erdem

i have a trek fx 7.3 which i bought about 2 months ago. i recognised that my rear wheel's rim is quite bent. when i turn the rear wheel brake pads rub into rim surface in one point. it has 700x32c stock wheels and rims. so what should be done? i haven't true rear wheel yet but will it be sufficient to true wheel or should i consider replacement of rim. if so what are quality rim recommendations (brand, size etc..)

irclean

Sounds to me like it needs to be trued; the rim is likely fine except for being a little off in, as you said, "one point". Truing a wheel isn't that difficult as long as its not too far out of whack. Ideally you should use a truing stand, and there are a number of sites that will instruct you on how to build one, or you can purchase one online or from your LBS. Otherwise a wheel can be trued by turning the bike upside-down and using the brake pads as a guide for wheel trueness. Of course, you will need a proper spoke wrench before you can do anything. There are a number of tutorials out there; a decent one can be found at https://bicycletutor.com/. If you don't feel comfortable you can always have your LBS do it, and they will have all the necessary tools, like a truing stand and a spoke tension meter. Also, they will be able to tell you if your rim indeed does need replacement. If it's not too far out of true then my advice, FWIW, is to try it yourself. It's a valuable skill to learn. You can even check for spoke tension by listening to the tone when plucked.

erdem

thank you. it is nice to hear this

may you give some links to the sites about wheel building and truing etc.

as i learned 3.45mm spoke wrench size will be suitable (park tool red handle) for this job.

i already started to learn adjusting my front and rear derailleurs from bicycle tutor and park tool web sites. i am very eager to learn bike mechanics and also wheels

but for now i don't plan to true wheels my self until i have necessary tools as you mentioned. truing stand, tension meter etc..

and also there are many books on the market about wheelbuilding but i don't know which will be suitable for newbies like me:

The Professional Guide to
Wheel Building

The Bicycle Wheel 3rd Edition

The Art of Wheelbuilding

and also i may tune a violin by ear. hope this helps in adjusting spoke tension

khutch

I had an accident earlier this year which I unfortunately remember no details of due to concussion induced memory loss. It is pretty clear that I must have gone over a curb at a pretty good clip though and the bike was undamaged except that both rims had a "kink" in them. It was a fairly sharp bend in a fairly small area of each rim. While I was recovering I had my LBS go over it for any damage I did not notice. It has a carbon fiber front fork and I wanted that checked by someone who knows what to look for. It was also about time for its post delivery checkup anyway. I honestly thought the rims were done for, the bends seemed too sharp to me. What do I know, they told me it was easy to true them up again and they are working fine so far. So yeah, your rims likely can be retrued and I suppose it is a good skill to learn if you want to give it a go. If you can't get it done yourself I don't think you are very likely to mess it up so badly that a local shop can't complete it for you if you should reach the point where you want to give up.

Ken

AdelaaR

It most definately will. Tuning a snare and tensioning a spoke are, physically speaking, almost the same thing.

AdelaaR

I was riding with my dog on a local road my dog didn't know yet and there were a lot of cars at the time, so I used the dog's leash for a change instead of just letting him run besides me.
Unfortunately, my dog suddenly decided to stop dead and sniff something at a certain point.
My dog is quite big and sturdy, so he basicly pulled me off my bike and I was barely able to keep myself on my feet while jumping off the bike and holding it by one hand, so that the bike itself would not fall.
Long story short: my back wheel had a bend in it.
I had never trued a wheel before.
So I figured out how the spoke-tensioners work and made the wheel turn and watched the distance to the brakepads.
I didn't even have an actual spoke-tensioning-tool nor did I even know that such a device existed ... I simply used an adjustable spanner and it worked fine.
After a bit of fiddling with it ... I quickly figured out how it works as it isn't very hard ... you basicly put a bit more tension to the side you want your rim to move to, right?
I've done hundreds of miles on that wheel since then and it has been fine ever since.

So erdem, if you have an adjustable spanner, some basic technique, basic understanding of physics and a keen eye ... you should be able to fix this

erdem

sorry to hear what happened

but dunno which spokes to compare. so i need a good to learn about bicycle wheel. which book would be the most suitable for me? for the complete newbie. i can't afford all of them i think

lol that's too funny. and your dog didn't know how to ride yet and i have never seen anyone riding with his dog.

thank you. i will consider your suggestions. i was daunted by the idea of truing wheel my self because i read something about sheldon brown's site. he says:

I would suggest that you not mess with your spokes unless you have mastered most other aspects of bicycle maintenance.

but after your comments i think i may dare to true them by myself thanks a million!

AdelaaR

I don't think you got what I meant.
My dog does indeed not know how to ride and probably never should.
My dog is very good at running right besides me while I bike though, as I tought him to.
What I meant is that my dog didn't know the exact road I was riding on yet, since he had never been there ... and that is why I decided to put the leash on him at that time.

erdem

in fact i exactly understood what you meant only i wanted to joke about it

because at first glance i read it quickly and thought that your dog knows how to ride. i re read and got what you meant. also i have never seen a cyclist riding with a dog. and this seemed me funny

irclean

There's the easy way:



And then there's the hard way:

irclean

Here are a couple of links about home-built truing stands:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...e+truing+stand

https://miketechinfo.com/new-tech-whe...truing%20stand

I especially like the one pictured on post #6 of the following thread (BTW he referenced a link from Mike T's website above):

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...e+truing+stand

erdem

i really didn't mean to cause any offence. hope adelaar doesn't gets me wrong

i also browsed through some websites about wheel truing:

https://bicycletutor.com/wheel-truing

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=81

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcZ1jjB_AdQ

https://www.bbinstitute.com/dl/dx_demo_chapter_17.pdf

and i am starting to be familiar with the subject. barnett's manual is the most detailed and the longest tutorial.

it makes me feel sleepy

AdelaaR

I am very easily offended and when I am ... I usually give my dog a secret command to go beserk and kill everyone in the room ... he's half husky and half stafford so watch it

Funny picture of the dog sitting on the biker irclean!

erdem

lol i remember this berserker stance from somewhere else. i think you like computer games. maybe wow.

i have a look at barnett's manual about wheel truing. but i am not sure whether i understand it correctly so i wanted to ask you.

first of all for lateral adjustments we may come across two situations. let's assume that this is our rim. on the left side there are A, C, E and on the right side there are B,D and F nipples.



if caliber is rubbing left between the dotted area (which is opposite of a right-side spoke) than we should tighten the D nipple 1/2 turn clockwise.



and if there is a rub (again left side) between two right side spokes (dotted area) first we check the right side spokes tightness. if one of them is looser we tighten it 1/2 turn else if they seem equally tight then we tighten them both 1/4 turn.

for lateral adjustments all we need to do is this? and from a top point of view are nipples direction of rotation is correct? if i am not mistaken if nipple rotates clockwise than also rim will turn clockwise.