rgoo92

bike shop i went to in downey wanted 45$ to true my new wheel =[

and 30 dollars to strip off crank,headset, and shifters (reasonable i guess)

but the guy who i bought the wheel from said true-ing a tire shouldnt be over 20
and the bike shop that charged me 45 sells cheaper priced-products than my lbs so i dont even wanna ask them.

why they charge so much?

superdex

because they can.

krazygl00

Is this wheel brand-new or new to you? If this is the first truing after initial break-in riding time it should be extra thorough -- like get out the tensiometer and check all the spokes thorough, which is why the shop may want to charge more. I consider initial break-in miles as part of the wheelbuilding process, but if the shop didn't sell you the wheelset then yeah they're going to want to hold you over a barrel.

But I agree, the fee I've most commonly encountered for a quick-ten-minutes-in-the-stand wheel truing is about $20. Just keep looking around for a shop that will do it for less. Or if you're brave, look on CL for one of those dudes advertising mobile mechanic services. They should be great, they've all had 15 years shop experience!

Mr. Beanz

That's pretty steep. Some places will build a wheel for $45



What the heck is truing a tire?

gumbii

if you're in downey ca, take it to j&m in bell gardens... it's in florence passing garfield blvd...


they changed me 20 bucks to true out a sick twisted up wheel for a beach cruiser...



what shop in downey did you go to...???

rgoo92

cool. uhmm i went to pays cycling or osmehting off firestone? im not familiar with the area

Squirrelli

The bike shop I go to has a 20 dollars limit as to how much they can charge on truing a wheel.
They are charging that much maybe because your hub needed to be repacked and overhaul, but it should only cost 10 or 15 dollars.

rgoo92

thats how it should be! i had to be 12 dollars today at my lbs just to get my tubes and tires switched form wheel to wheel

gumbii

firestone and studebaker...???


pat's 605 cyclery...??? they're great there... but it's a big shop... that's norwalk...



the one in BG is a small shop... i take my bikes there to get adjusted and stuff... great people...

DieselDan

The fact you said truing a tire, they thought "sucker!"

wrk101

You should have walked at that point.

MNRon

If the prices for trueing a wheel, or swapping tires is just too much..... It might be time to learn how to do that stuff yourself. If you can fix a flat while on the road, you can swap the tires. (If you can't fix a flat, then you need to learn...) I admit that trueing a wheel is somewhat more involved, but you can learn..

Let's face it, if you need to pay someone to do the work, then you are captive to what they want to charge you, or you move on to someone else. If you think you're being ripped off, don't do business there...

bikinfool

Something's off here. What wheel is it? Something strange and unique or just fubar? Never heard of such a high charge for a wheel truing in any case, maybe they thought you truly wanted the tire trued/balanced or something weird like that. But if you are willing to pay someone $12 to swap tires for you

Learning to fix a flat, to my mind, is essential. Learning to true a wheel isn't as hard as most people think (I know, I used to be one of them....now I build my own wheels).

Crona

Is truing a tire just adjusting the spokes to take out wobble? How hard is it to build your own wheel, is special knowledge or tools required?

jccaclimber

^^Saying that truing/building a wheel is just a matter of turning some spokes is like saying that driving a car with a manual transmission is just pushing down on a pedal and then letting it back up. It's that easy for some at first, and fails for most. With a bit of practice however, most can do it without thinking too much.

ironwood

There are loads of information on wheelbuilding; you can start with Sheldon Brown's website, www.sheldonbrown.com . Truing stands and a dishing tool are nice, but not indispensible; I've built wheels using the bike frame as a stand. A spoke wrench and patience are necessary.

DX-MAN

You can't true a tire; you can only true a wheel. The tire is the rubber thing, the wheel is the metal thing it fits onto.


True; it can be a bit tricky to do well.

NOTE, he said "wheel".

LMAO!

CliftonGK1

Building a wheel is like shaving with a straight razor. In theory it's really simple. In reality, it only takes one little mistake to put yourself in a world of hurt.

bikinfool

You can't true a tire. Truing a wheel is just adjusting the spoke tension to take out a wobble (if it can be taken out, you can also simply damage the rim). If the wheel has issues, then truing may be more involved, though. It's pretty simple to build a wheel since all the hard work in determining a good spoking pattern and selecting spoke lengths and types has been well documented by others and is information easily obtained. Try Mike T's wheelbuilding page for an idea how to do it with minimal tools https://miketechinfo.com/new-tech-wheels-tires.htm. With a good spoke wrench, and some methodic patience anyone can build a wheel. It's very satisfying, too.

powers2b

I saw the title to this thread and thought "this should be fun"

Enjoy

une_vitesse

if you needed a hub adjustment and replacement spokes, then $45 for the job doesn't sound too bad. add in spoke tension balancing, and maybe that's a good deal.

LeeG

I bought a "custom" built wheel over the internet for a very low cost of $25. I got a wheel that appears true but one drive side spoke is looser than a non-drive side spoke. I asked a local shop about labor for going over the wheel and he said $35.

So I'm going to tape a paper clip to the seat stays and re-true the wheel, it'll probably take 30minutes and I'll take myself out to dinner instead.

cyclist2000

Theripeutic too.

rgoo92

it was a handbuilt wheel. velocity hub and dt swiss spokes
the guy who sold it to me said true-ing shouldnt go past 20

the guy at pats was firm on 45

AEO

not quite... the intention is not to take the wobble out, but more to make the spoke tension as even as possible while keeping the rim round and true within 1~2mm.
If you try and make the wheel as round and true as possible, the tension will be unbalanced, which is no good for spoke longevity.

I'd charge $45~50 for a wheel build and something around $10~25 for going over someone else's work since the build quality can be anywhere from junk to perfect. Truing a used wheel, $25 or so.