I recently purchased a mid ‘90’s Univega hybrid to tinker with and eventually build into a gravel grinder. I have $25 invested so far so the cost is really more for cheap entertainment. So far, I have stripped the bike down to the frame, cleaned/serviced the headset, trued the front wheel, and removed/cleaned/reinstalled the crankset. All has gone well.

As I started looking at the rear wheel, I am wondering if it’s worth working on or just replacing all together. While the front wheel trued up easily, the rear is posing some challenges. By measuring the wheel on my trainer (with the tire removed) I can see that it is fairly straight but needs to be pulled 1/8” towards the drive side. I also noticed that the wheel itself is about 1/8” oblong (part of it slightly touches the trainer while the other part does not). The kicker is that 19 of the 36 spoke nipples are highly rounded or broken leaving me no choice to eventually replace them.

So, at what point should I fish or cut bait? I figure a new wheel will run me about $50. Would it be worth going through the trouble of replacing all the spoke nipples to see if I can eventually get it straight or will I come close to the $50 and might as well start fresh with a new wheel?