Originally Posted by carpediemracing

Does the hop go towards the hub or towards the tire?

If the hop goes towards the hub, the rim is bent ("flat spot"). If the rim is flat-spotted, you can't apply "negative tension" to the spokes to pull it out. (It is possible to try and whack the rim to bend it back out, but I've never had much success with that technique...) Once a rim is flat-spotted, it's done. Ride it, slam it into everything, and when it finally fails to clear the frame/fork, get a new rim. It's hard to damage anything else on the wheels unless your spokes are so loose in the flat spot area that the spoke nipples unscrew completely from the spoke.

If the hop goes out towards the tire, the spokes are not tensioned enough (or, hopefully, are not tensioned enough). You should be able to use spoke tension to pull the rim in towards the tire. Typically this happens near the seam on relatively new wheels. I would bet this is not the case.

Once a rim is bent, I'd write it off. I wouldn't bother paying anyone to true it. Ride it till you can't stand it and then get a new rim laced onto the wheel.

FYI I watched mechanics true wheels after a stage in the Tour Du Pont (granted it was a while ago, but they had aluminum rims...) The guys on the big money team, Gatorade, were riding the most insanely bent up wheels imaginable. I'd have trashed all of the wheels, but the mechanics were gamely cranking away at the wheels. They were truing wheels to clear the frame, not to make things "straight/round". They'd look at reasonably large gashes in the tire and squirt Super Glue into the cuts. Even Lemond (I also watched the Z team) wasn't immune to this - I figured a guy like him would warrant new tires regularly. But his Z team did the same thing - Super Glue into the cuts on his tire. So true wheels are not critical, just nice to have.

cdr