Originally Posted by
79pmooney
Your wheel - best fixed by an old mechanic who was doing it 40 years ago because your rim is almost certainly bent. Common in the old, pre- modern higher strength aluminums common for bicycle rims. THe standard practice then for getting that rim "right", straight and very close to true was a practice heavily frowned on now by mechanics, shop owners and lawyers. Loosen the spokes around the bent, then slam that area of the wheel hard on a concrete step or the like to bend it back straight. (Rim never quite goes back perfect. The beginning and end of the bent stretch will have work hardened and resist going back to it's previous. But a skilled mechanic can get the overall shape so close the wheel will roll and brake just fine.
Yes, I can attest to this technique for straightening aluminum (and steel!) rims.
My dad's truing workbench had a 2x4 mounted with spacers to leave a gap about the width of a rim. He would insert the bent part of the rim and push down on the wheel. Loosening the spokes too much would make the rim "noodly" though, making it hard to isolate the bent section. After watching him and practicing on my own, I was able to bend back a bent rim to roughly straight, then true the wheel with spoke tension.
Other mechanics would lay the wheel on the ground and step on it. That always seemed pretty crude to me.