Bicycle Mechanics - fixing a rim

Is it worth trying to straighten out an impact ding on the rim or should I replace it? basically the bent side of the rim looks like this: ----^----- looks like from trying to ride up curbs. The bike is about 10 years old, not a bad bike although not a great one either. I would tell the guy to get a new bike but it looks like kind of a cool challenge. thanks in advance for your input :D

Bicycle Research makes a special pair of pliers for that job. Also a Auto Body hammer and a set of Dollies are helpful. Work carefully or you could end up with the rim caved in or the lip inside that holds the tire deformed. It's not a difficult job; you just have to be careful.

You can give it a go. the cheapest way is to use existing tools. a shifting spanner and a cone wrench should be fine. place the cone wrench against the brake surface then position the shifterover the dint and pull the dint outwards. you may need to use a spoke wrench to true the wheel up as well as it may have been wacked out of true.

Mine looked more like this.
.......____
___/ ....... \________

(had difficulty aligning for this screen so the dots are merely posting spacers)

I broke my mallet wacking it back into shape.
How about a big vise with a cylindrical metal item pressed against the inside of the rim?

Yes, a big vise will work. Something else that works is a pair of channel locks. As noted above, place something flat against the rim then squezze.

yeah, giv eit a try. it is possible the rim may crack when you bend/beat it back and then it is dead. but if you're gonna throw it out anyway, it's worth trying.

on our TransAlp one of our riders had a bad wreck and the bike basically fell off a cliff and fell 30ft and landed on the rear wheel. needless to say it was damaged. but we were up high on a mountain at a hut and needed to ride it down, so we used logs and whatever we could find and beat the rim back into rideable shape. it worked. check out the photos at http://home.pages.at/transalp2003/ --- about 2/3s down the page - the photos in the dark. i am the guy with the Red fleece on. here's one of the photos: -actually later we set it on a metal corner and i swung the log like a bat which worked really well, but no photo :(

Originally posted by nathank
but we were up high on a mountain at a hut and needed to ride it down, so we used logs and whatever we could find and beat the rim back into rideable shape.

Wow, nathank! That is the type/style of wrenching for which you deserve to be remembered eternally. And an awesome picture to document it.

But, in the Tour de France, under Henri Desgrange, you guys would have been disqualified. Too many hands on the repair job. :D

I once had a flat spot on a rim about 10 inches wide and 1 inch deep, it was incredible that the tire stayed on and pressurized. Anyway, I removed 4 or 5 spokes and using a baseball bat (only thing on hand), beat the rim back into shape. Worked real good. Seeing the log technique reminded me of this.

It is definitely worth a try, because you are out nothing if your attempt fails. Each of the above suggestions and anecdotes has its merits.