Bicycle Mechanics - Looking for opinions on damaged rim

Hi everyone, I have a problem with a Alexrims Solo 28h rim, which I noticed is out of true, turns out it is dented pretty bad toward the hub (probably from the railroad crossing here by school). I thought I would post pictures and see what the opinions were, (sorry about the poor quality photos).

I've read a lot of posts about cracked rims, but it seems more dented then an actual crack, although the spoke wiggles back and forth were it attaches to the rim, and the hole seems to have expanded.

That rim is toast, and I wouldn't ride it unless I liked ER visits. Did you hit a curb or something? It's also possible that the spoke did that if the wheel had too much tension, but judging by the picture, you hit something. Time for a new rim... preferably not an Alex one.

+1 Toss it now

Sorry to say this looks wrecked to me, matey

Unless you like this:

http://www.jaysmarine.com/Endrick_burst2.jpg

Do this:

http://www.so-money.net/brokenbike/bbpics/Set434_03.jpg
(Sorry, couldn't find a photo of a single wheel sans frame in a rubbish bin)

-Kurt

Thanks for the advice, I haven't ridden on it because I was worried about it failing. This is my rear wheel on my 2007 Bianchi. I am a poor college student. If I want to rebuild the wheel and reuse the hub (and spokes if possible) how close of a match would the rim have to be?

You need a rim with exactly the same ERD (check out wheelbuilding at Sheldonbrown.com). Probably cheaper and easier to find a used/new replacement, as you're talking about buying a truing stand, etc.

I have seen worse... probably u can get a whole wheel at ebay and maybe cheaper than getting the rim and put the whole thing together. Do you have xperience building wheels?

UM

Forget getting an exact replacement rim. Straight guage spokes are 50cents. Which is $16 for an entire 32 spoke wheel. Peanuts. Get any rim you want that is strong.

Like an Alex DA28. Then rebuild it yourself or get your LBS to do it for you if you don't know how.

I don't have any experience building wheels, but thought it would be a nice project to learn on. Thanks for all the info, I'll look around and weigh my options.

edit: It looks like I could pickup an Alex DA28 and spokes within my price range, thanks for the suggestion operator, and everyone else for the help too.

hey, i just wanted to get an opinion from some of you who may know a bit more about wheels than i do.
here's something i noticed just today. from what i can observe the spoke may have been tampered with. the rim, i can't figure out. on both sides of the rim right above the spoke, the rim bumps up a little. any dieas? any insight would be helpful. thanks.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2471/3846597310_915173fb2a.jpg