Dennis374

Two months ago, I decided to turn a $13 Schwinn Varsity into a Fixie, it has been a learning and costly experience...
I recently took my front wheel for truing at the local shop and the mechanic said after I requested for the stripped nipples to be replaced that my wheel was bent and it was couldn't be trued. I guess slamming it on a parking block and a curb (at night)really damaged this wheel. I just thought those "track" wheels would be stronger? Has any body had this experience. Apparently, my mechanic will have to call SOMA for a replacement rim? Is the bike shop rimming me? My theory is that the wheel was weak in the first place? Please reply, thanks!

urban_assault

That would be the problem.


If you are being rimmed, you are in the wrong kind of shop.

operator

Lmao at this thread.

I ****ed my wheel up and I want the LBS to replace it on warranty.

Dennis374

There is no warranty for those wheels, not if I F::ked it up...thanks friends

kenhill3

Dude, whattaya expect? You toasted your wheel!

wroomwroomoops

"rimmed"?

urban_assault

Quote: "I recently took my front wheel for truing at the local shop and the mechanic said after I requested for the stripped nipples to be replaced that my wheel was bent and it was couldn't be trued"



If you hit the curb hard enough to strip the nipples, it's not a problem with a weak wheel.

Why are you asking if the wheel was weak to begin with? It seems like you were angling for a warranty repair instead of owning up to the fact that the wheels were damaged by hitting something.

Quote: "I just thought those "track" wheels would be stronger?"

Track wheels are not made to be unbreakable.



Calling Soma for a replacement rim? Do they use a size that is not ordinarily available? Would the bike shop have a rim in stock that they could use instead?




Edit: Sorry if it sounds like we are being mean, we aren't. Since you are new here you might not know that there are many threads involving people trying to get free or warranty replacements due to their own errors.

Dennis374

If I take it personally it sounds mean, but shouldn't there be a 3-6 month warranty on rims alone? For the record, I like the LBS in my neighborhood, I often recommend them. thanks

kenhill3

A warranty on rims would, I'm certain, cover only manufacturing defects, not failure due to abuse or accident.

Sounds like your LBS/mechanic is correct in his evaluation of tweaked rim, unable to true by tensioning.

urban_assault

Ok, ummm....NO

Does Ford replace my front bumper of my Mustang under warranty of I hit a utility pole as I leave the dealership, after I just bought the car?


You slammed it into a curb. Get over it.

wroomwroomoops

HOWEVER... wheels SHOULD be very hard to damage the way the OP reported. You strip the nipples only if the spokes were ridicolously overtightened. Or the nipples were made of butter.

So I wouldn't be so quick to blindly take one side (the LBS side) on this issue.

kenhill3

A parking block and a curb? At night (probably didn't unweight)?

wroomwroomoops

I have seen front wheels completely fine after such a strong bump that the top and the downtube have been both bent from the impact.

I have been personally hit by a huge guy on a moped, and his fender went to pieces, and I flew over my handlebars, but my wheel had not the smallest deformation. Not even out of true. Wheels are strong beasts, please trust me on this.

kenhill3

Good to learn more about this. Thanks, Wroom.

urban_assault

To the OP, do you have pics of the wheel or a better explanation of what happened?

Sorry Wroom, it still seems like user error to me. I also have had strong bumps which did no damage to the wheels or at most needed a bit of truing. The Op used the word slammed, to me that implies more than a strong bump.

wroomwroomoops

Oh, don't be sorry. I lace my own wheels so there is no danger I'd take your uninformed ramblings seriously. The OP might or might not, but that's between the two of you.

urban_assault

I build wheels too, so?

Anyway, do you think the shop is just trying to sell the guy a new rim and the cost of a wheel rebuild then?

EastBiker

Uninformed ramblings? What's wrong with this guy? Wroom, are you the only one who builds wheels here? You're in the minority here if you think track wheels can be slammed onto a curb, unweighted and come out unscathed.

wroomwroomoops

I don't know, but from the story I've read, neither should you. I would slightly tend in the OP's direction for the simple reason that wheels just shouldn't show that kind of failure from such a (relatively) small impact. The only times I have heard of the kind of failure mode described by the OP, was in cases where the spokes were over-tightened.

Here is an example of what a properly built wheel can whitstand (still not the example with the top and downtubes bent in the impact, but pretty impressive nonetheless):
https://abavetta.blogspot.com/2005/11...bent-fork.html

urban_assault

The OP said he SLAMMED into a curb and a parking block. Is that a small impact? Like I asked above, it would be good to see some pics of the damage and a better explanation of how it happened. Hey, if the spokes were overstressed when built, sure maybe Soma deserves some of the blame.

EastBiker

And your point is? Nowhere in that article says that those were the wheels involved in the crash. It looks like you're the one with uninformed ramblings, or perhaps a propensity to jump to baseless conclusions.

operator

Ok. Just because one specific wheelbuild crumpled while another did not doesn't mean jack ****. Are you going to try and tell me that the rim was defective enough that it spontaneously moved itself into a curb and self destructed?

Because that's the only way you're getting a warranty replace for that rim. Either that or a manufacturing defect. It's going to be pretty mighty hard to prove to the LBS the wheelbuild was defective in the first place, e.g too high tension or too low.

Since the OP gives NO information on what context the wheel was sold to the customer, e.g it was supposed to be handbuilt or was it just supposed to have come with a new bike purchase etc. i'm going to go with user caused problem here.

The other question also remains due to the poor information given by the OP. HOW were the stripped nipples caused? OP tried to true them himself? Came out of the box/sold like that?

This is all secondary anyways, even if they were stripped before the accident the fact remains - the OP damaged his own wheel by his own actions. This is why there are good LBS's, bad LBS's and good ones that makes mistakes. Without further information you can't say jack **** about anything.

wroomwroomoops

I got some more pics, more impressive but, in the process, I saw so many ghostbikes that it knocked the enthusiasm outta me.

urban_assault

Do you have any pics of the wheel that we are talking about here?

Bikedued

1981 Voyageur 11.8. Frame and single wall Araya were both fine. Not sure about the rider though. If newer wheels can't take hitting a curb, then what's the point?,,,,BD