TabbyCat

So, I just re-entered the biking world a couple weeks ago and I've gotten so into it that I had to take my bike on vacation. Which soon had my husband wanting a bike, which shortly required a rack to bring the bikes home, which dented the mini-van, and . . . as I was walking my bike out this evening I noticed a bit of drag with each rotation. I looked at the wheel but there were no 90 degress angles so I shrugged and went for my ride. It seemed to ride fine (but I'm a newbie riding knobbies on pavement . . .) but I immediately noticed that my front brakes would click and jiggle with each rotation. I've researched a bit and my guess is that this is called wheel wobble and I need to adjust the spokes? Am I out in left field here?

Thanks-

donnamb 

I'm no skilled mechanic, but it sounds like your wheels are out of true, or at least one of them is. Personally, I'd take it to a LBS to get them trued. I would want to either take a class in wheel truing or be shown (in person) how to by someone experienced before I'd tackle that myself.

Akadis

You are in the ball park! Spin the wheel and keep your eye on the brake pad. Watch the rim and tyre as they fly past the brake. With a good wheel will see the rim and tyre moving in and out from the brake a tiny amount as it spins, no more than 1mm. Your wheel sounds like it will be jiggling past the pad with a lot of movement in and out. It could be just the tyre, but it could be a dinged rim or buckled wheel.

A broken spoke will cause the wheel to buckle - check the spokes by giving each pair a squeeze.
A wheel that is buckled from an accident may have broken spokes, but some will be looser than others.
A ding in the rim, like a dent, is the worst - best take it to the doctor for a transplant.
A rim that has a smooth wobble can be straightened by adjusting the spokes and replacing any broken ones.