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Newbie question: Rear wheel damage and misalignment

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Newbie question: Rear wheel damage and misalignment

Old 06-29-03, 08:08 PM
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Newbie question: Rear wheel damage and misalignment

Apollogies for the long story:

Hi, it's been awhile since I posted here since I've really not had any bike troubles recently. And to be honest, I'm a little self-conscious because I don't own a several hundred dollar brand name bike. I'm on a pretty tight budget and only use it for the 2 mile ride back and forth from work.

During the last couple of weeks I've been having problems with some warpage on my back tire. (Trueing? is that the word I'm looking for?) and have had several spokes pop loose on me. Tried to replace some spokes tonight with some extras from another bike, but failed miserably. So I tightened the loose spokes and put the tire back on. Or tried to at least. The wheel was so off-center that no matter how much I tweeked and adjusted it, some part would rub against the frame. So at this point I guess I'm walking.

My question basically is this. Is the wheel salvageable, and if so, how much am I likely to end up paying for the repairs? We have a BikeTech store nearby, but I really dread the thought of getting slapped with a $100 charge, which to be honest, is almost as much as I paid for the bike to begin with.

Any comments, or link to an appropriate thread would would be appreciated.
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Old 06-29-03, 08:23 PM
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Sounds like you will need to have the wheel rebuilt.

$25 for new spokes and nipples
$30 to $40 for the labor

Granted the shops around you may have differant prices but thay should be some where around that.

Also, you may have distorted the rim to much by riding on it with the loose spokes and need an entire wheel but I would suggest taking it to the shop and asking them. Hopefuly they will not try and sell you a new whell if you do not need it.

Oh yeah, you could try and do it your self. If you want to give it a go check out this site

Wheel Building

It will let you know what you need and walk you through the steps to build a wheel. Best if you print out the instructions.

After building the wheel you could just take it to the shop and have them true it for you which should only run you a few bucks.

Hope you get it fixed soon

Slainte
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Old 06-29-03, 09:06 PM
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If you've just got a few broken spokes, you should be able to fix the wheel without too many problems. Whenever you lose spokes, the wheel will always warp and go off-center.

A few new spokes and a little truing and you should be able to pull the wheel straight again. It's relatively easy to straighten out even 1 or 2 inches of warpage, unless you've got a really bad dent. Alloy rims are easier to straighten than steel rims.

If you take it to a shop, they should only have to charge you about 50 cents/spoke for your broken spokes (plus maybe a few extra), plus about 1/2 hour of labor. There should be no need to rebuild the entire wheel.

If you've really got irreparable damage on an inexpensive bike, it would probably be cheaper to buy a replacement wheel than try to rebuild your existing wheel.
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Old 06-29-03, 09:13 PM
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Don't despair, just take your wheel down to the shop and ask them what they think. Repairable? If so, it might end up being about $15 labor. Spokes are very inexpensive, something like 20¢ each.

It may be the case that the hub bearing is disintegrating too. If your wheel is attached to the bike and you can klunk it side-to-side at the tire, the bearings are loose or disintegrating.

At any rate, if the bearings are failing or if the wheel's too bad to fix, a new rear wheel with acceptable-quality bearings is going to range from perhaps $20 (for a steel-rim/steel-hub freewheel style) to perhaps $60 (for an aluminum-rim/aluminum-hub style equipped with a built-in ratchet unit for the gears, aka a "freehub"). I'm gauging those prices based on your description of the bike as being not a "bike-shop" brand; obviously there are high-end wheels that go beyond this price range.

The shop will probably charge $5 to $10 labor to swap your parts over, and might be able to do it on the spot since it takes just a few minutes. Try to hit them at an off-time, like in the morning on a weekday

edit: I want to add that if your frame is pretty thin where the wheel's axle rests, you should stick with bolt-on axles even if you could get a quick-release one, because quick-release mechanisms have trouble on thin "dropouts" (as we call the place where the axle slides into the frame). If you're not sure what to consider "thin," take the whole bike in and bring up the issue.
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Old 06-29-03, 09:31 PM
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Thanks for the info everyone. This doesn't sound like quite the disaster I was afraid of. I'll try to drop by the shop one day during the week and see what they have to say. I've gotten about two years of good service out of her so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she's starting to show a bit of wear.


Bugman - I had intended to replace the spokes (I'm missing three and found a forth one freshly broken), but unfortunately they're on the side of the wheel facing the sprocket gears and I don't have a tool for removing them.

One other question. Is there a good basic 'Bike Repair For Dummies' type book you guys can recommend? I can do the simple stuff like change a tube and tighten the rake cables, but major work like disasembling the gears and replacing bearings are a pretty frightening concept.
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Old 06-29-03, 09:37 PM
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Here's one good resource: https://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQindex.shtml Click on the "Bike Map" and you're on your way

A good mechanic can probably fix your existing wheel if all that's the matter is that it's got some broken spokes, but in my opinion, if the stock rear wheel has begun to break spokes, then the stock spokes have probably reached the end of their fatigue life, and the problem will happen again. So if you're in doubt whether to repair or replace, I vote for "replace."
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Old 06-29-03, 09:52 PM
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Occasionally on older wheels the spokes can begin to pull through the rim at the holes on the inside of the rim. Check all the holes for splits, tears or bulges in the metal around the spoke holes. Probably not your problem.
Steve
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Old 06-29-03, 10:01 PM
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Hi, me again. The spoke holes seem fine, it's the flared metal tips of the spokes nearest the center axle that seem to be breaking off.

I've also checked the inside of the rim since I had some problems once before with pinhole leaks in my rear tube, and never found any obvious damage. Thanks for the suggestion though sch.
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