Bare rim??
 

New to this site, as well as this sport. I know you guys love hearing that, but I do have a weird (to me) question with nowhere else to ask it. My rear rim has a ding in it. I had a tune-up done, and they mentioned it, but said it was not detrimental to its overall useability. However, everytime I brake I hear and feel a "rub rub rub rub rub rub rub rub" and it drives me insane. I am told the hubs I have a very nice and the bladed spokes are keepers, so I'm wondering if one can simply purchase a new bare rim and have it laced and trued at the shop? I wonder if this will keep my costs down over a new wheelset? Is it even possible?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!
Jason

Yes, you can rebuild a new rim onto the existing hub, either reusing or replacing the spokes (a decision based on age and condition).

However if the ding is so minor that you don't feel pulsed braking and it's only a sound thing, you can probably file or hammer it out. In most cases it involves a bit of both to reduce the amount of metal actually removed. If you have poor metal working skills, and decent bike mehanic can do this for you at a pretty low cost (certainly very low compared to a replacement).

Decades ago I must have offended a witch, and so was cursed with the inability to keep newly built rims dent free for any length of time. Maybe riding tubulars on rainy nights in NYC didn't help. Anyway just about very rim I've ever had on my road bike had some hammer work done but they've never suffered for it.

BTW- de-blipping (new word, call the OED) used to be a very common repair and there was a tool made for this specific job. Just about every decent mechanic had one, and the few that didn't only because they were very good with hammers.

Thanks, FB! My next question then, assuming I can't get the dent out, is where would I find a place/site that sells JUST rims?? I've Googled, ebay'd, CL'd and I can't seem to find anything.

Thanks, again!

The bike shop will have rims. If you can't find a provider of rims with Google (bicycle rim, bicycle parts) I would advise you to purchase the rim from them, getting one either to match what you have or your riding needs.

IS there a label on the rim?

To use the same spokes & hub, the ERD must match.
Basically, that means the distance where the OPPOSITE nipple heads touch the "tire side" of the rim must match your existing rim.

A picture of the "ding" may be useful.

Niagara Cycle has a decent selection:
http://www.niagaracycle.com/index.php?cPath=9_93

But your bike shop should have some or at least be able to order them. If you want to reuse your current spokes then you need to get a rim with about the same ERD (effective rim diameter) as your old rim so the spoke length will be the same.

If you're going to have a shop do the work, let them supply the rim.

3 reasons for this.

1- shipping on single rims can be expensive, with a decent risk of bending in transit. Odds are the shop will bundle the rim purchase with others saving some dough, and reducing risk of transit damage.
2- many builders have 2 prices for building (whether they tell you or not) and quietly add back some or all of what they expected to make on the sale of the rim when they quote the labor.
3- letting the shop supply the rim eliminates the "rim problem" excuse if the build doesn't hold up, since they're responsible either way.

You might check for availability and price and send your wheel (or just the hub) to someone like mrrabbit here on the forum, or yellowjersry.org who stocks a large number of rims and does great work at a decent price. Shipping for a wheel or rim is just about the same, and wheels hold up much better in transit than solo rims.

That covers the options, but don't give up on fixing the blip, since that's doable 95% or the time.

It is actually often cheaper to buy a new machine built wheel than to buy a lone im and spokes and pay for someone to lace it up. A properly hand built wheel, however, is generally more duable than a machine built one, but careful hand tensioing of the machine built wheel will narrow the gap considerably.

I would only get a new rim laced onto an old hub if it is a good quality hub or desireable in some other way (like it is the original equipment on a vintage bike, for example). Or maybe if I was lacing the rim myself as practice. Otherwise it is usually a better deal to get a macine built wheel.

Pictures of the dent please?

guys at the bike shop graciously wrote "DENT" on the dent so as to help in locating it, I guess. Anyway, there it is. Seeing lose up, it may be a little worse than I thought. I'm going to get ahold of the shop monday and see what they have to say about a new rim. Otherwise I do have my eye on a set of Race lite's that are in my price range. Thanks for all the advise, guys!

I hate to say this without seeing the rim in the flesh. But it looks like they tried to "improve" the dent and did a poor job of it. I could be wrong, and it might have been unrepairable anyway, so you may have to live with it. But if you agree that it has a "worked-on" look, you might remind the mechanic to be aware of his limitations and leave bad enough alone.

These dents can often be saved, but the rim won't tolerated repeated working, so it has to be in one smooth process done by someone who's used to it. At this point the rim may be unimprovable, so it's either live with it as, or trash the rim and rebuild or replace depending on the relative costs.

With quality wheels (double walled rims, butted stainless steel spokes, Shimano/ Campagnolo/boutique hubs) it's least expensive to learn wheel building and spend $50-$80 on a bare rim every time you wear out brake tracks or bend a rim. Spokes and hub shells last pretty much indefinitely (300,000 miles) and you won't be forced into next year's or decade's bike fashions when you become due for a replacement.