treebound 

I'm about to purge my excess rims/wheels and I have several that would otherwise be keepers except that they are out of true or taco'd. How much wobble will you try to bring back versus deciding it isn't worth the effort? 1", 2", 3" out of true?

Some I'm going to just toss, some I'll strip for the hub and maybe some spare spokes, but a few I might try to re-true. Just curious what others do.

And for the record I think I've got about 60 wheels of various sizes and condition and composition. Them things take up a lot of room.

Off to search the storage threads for how to hang spare wheels ....

Puget Pounder

I had a Sun rim that was 1.5" out of true that I unlaced, bent back, and re-laced with no problems. As long as there are no creases in the rim, I will try to salavage them.

bigbossman 

When do I get rid of a bent rim? When it's bent.

I don't try to bend them back. My safety relies a great deal on a sound set of wheels. I just don't need any unnecessary problems on extended descents.

If I have a bent rim, I break it into pieces and toss it in the recycling bin.

bikemore 

I've wasted time on out of round rims. Sometimes I can get a round wheel and sometimes I can just waste an hour trying to make it round. Sometimes I just prefer using that hour for something else.

I've had trouble with as little as 1/2 inch out of round.

Puget Pounder

haha topics like these always make me feel so unsafe. Anyways, if it's not creased and I can get even tension, I would trust it. I hop plenty of things and take big drops with going out of round/true so I trust it.

Alan Edwards

Give me all your bent rims, I'm happy to be here for you so this problem doesn't bother you. Truth be told I bend mine back and relace so long as there is no crease. 36 spokes can take a lot of abuse, 20 spokes and the end result of trying to fix it can be self destruction at the worst moment

Chombi

I would think that once an unlaced/untensioned rim takes a "tacoed" or "Pringled" shape, it's pretty much just bent aluminum trash and bending back to staright whether before lacing and tensioning or before, means you could be weakening the rim as that second bending will start inducing micro cracks to ithe metal's crystalline structure.
JMO

Chombi

khatfull

I muscled a front rim on my touring bike back from about 1.5" to < 1/8" before truing. Been working like a champ since. Trick is to get it as flat as possible before truing.

randyjawa 

I assume we are talking about a rim that is actually bent, not just out of true due to improper spoke adjustment.

I hold the bent rim up against a rim, I know to be straight. If, at any point, the gap between the two rims exceeds 1/8"(3.2mm) I toss the rim, assuming we are talking about alloy rims. Steel rims I might allow a bit more but generally apply the same standard applies to them also.

Keep in mind, when trying to measure gap, rotate the rims and measure at different points.

In addition to wobble, you need to look at hop also, and flat spots. These can create problems.

Perhaps this is being over cautious but I have never had good luck with a rim that exceeds that much bend. My guess is pulling the rim back into true places considerable more tension on the spokes doing the work, which makes for a weak and undependable wheel, in my opinion.

khatfull

Hence the need to "adjust" the rim to within 1/8" or less BEFORE truing.

EDIT: I think as long as a rim isn't too far out and hasn't been creased anywhere that judicious application of force to reflatten it isn't a problem. Let's face it, if that weren't the case how long would they last on the road? A wheel is a semi-elastic system right? That said I think single wall rims are much more likely to be salvageable than double. In my case my Ukai rim was single wall and it didn't take much to make it flat enough to true.

treebound 

I think I'm leaning toward the idea if I can still ride it then fix it, but if it won't clear opened brake pads then strip or dump it.

Hop flat wheels will get tossed, or turned into hula hoops or wind chimes or bird houses or scrap metal.

Steel ones will be a factor of rust level and bent-ness. Some of those work well on pass along and flip bikes, and to quick fix bikes for relatives and neighbors.

(stopping at the hardware store tonight to look for S-hooks and/or material to bend my own.)

randyjawa 

After working on hundreds of bikes and wheel sets, I can honestly say that most wheels reach The Old Shed unbent. Out of true - you bet, but the rims, themselves, are not bent. So, I guess they can last a long time, depending on type of use, and more importantly, abuse.

A side note. I have a tendency to sell my bicycles quite often. With that in mind I do not want to jeopardize another person's safety. Perhaps I am a bit too cautious but caution never killed anybody, did it?

treebound 

I might need to pick up some spoke cutters and a couple of freewheel tools as well.

And I guess I'll put a sign above my workbench, "If it ain't safe for a grandkid then fix it or dump it".

rhm

It kinda depends on the rim. If it's one that I can replace easily, then I'll just go ahead and order a new one. But an old, rare, or interesting rim has to be pretty far gone before I'll toss it. When the nipples pull through the holes, that's what I call pretty far gone.

WNG

Depends on the rim, narrow light road rims: removed and inspected with under 1/4" of true, bend it back as straight as possible. Flat spotted, usually junked.
If it was a mtb rim, I'm more tolerant of flat spots as the tire variance from its size hides the flat spots.
Aluminum is not meant to be severely deformed and expect to keep its strength. If it's taco-ed after detensioning the spokes, it's ready for the recycler.

randyjawa 

This is what I tell everyone one of the people I train to be bicycle mechanics at Bicycles for Humanity. Honestly and I really mean it. Safety first is the only way to go. The risk is just too great, in my opinion.

khatfull

That was me with the Touring Series V front rim. Special Ukai rim with MSW but black anodized top. Matched the 40H rear. So, it was either fix it, find another set (yeah right), or go a different 36/40 set. I REALLY wanted to keep this rim so I gave it a shot...and it's been perfect.

Here it was before:


And after:


Also, being the front really went a long way in making me not worry about it as much. I think a front is more forgiving than a rear with respect to even spoke tension too.

Incidentally, it's not moved one iota from the true you see in the second video.

bigbossman 

Especially on a front wheel. You ever seen the aftermath of a front wheel failing at any kind of speed? I have. Easier to replace a rim/wheel than your teeth, or undergoing reconstructive surgery. Less painful, too.

If you could talk me into bending a rim straight, it wouldn't be one that I would be using up front. Ugh.

khatfull

Funny I saw it in the reverse...

wrk101

I do not try to salvage bent rims. I do salvage everything else! In general, aluminum does not like being bent (and then later bent back). I' ve got no personal experience with a re-bent wheel failing (not that I am looking to have that experience). I can usually find nice used wheelsets cheap, so I will stick to that instead.

JohnDThompson 

Tubular rim? Use it for stretching tires.

Clincher rim? Use it with a hub-brake.