Originally Posted by
StevePGN10
Can you share how you straighten rims? At the bike coop we see a ton of mountain bikes with bent rear wheels, even without portly riders. I've been on the lookout for a rim jack, but haven't found one yet. It will be useful to find some way of saving these wheels since most of the owners lack funds to buy a replacement.
Look up the Linda Ronstadt song, "Heart Like a Wheel." "Some say the heart is just like a wheel. You can bend it, but you can't mend it."
Seriously, straightening a rim is never perfect. Lot of folks use wide vise grips or even a bench vise and just squeeze for a rim dinged on one side. I just throw a bent rim away. Life is too short to fool with it.