I am a total beginner, so I'm going to do my best to ask a good question here. I have zero experience with bikes other than riding one around as a kid. I'm the proud new owner of two late 90s Trek 720 Multitrack bikes for my wife and I. Part of the reason for the older bikes and the matching models is that I want to learn to do the work on them myself. Maybe eventually, we would upgrade components or buy new bikes, but a big part of this for me is really learning how everything works and getting my hands dirty.
I tried to look over the bikes as best I knew how when I bought them, but my wife's rear wheel is out of true. It has a noticeable wobble and brushes up against the break each rotation, although it is minor and not noticeable while riding. I only noticed while riding behind her yesterday. There are no obviously loose or broken spokes. As far as I can tell, it is not out of round. I have read the Sheldon Brown page on truing wheels, and he says that this should be the last DIY job that an aspiring bike mechanic undertakes, but it seems from the notes that this page may be out of date. I've also read the park tools page and watched some youtube videos, and it seems like it shouldn't be that hard. I obviously don't have a truing stand and would be doing it on the bike using the brake as a guide trying to get it true enough to at least avoid contact with the brake pad. So, with that said, here are my questions:
- How bad is it to ride on this for now? Is it a stop riding and fix immediately problem? Or is it a yes fix it eventually but riding is fine for now problem?
- Am I crazy to attempt to do this myself? Do I have a reasonable chance at getting it true or learning something valuable in the process? Assuming I don't do anything too crazy, do I risk anything other than the $5 tool by giving it a shot?
I hope to have more questions in this forum in the future, so thanks in advance for the help.