I was doing some street riding after I had done some trail riding and I noticed my back rim was rubing my brake.

Because the rubing was not constant I figured my wheel was nolonger true. I proceded to ajust my spokes in hopes of stoping the rub. At first I was able to lesson the rub, so I continued, however I made a second rub. Needless to say I fell into a downward spiral and now my wheel rubs all over the place and a lot more than it ever did.

HELP!!!

I am gussing that trueing a wheel is more of an art than any thing else, but if anyone has sujestions I am open to them.

-Judd

Actually, like jet engine repair, it's not all that hard, it just takes time to learn the technique.

Take your wheel to a bike shop that you trust, preferably on a slow day, and have their chief wrench show you how it's done. He (she?) can show you where to tighten in order to pull the rim true, and where to loosen, as well. The mechanic will employ a truing stand, which makes the job seem easy. He'll hopefully point out the danger of overcompensating on any one spoke... PING!... and might even pass on a few other secrets, in exchange for lunch.
(Or a tip. The standard bike mechanic tip, as of this past 01 January, is $20.)

You don't need a truing stand... which you'll use maybe twice in the course of your life, just your bike's frame, a spoke wrench, and patience.

The old rubbing rim on brakes pad problem?-try this..
Feel and listen to your wheel as well as look at it to figure out where to tighten or loosen your spokes to make it true again.
Usually a spoke(s) directly opposite or very near the spot where your rim rubs is the guilty culprit. strum, (as in guitar), the other spokes on to get an idea how they sound, a loose spoke will often have lower note than the others, or the spoke(s) opposite the "rub" will feel looser. If the problem is just from loosened spokes the rim will have a slight high spot, as a spoke loosens the rim goes away from the hub as well as to the opposite side. If you have more than one bad spot, work on the worst first, then on the worst on THE OTHER SIDE, and so on, back and forth a little at a time until you're done.
Look out for flat spots, usually from bashing into something, sometimes the spokes on both sides will be loose. Whenever you true our inspect your wheels check to make sure your brake pads will not touch your tire anywhere when engaged or open. To check for flat or high spots, sight along your brake pad to the edge of the rim from the side. There are some shops that have a tool to pull out flat spots or you can make your own to push them out.
If the spokes spokes have "tightened up" opposite the rub and the spokes on the near side are loose, you have a " sprung wheel", most of the time a new rim is in order. Sometimes a simultaneous push with a knee and pull with the hands in the right spots will help, at least for a while, maybe longer with luck.


[Edited by pat5319 on 11-08-2000 at 04:23 AM]