So I had a young man bring me a wheel for truing. Off a bike given to him by his grandfather in Japan. I guess he's about 9th grade--his mother drove him over. Wheel looked fine, all clean and shiny. Charming people. Felt so good about the whole thing that I didn't even think to mention the "customer expectation defuser" ie "the finished product is only as good as the components you provide".

Although the wheel looked good, once I started working on it I discovered that the rim had a number of visibly subtle flaws which made it basically untruable.

So I did my best on it. A long way from perfect; but still probably better than 80% of the wheels running around this town. But far short of the standard I try to set. Sent the young man the bad news, included some up-close photos of the damage, threw in a new rim strip and called it OK for my normal $18 fee.

Woke up this morning and my conscience was bothering me. I REALLY HATE to work for free, but I also REALLY HATE to take advantage of people; and I just didn't feel right about charging the $18. So I bit the bullet and told him it was free--no charge. My conscience loved that.

Mom just picked up the wheel--I explained the wheel problems and told her it was no charge, but she insisted on pressing an envelope into my hand. A voluntary donation to the Foodbank.

I went home and opened the envelope. A $20 bill. Plus a lot of goodwill and potential for future business.

Happy ending. Hope I remember the lesson.

Dang--this was supposed to be in the "Bicycle Mechanics" sub-forum. Moderators please move it--Thanks.

moved.

I never had too much trouble charging people to true wheels that were in horrible shape. They left in better condition than they were in when I got them. But it's not worth taking money that you don't feel right about.

So what was wrong with the wheel?

Rim warped with a couple of stubborn flat spots (not just at the seam). When some spokes are at max tension and their counterparts on the other flange are way too loose, I know there's not much more I can do besides unlace and attempt to fix the rim; but the wheel wasn't valuable enough to warrant this; and I wouldn't even suggest it to the customer since they can buy a better wheel for less money than it would cost to maybe fix this one.