Bicycle Mechanics - Dang! A hole in my rim! Possible to fix?

I've had a hell of a time with my bike tonight. Had a flat on the road yesterday, ran over a huge nail. It was stuck through both sides of my tube, and apparently into my rim. I didn't notice the damage to the rim until after I destroyed two tubes trying to fix it tonight. Here is a picture of the problem.
http://www.zinn-x.com/temp/holyrim.jpg
It looks like the nail went through the tube into the rim, and then bent, scraping the area near the hole. The rough area around the hole seems to be puncturing any tube that goes in there. Bummer.

So my question is, would I be able to fix this if I took the rim tape off, sanded the rim surface and applied new tape, leaving the hole? Or is having that hole in the rim going to eventually make it go out of true and cause long term reliability problems? Reliability is key to me since I often go twenty miles out of town into nowheresville with no cell reception. Suggestions would be appreciated... thanks! :)

From a reliability and safety standpoint... I'd replace the hoop. Twenty miles can be a very long walk and maxilofacil surgery can be expensive.

well that's not really what i want to hear :(
these wheels aren't worth the cost of labor to replace the rim... its a 200 dollar wheelset

Ok... I'll lie to you. :) Ride 'em. What you talkin' about labor? :eek:

Get a new hoop, lace it up and at worst have the LBS check your work and give it a final true & tension.


Sheesh, n00bs! :lol:

you mistake me for someone who knows jack about lacing wheels. in the time it takes for me to learn how to fix it, much less getting the parts i need, i could be out riding. i have almost a week off after tomorrow and i wanted to spend it riding, not wasting time trying to repair my wheel myself. it looks like i'm screwed in that regard.

Your photo doesn't really show the rim damage. So take this with a grain of salt: But, I don't know why folks are suggesting impending catastrophic failure of that rim. Rims already have multiple holes in them. Valve holes. Spoke holes. 29, 33, 37, of them.

So holes, per se, aren't necessarily a problem.

It would be the size, shape, and location of the hole that would make the difference.

Your biggest risk is that a crack may grow outwards from the hole (like a crack in a windshield can grow from an initial pebble strike). You need to keep an eye out for that. But in the meanwhile, if the wheel is true, and the nail hole isn't very close to a part of the rim that could lead to further problems (e.g. rim joint, valve hole, spoke hole), I'd say it's potentially very rideable.

A reliable wheelbuilder, able to conduct an in-person inspection, would be able to give you a more definitive answer.

Bob

you mistake me for someone who knows jack about lacing wheels. in the time it takes for me to learn how to fix it, much less getting the parts i need, i could be out riding. i have almost a week off after tomorrow and i wanted to spend it riding, not wasting time trying to repair my wheel myself. it looks like i'm screwed in that regard.
Silly me, I forgot anime-niacs are devoid of mechanical skill and the desire to aquire said skills. I'm so sorry. :)

If that was my rim I'd just file off any burrs on the surface and then drill the hole out slightly to leave a smooth round hole rather than a ragged one. Cracks will only propogate from irregularities acting as stress raisers so if the hole is smooth it will be no worse than all the spoke holes.

that sounds like a good idea, i might end up doing that if the shop tells me i'm not gonna die riding on it.


Silly me, I forgot anime-niacs are devoid of mechanical skill and the desire to aquire said skills. I'm so sorry. :)

wtf is an "anime-niac" ??

i find it very presumptuous of you to impose your values on me in such a condescending and judgemental manner. the little free time my career affords me is worth more than it costs to pay for parts and mechanical help. we can't all be well-versed in all trades; i highly doubt you're a skilled database architect / programmer like i am, and i also doubt your time is worth as much as mine is.

anyway, i'll take my wheel into a shop today to get a professional opinion. i'm kind of itching for an excuse to upgrade the wheels anyway.

that sounds like a good idea, i might end up doing that if the shop tells me i'm not gonna die riding on it.



wtf is an "anime-niac" ??

i find it very presumptuous of you to impose your values on me in such a condescending and judgemental manner. the little free time my career affords me is worth more than it costs to pay for parts and mechanical help. we can't all be well-versed in all trades; i highly doubt you're a skilled database architect / programmer like i am, and i also doubt your time is worth as much as mine is.

anyway, i'll take my wheel into a shop today to get a professional opinion.


I feel sorry for you on so many levels.

I feel sorry for you on so many levels.
I'm sorry you feel that way. I feel offended by you which is the only reason I am so arrogant.

I'm sorry you feel that way. I feel offended by you which is the only reason I am so arrogant.
I'm sorry you felt offended, clearly my <humor> & <levity> tags aren't working this morning.

Likewise, I'm sorry for being an ass.

Get over it, guys.

Look, the picture doesn't show any rim damage. It shows a hole/burr in the rim strip, not the rim. Peel back the rim strip and see if there's any damage to the aluminum underneath. I highly doubt that the nail went through both walls of a double-wall rim. It may have dented the inner wall (above which the rim strip sits) but I'm doubting it did much if any damage to the rim. Is the rim out of true or round (more than it was before the incident)?
If not, then you should just replace the rim strip. You could probably get away with not replacing the rim strip, but just put tape over the part with the hole, etc.

^^^ What he said. Definately just shows the rim strip, which is a $3.99 roll of tape you can get at your LBS. I would AMAZED if a nail went through the wall of any rim, even on a $200 wheelset.

just put tape over the part with the hole, etc.


Never be caught without a bit of electrical tape!

If you really want to be "cheap". Remove the rim tape, de-burr and fill the hole with something like JB Weld. Clean up and smooth, replace the rim tape and monitor the rim condition. You will probably see no further problems.

If you really want to be "cheap". Remove the rim tape, de-burr and fill the hole with something like JB Weld. Clean up and smooth, replace the rim tape and monitor the rim condition. You will probably see no further problems.
Assuming that there actually is a hole in the rim itself. So far we only have evidence that there's a hole in the rim strip.

personally I would demount the rim strip, turn it around so that the valve hole still lines up but the hole in the strip is on the mirrored half of the rim. Difficult to explain. But check there are no significant burrs on the rim strip itself, and that there is no protruding or sharp pieces of aluminium associated with the nail impact, then inflate and ride. As observed, there are multitudes of 8mm spoke holes in your rims.

- Joel

personally I would demount the rim strip, turn it around so that the valve hole still lines up but the hole in the strip is on the mirrored half of the rim. Difficult to explain. But check there are no significant burrs on the rim strip itself, and that there is no protruding or sharp pieces of aluminium associated with the nail impact, then inflate and ride. As observed, there are multitudes of 8mm spoke holes in your rims.
Yup, one of my thoughts too. Also worth covering the hole in the rim strip with electrical tape, just to smooth it in case it was burrs in the plastic popping your innertubes.

If your time is so, so valuable and you are paid commensurately as yet another database architect/programmer (ho-hum)... buy a new wheel and have the bike shop fit it all up for you.

Yeah, it doesn't look that bad. Personally, I'd take the rim-strip off and see what damage, if any, really exists on the rim. Then flip the rim-strip around to the other side so that the hole is over a clean section of rim while the damage on the rim itself is covered by pristine rim-strip.

Don't sue me if the rim fails and you get mamed but,

I doubt this causes any real weakness in the rim. The hole seems smaller than a spoke hole, and rims are designed to have many of those. I'm not sure you even need to fix the rim tape, but a small amount of tape will stop the tube from pressing into the hole.

I'd be surprised if rims designed for 36 spokes are built in their initial undrilled state, any different than 32 hole rims.

You guys are right, a new rim strip solved all my problems, and the LBS gave it to me for "free" (I buy a lot of stuff there so...)

There was minimal damage to the rim itself and the new strip is much higher quality... thanks for the tips :-)