Bicycle Mechanics - My wheel has a slight wabble.. is this ok?

today i flipped my bike over and then turned my wheel freely. then i noticed a slight left right wabble just on one area of the wheel. it's nothing major.. the wabble is like about 2-3mm left to right. the front shows a little bit of wabble, but not that much. it's feels fine when i ride it. i'm just wondering if that's normal.

also, if in fact i need to replace my rims, how are ZAC rims? i see them on ebay a lot for a good price. they look sturdy as well. so do you think i would be able to just switch my rear cassette directly over to the Zac rear rim?

this is what they look like: ZAC 26" MTB Rims (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58089&item=3670419824&rd=1)

thanks ;)
rui

You'll want to true them up if they get any worse. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, that little bit of wobble should be a fairly cheap fix.

If it's not affecting the ride or braking, then don't worry about it.

today i flipped my bike over and then turned my wheel freely. then i noticed a slight left right wabble just on one area of the wheel. it's nothing major.. the wabble is like about 2-3mm left to right. the front shows a little bit of wabble, but not that much. it's feels fine when i ride it. i'm just wondering if that's normal.


Most wheels have a little wobble to em after a while. The more fastidious will constantly chase the demon. Others will ride along contently. Your LBS would probably charge you $5-$10 (if even that much) to retrue the wheel.

I don't like those ZAC rims just based on the fact that they have no eyelets where the spokes come through the rim. Other than that, no real opinion either way.

If it's not affecting the ride or braking, then don't worry about it.

And that's true as far as it goes. But a wheel left out of true is more likely to continue it's movement further out of true. He should get them tweaked.

Get a spoke wrench for a couple of bucks, and follow Sheldon Brown's instructions for wheels

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

If it's not affecting the ride or braking, then don't worry about it.

Worry about it because it should'nt.

wobble as if its not true, or wobble in where the axle is in the hub?





ugh, maybe someday I speak english real good like

today i flipped my bike over and then turned my wheel freely. then i noticed a slight left right wabble just on one area of the wheel. it's nothing major.. the wabble is like about 2-3mm left to right. the front shows a little bit of wabble, but not that much. it's feels fine when i ride it. i'm just wondering if that's normal.

also, if in fact i need to replace my rims, how are ZAC rims? i see them on ebay a lot for a good price. they look sturdy as well. so do you think i would be able to just switch my rear cassette directly over to the Zac rear rim?

this is what they look like: ZAC 26" MTB Rims (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58089&item=3670419824&rd=1)

thanks ;)
rui

I think that 3mm is quite a bit of runout. If it was my bike, I'd true 'em. ZACs aren't my favorite rims. When you true them, they seem kind of "noodlely." I think that they come as original equipment on a lot of bikes because they are cheap.

Yeah, you can live with the wobble, but the truer the rim, the closer you can set your brakes, and the more effective they will be. Depending on the bike and the brakes, etc., ideally you should be able to get plenty of stopping power by grabbing the brakes with just a coupla fingers.

Sheldon's site, as stated, is a good source for truing advice. The Barnett's Manual here, at http://www.bikeforums.net/barnettes/barnetts_ch17.pdf , is complete if overwhelming. You can do a pretty darn good truing job using the bike itself as a truing stand.

wow.. thanks guys for all your reply. in terms of the wobble.. it's wobbling at the end of the rims... so it's not at the axis. i rode the bike to work today and it was ok.. it wasn't wobbling like crazy yet.

yup, i think i'll try and tackle truing my rims. it's pretty old bike.. so it's expected to be in that condition. when i bought it.. i didn't check for anything.. till later on i started coming to this forum and learning more and more.

i will check both sheldon's site and also the barnett's manual. have you guys done this DIY before? is it hard or easy?

P.S. i didn't even realize that there were no nipple for the valve on the ZAC rims. :p

It is very easy. Just go slowand use small adjustments. I did my rear wheel last night.

What I do is, flip my bike over.
Take a magic marker and place the tip about 1-2mm from where the brake pad is and turn the wheel. Invariably, it will contact the rim and make a mark. Do the same on the other side.
Where you see the mark, that's where the rim is too CLOSE to the pad and therefore you need the spokes on the OTHER side of the rim to pull it AWAY. Repeat for the other side. Do this in 1/4th or 1/8th turn increments first. Don't forget that if you tighten up the left side spokes, to loosen up the right side ones a little too.
After everything's done, make sure none of the spokes are loose by tensioning them. When you tap it lightly with a screw driver, the spoke should make a pinging sound, not a thud.
Properly tensioned wheels don't go out of true as often as would a wheel that had loose spokes that don't help structural integrity.

What I do is, flip my bike over.
Take a magic marker and place the tip about 1-2mm from where the brake pad is and turn the wheel. Invariably, it will contact the rim and make a mark. Do the same on the other side.
Where you see the mark, that's where the rim is too CLOSE to the pad and therefore you need the spokes on the OTHER side of the rim to pull it AWAY. Repeat for the other side. Do this in 1/4th or 1/8th turn increments first. Don't forget that if you tighten up the left side spokes, to loosen up the right side ones a little too.
After everything's done, make sure none of the spokes are loose by tensioning them. When you tap it lightly with a screw driver, the spoke should make a pinging sound, not a thud.
Properly tensioned wheels don't go out of true as often as would a wheel that had loose spokes that don't help structural integrity.

sounds good... i'll check it out tonight and see.

And that's true as far as it goes. But a wheel left out of true is more likely to continue it's movement further out of true. He should get them tweaked.

I let a slight wobble go for a few weeks, and everything was fine until spokes started popping. Take CRUM's and Andrew P's advice and fix it. At first, it is a little tricky, but you get the hang of it.

If you make it worse your LBS should be able to fix it fairly cheaply.

yup, i think i'll try and tackle truing my rims. :p

I think you will enjoy doing it yourself, have at it.

Get a spoke wrench for a couple of bucks, and follow Sheldon Brown's instructions for wheels

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


where is the article on true wheels don't see it.

Thanks Chuck

where is the article on true wheels don't see it.

Thanks Chuck

it's here chuck... Tensioning and truing (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#tensioning)

I think you will enjoy doing it yourself, have at it.

yuppa... i'm gonna try and do that 2nite. we'll see how it goes.. hehe :p