Originally Posted by
Seattle Forrest
Mine don't really come out of true. It's happened two or three times in the past year. I bring them into LBS and get them fixed when this happens.
I have a bike because I like to ride it, not because I want to do mechanic work in my free time.
Spending less time and hassle on them is exactly why you want to deal with your own wheels.
I can tension and true a wheel in less time than I can make two round trips for drop-off and pickup to an LBS and after doing so won't need to repeat the process 2-3 times a year.
I've had one front wheel I built go out of true once (due to a a bent rim) in the last ~15 years (I learned that after you grow to 200 pounds you can't expect a 400 gram rim to hold up).
I've had to deal with a rear wheel I built twice in the last ~15 years (due to bent rims) - once after crashing following a spontaneous front down shift after I wore out my big ring, and once before that when I put a flat spot on my 400 gram rear rim (box section rims that light aren't a good idea for lighter riders either).
I also broke a spoke on a front built by some one else which didn't take a couple minutes to fix.