you are doing, I'd say take it to a shop. It's easy to mess it up. If you're keen to learn, start by reading up about it and practicing on an old wheel if you can. It's not that difficult once you understand the principles, and it's great to be able to do it yourself. Here's a good starting point:

 

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

 

It will probably be a bit overwhelming at first, but if you work through it you should find it to be pretty straightforward. Obviously you don't have to build up a wheel from scratch, so maybe skip through to the section about trueing. Skimming through the other bits might give you a better understanding about all the factors at play.

 

[TNT1]

 

 

is it best to take the bike to the LBS and see if they are able to true it or is there a way of doing it myself?

 

thanks in advance

 

Byron  

 

Do you own a hammer? If so, pm for details on what to do...

 

[KevinV]

Any spokes broken? I broke one the other day and it caused the wheel to "wobble" quite a bit.

[Red Zone]

Unless you have one of those wheel building jigs I wouldnt try playing with it myself, you could just make it worse. I have only heard bad results from a DIY truing job

[Slowbee]

 

 

is it best to take the bike to the LBS and see if they are able to true it or is there a way of doing it myself?

 

thanks in advance

 

Byron  

 

Do you own a hammer? If so' date=' pm for details on what to do...

[/quote']

 

 

hammer!! works everytime

 

[Mudsimus]

Take a hammer and hit it in the opposite direction that the buckle is coming from. Or spare yourself the hassle and take it to a expert.

[Tumbleweed]

Take a hammer and hit it in the opposite direction that the buckle is coming from. Or spare yourself the hassle and take it to a expert.

 

an expert with a hammer?

[TNT1]

 

Take a hammer and hit it in the opposite direction that the buckle is coming from. Or spare yourself the hassle and take it to a expert.

 

an expert with a hammer?

 

That would be me.

 

[potent]

hammer sounds good

 

i'm not scared to get hands on and learn. looked at a you tube video where the guy used spoke tensioning to straighten the wheel. not sure if this is a good option or not.

[Mudsimus]

Take a hammer and hit it in the opposite direction that the buckle is coming from. Or spare yourself the hassle and take it to a expert.

 

an expert with a hammer?

 

Exately. Its a tool that needs years to master.

[Mudsimus]

hammer sounds good

 

i'm not scared to get hands on and learn. looked at a you tube video where the guy used spoke tensioning to straighten the wheel. not sure if this is a good option or not.

 

I'd say using the spokes tension to straighten the wheel is a dumbass idea.... 

[Nuffy]

 

Unless you have one of those wheel building jigs I wouldnt try playing with it myself' date=' you could just make it worse. I have only heard bad results from a DIY truing job[/quote']

 

I've trued my rims many times, just using V-brake pads as guides. It's best to take the tyre off. A proper jig would be ideal, but I don't think you should spend hundreds of Rand on one before you even bother trying.

 

That said, it is easy to screw it up if you don't know what you are doing, so do some reading first and only try small adjustments at a time.