jjciiijs

Some wheels just seem to need balancing. i have one that is heavy enough on one side that when it is spun(on the bike) in my stand, I can watch the forces. It just bugs me to see it rotate with such a heavy spot and I do not wnat to add reflectors to the wheel.

Now the question is, how to balance it .

Was thinking about wrapping lead around a spoke, but i really don't have aa ribon of lead that would work well. Was thinking about fishing weights, but short of using glue plus clamping it to a spoke, I think it would come off.

Anybody ever balance their wheels without using reflectors**********??

Sixty Fiver

Old school - Use copper or stainless wire wrapped around the spokes to balance the wheel.

rmfnla

You really don't need to do this.

Yes, there is a slight imbalance, but you can crank much faster on a bike stand than while actually riding so the effect become exagerated.

I've seen people use split-shot fishing weights or substitute one or two aluminum nipples with brass, but I don't think anyone can really feel the difference on the bike.

Ex Pres 

lead tape that is used to weight golf clubs. available at any reputable golf supplier. apply to the rim between the spokes.

I did this once, on my '84 Trek 760. It only took a few grams to balance them, and beautiful spinning on the stand; but I saw absolutely no difference while riding

waterrockets 

Don't balance your wheels. It doesn't matter. When you change tubes or tires, it will fark up again anyway.

wmodavis

Slime in the tube is nortorious for causing unbalance like that. If you do want to pursue it, though I agree with rmfnla above, you need to find out where it occurrs, rim, tube or tire. The rim alone is likely to have a bit of imbalance but likely not as much as you are experiencing. Also the tire is pretty uniform throughout but could cause some. As I started out slime is made to do that - coagulate in one place inside the tube. Id just change the tube and fill it with air only.

Makeitso

I'm no bike mechanic but it seems like a total waste of time to me. Right after you get it balanced perfectly you'll have a flat, put in a different tube or the same tube with a patch and have to start over.

G piny parnas

this is fascinating-- i never thought--- but your kinda right--- but, yet again--
I ..... I don't think it matters........ we're all a little off balance in some way--- and Lead is toxic....

Soil_Sampler

+1
or 4 brass nipples
brass washer siliconed around the valve hole.
motorcycle wheel weights
lead tape

BCRider

If you're doing speedy fast descents such as a Tour de France front runner may do then I'd say it's worth balancing the wheels. But for the other 99.99999% of us it won't matter a bit to leave them unbalanced.

lymbzero

I once met this guy in Newport Beach, California who owns a bike shop there.
He showed me his bike which had all these neato details on it.
The first thing I noticed was one of his spokes on the very opposite side of the valve.

It was like a little spiral that he had made by twisting the spoke around a wire,
acted like an offset to the weight of the valve.

It was very unique.

Soil_Sampler

usually the heavy side is opposite the valve.

DannoXYZ 

Bike wheels don't spin fast enough for imbalances to be noticeable. As a test, I've added 6 reflectors all gathered on 3 spokes right next to the rim's seam. Up to 65mph, there wasn't any difference in feel. At 70mph, there was a slight sensation. But the trueness of a wheel makes a much bigger difference in vibration at speed than balance anyway.

dabac

Not as such, but I've pulled the reflectors off the road wheels for my MTB. There was one descent on my regular loop where I used to hit about 40 mph at which they did add a nasty vibration. It wasn't the before the reflectors went on, it was there while they stayed on, and it disappeared when the reflectors came off.

HillRider

For a front wheel, find the heavy spot and mount the cyclometer magnet opposite it. You could use the same trick with a rear wheel but the magnet would just be a balancing weight unless you have a rear pick-up cyclometer.

I agree on the unimportance of going to the trouble.

G piny parnas

i need to get drunk today in order to tackle this fascination question--- see you in 5 or 10....
miss me......................

G piny parnas

ok..... if I am doing high speeds and I realize that my wheel is in need of a balance... um...ok...
o...oh.... I will pull to the side of the road( be very careful here,ok?) and I will use chewing gum
and gently apply to the spot that needs attention.... thanks.