Tacoed or True-able?
 

Hello everybody!

I've a simple hybrid I use to commute to work and school. A few days ago, I got knocked over by a car pulling out of a parking lot (bicycle fell on carriage side). I was just fine and the only damage I could see was that the front wheel was a rather out of true to the point where the rim was scraping the break pads.

I've trued my wheel before and was confident, and but upon closer inspection, I'm really confused! There are a few very loose spokes (3/4 inch of give either way). The strange part is that the rim bends towards the loose spokes instead of towards the taught ones on other side. Tightening the loose spokes only exacerbated the problem and I made negative progress.

The wheel did not hit anything hard or get trampled, the bike merely fell over. It seems to me that the shock just loosened the spokes just like when one might hit a very large pot hole. Did the rim end up getting bent without me noticing? Or is there some trick with when things are very badly out of true that I don't know about?

If this is too confusing to imagine, I can dig up the camera and attach a photo if it would be beneficial.

Thanks a lot in advance!
-Monty

rim is bent, replace

If the loose spokes are on the same side as the bend...and the tight spokes are on the opposite side of the bend - toss the rim.

=8-)

That's the general rule of thumb unless ALL the spokes are loose - and even then it's 50/50.

You can try loosening up all the spokes and bending the rim back so it's fairly straight. Then tighten up the spokes evenly and fine-tune.

Even better is to unlace the rim and use a glass coffee table as test for flatness. Bend back the rim against a door-frame until it's flat, then re-lace into wheel.

But yeah, least amount of effort is to replace the rim. Simple to just tape it up next to the original one and transfer the spokes over. Save you having to lace them. Make sure the left-right hole orientation is the same on the new rim when you tape it against the old one.

Like others have previously commented, your rim is bent. You could try to bend your rim back and true it from there (hey, worst case scenario, the rim is still toast). The doorframe trick works if you de-lace the rim, but if you don't want to do that, try this: two pieces of 2x4" bolted down securely with enough space between them that you can slip the wheel in. That way you can bend the wheel with these without marring the braking surface too badly. If this sounds too confusing or daunting, get a new rim.