Bicycle Mechanics - My first crash......bent rear rim.

So I went down, I could have saved it but could not get my feet out of my straps quick enough.....

My rear rim is really bent, took it to my LBS and he said they could not fix it. He said I would need a new rim, about $70, but they did not have a black rim in stock and had to order which would take a week.

I cant wait that long as this is how i get to work.

Called another LBS to see if they have one in stock and got a little more info that I did not know. Newb here, did not realize the difference between a wheel and a rim. He said it would be cheaper to by a new wheel (said he had one for $100) than to just replace the rim with them doing the labor to do the swap? I dont really understand because i have never done this. This LBS has not seen the rim yet also.

So what should i do? I need to get it going by tomorrow. If I can find a rim, is it something i can repair myself with parktool or something and then just have it trued?

Please help. Thanks. Its a 700c tire, the rim says PR15 or something like that. Its a cheap bike I got online, windsor wellington 2.0.

So I went down, I could have saved it but could not get my feet out of my straps quick enough.....

My rear rim is really bent, took it to my LBS and he said they could not fix it. He said I would need a new rim, about $70, but they did not have a black rim in stock and had to order which would take a week.

I cant wait that long as this is how i get to work.

Called another LBS to see if they have one in stock and got a little more info that I did not know. Newb here, did not realize the difference between a wheel and a rim. He said it would be cheaper to by a new wheel (said he had one for $100) than to just replace the rim with them doing the labor to do the swap? I dont really understand because i have never done this. This LBS has not seen the rim yet also.

So what should i do? I need to get it going by tomorrow. If I can find a rim, is it something i can repair myself with parktool or something and then just have it trued?

Please help. Thanks. Its a 700c tire, the rim says PR15 or something like that. Its a cheap bike I got online, windsor wellington 2.0.

If you're pressed for time (or money), get the complete wheel. If you're never built a wheel before, it will take you way too long to get it assembled and trued. (My first wheelbould took most of a weekend.) Buy a complete wheel, have the shop move the casette (the part with the gears) over, mount tube and tire, and you're rolling.

If you're pressed for time (or money), get the complete wheel. If you're never built a wheel before, it will take you way too long to get it assembled and trued. (My first wheelbould took most of a weekend.) Buy a complete wheel, have the shop move the casette (the part with the gears) over, mount tube and tire, and you're rolling.


dang. yah i have never built one before. so does the $100 sound ok for that or should i call around some more?

This should give you an idea of what road wheels run

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/sub_cat.cfm?subcategory_id=5320

And Performance has locations in Portland.

The fastest and easiest route is going to be a complete wheel. Keep your old wheel and practice truing it up, or buy a rim and try your hand at using your old wheels hub and spokes to build a new wheel and you will have a replacement if this happens again.

It wouldn't hurt to make another couple of calls, but $100 doesn't seem out of line.

dang. yah i have never built one before. so does the $100 sound ok for that or should i call around some more?

For $100 make sure you arer getting a double walled rim (you can tell because the spoke nipple heads seem to be dwn inside a well when you look at the top part usually covered by the tire) and stainless steel spokes (you probably have to take the shop guys word on this) with a casette hub (freewheel mechanism built into the hub, not threaded on separate). Then yeah, it's not unreasonable.

However, most pre-built wheels are machine built and the spokes are poorly/unevenly tensioned and/or not properly stress relieved, meaning you might experience loose and broken spokes after about a season (or less) of riding.

See if they shop can hand-stress-relieve and re-true the wheels before you take them. It would not be unreasonable for them to ask for a little extra $$ (like $10 or $15 max) to do this, and ask if there is any warranty on the spokes (this might sound weird to some, but there is no way a spoke should break on a wheel that is less than a year old unless it was not properly built, or the derailleur is maladjusted).

Generally the pre-built wheels are not a bad deal, though.

If I were you I would keep the old wheel and relace it with new spokes and hub when I got the chance. That way if this happens again you just need to swap over the tube/tire/rmistrip and casette and you are rolling again.

Also, toe-clips and straps are death traps... clipless (clip-in) pedals and shoes are much safer when you get used to them.

can you post a pic of a bent rim? I'm just curious to see the carnage the shop said they couldn't repair.

Did you land on your bike when you crashed?

can you post a pic of a bent rim? I'm just curious to see the carnage the shop said they couldn't repair.


Thanks for all the replys and advice. Was out for the day. Took my wheel down to the bike shop that quoted me $100 for a new wheel. The guy was awsome down there. I told him about the $100 one that i talked to someone over the phone and also asked that he take a look at mine for a second opinion. He spent about 10 minutes trueing it, $15 and i was out. He went into a little detail about how the wheel is cheap and some spokes on the drive side were to short....??? Anyways he said it should last, gave me a few pointers with the brake adjustment and said i might need to come back to have them trued again in about a month or so.

I will be going to this shop from now on for sure. They are actually the only shop in Portland that I know of that really specializes in road bikes but they were the furthest from me. The mechanic could have easily said the wheel was no good and charged me $100+.

Also stopped at a store and got my fenders and rain gear. I got a killer deal, $230 for pants and a jacket, on clearance/sale $80 for both. My bike is all back together and adjusted and im ready for the rain. My horrible day turned out to be pretty darn good after all.

Did you land on your bike when you crashed?

possibly. details are not important here my friend........but im sure the 50 cars watching me got a great laugh out of it.