Originally Posted by
FlamsteadHill
First, thanks to everyone else who had ideas or suggestions. I have a business that does a fair amount of shipping, so I know that unless I can get something local, shipping is going to cost as much or more than the actual wheel...
While I can see "simple" truing of a wheel is relatively basic (as I proved to myself with nothing more than a quick YouTube review and a half hour of tinkering), as I suspected, "roundness" is a LOT more complicated.
It really puzzles me that this is a "bump" and not a "dent". I can't imagine how it happened. I will accept that it might possibly be corrected by merely adjusting the tension of the spokes, because the movement of metal under stress/tension has always been a mystery to me. I would love to see a master fixing it. It would be worth the price just to see it.
Where in Vermont are you?
I know a number of skilled mechanics there and could refer you. Many would probably turn this away as a straight job, but some would take it as a skill challenge.
BTW - high spots like this don't happen naturally. They're usually the result of folks, who don't know better, tightening spokes elsewhere while truing, and pushing the rim outward where they didn't. It's like trying to compress a water balloon. If you push in one place, it bulges in another.
BTW - if you are willing to pay round trip postage to New York, I'll tinker with it for the cost of the two beers I'll drink while I do so. If I don't get it decent, I'll buy you the two beers.