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Wheel balancing

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Wheel balancing

Old 08-12-08, 09:45 PM
  #1  
Mike V
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Wheel balancing

My wheel wheels have always had some hop when spun up on the bike rack.

Why has there been a easy way to balance bicycle wheels yet?

We true them but don't balance them.


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Old 08-12-08, 10:01 PM
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While it can be disconcerting on the stand, there's no reason to balance them. They are unsprung weight and don't spin that fast anyway. I've never seen a balanced bicycle wheel.
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Old 08-12-08, 10:09 PM
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Well I place my wheel magnet opposite of the valve stem. Hope that helps!
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Old 08-12-08, 10:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Mr. Beanz
Well I place my wheel magnet opposite of the valve stem. Hope that helps!
My experience has actually been that the seam side weighs more, even with the valve stem on the other side, so I place my magnet on a spoke next to the valve stem.

But seriously, it makes no difference.
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Old 08-12-08, 10:23 PM
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doesn't matter on a wheel. on a fan or propeller it's pretty important.
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Old 08-12-08, 11:51 PM
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Jan Ullrich added weights to balance his ADA wheels back in 97 or 98 when he was having trouble controlling them on descents.

I noticed a similar thing in my Vuelta tubulars from the Holiday group buy. On my first race on them, whenever we went over 40 kph I would feel them hop a bit. Put the bike on the stand and sure enough ,if I spun them hard enough, the whole bike shook in the standbecause of the inbalance. So, as an experiment I taped a little metal washer on the "light side" (the side opposite to where the wheel bottomed out when it stopped spinning). After doing this, the shaking went away, so I used some silicone adhesive to more securely adhere the washer. Haven't had a problem since.
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Old 08-13-08, 01:26 AM
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Originally Posted by AEO
doesn't matter on a wheel. on a fan or propeller it's pretty important.
Tell that to my motorcycle! And my car...
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Old 08-13-08, 01:40 AM
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Originally Posted by waterrockets
I've never seen a balanced bicycle wheel.
balanced rim.

https://www.ambrosiospa.com/catalog_e...pper&Itemid=57
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Old 08-13-08, 01:47 AM
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well, there's a lot more mass and the wheels spin faster on cars and motorcycles. I wouldn't want an unbalanced wheel on a car. But on a bike... one can unbalance the wheel with maybe one too many patches.
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Old 08-13-08, 06:44 AM
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Originally Posted by Soil_Sampler
That would certainly help, but it's not a balanced wheel. How do they know how long the valve stem is, or how much reinforcement there is around the valve stem, etc.
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Old 08-13-08, 06:56 AM
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true.

but, they are better balanced than every other set of wheels that I have.

worst being a set of Campy Scirocco's.
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Old 08-13-08, 07:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Soil_Sampler
true.

but, they are better balanced than every other set of wheels that I have.

worst being a set of Campy Scirocco's.
Ambrosios are really cool. I recently built a wheel for another BFer with one. I'd never worked with one before, and it was awesome.
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Old 08-13-08, 07:08 AM
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very high quality rims, for sure!
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Old 08-13-08, 09:01 AM
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Ambrosio is awesome.

As for balancing wheels: Pro dudes fall down the side of mountains at 70 MPH every week during the summer, and none of them are getting bucked off of their rigs by the wheels oscillating at speed.
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Old 08-13-08, 12:02 PM
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So I guess I don't have to worry about that old fashioned reflector attached to my spokes, huh? It's a big round yellow sucker and I was thinking of replacing it with a skinny white one.
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Old 08-13-08, 12:16 PM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
So I guess I don't have to worry about that old fashioned reflector attached to my spokes, huh? It's a big round yellow sucker and I was thinking of replacing it with a skinny white one.
Something that wasn't part of the wheel is a different matter.

Reflectors weigh a good 50 to 150 grams. Get a wheel with one of those attached to it up to around 35 MPH, and you'll feel it. You'll feel a lot of it.
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Old 08-13-08, 12:31 PM
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Originally Posted by BananaTugger
Something that wasn't part of the wheel is a different matter.

Reflectors weigh a good 50 to 150 grams. Get a wheel with one of those attached to it up to around 35 MPH, and you'll feel it. You'll feel a lot of it.
Took mine off of my Trek 2.3 after doing just shy of 40 downhill, the difference was night and day.
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Old 08-13-08, 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by BananaTugger
Something that wasn't part of the wheel is a different matter.

Reflectors weigh a good 50 to 150 grams. Get a wheel with one of those attached to it up to around 35 MPH, and you'll feel it. You'll feel a lot of it.
You'll especially feel it when it disintegrates at high speed.
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Old 08-13-08, 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by mihlbach
You'll especially feel it when it disintegrates at high speed.
and then proceeds to get caught between your spokes and fork/stays.
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Old 08-13-08, 01:02 PM
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'nuff said they're history

my wheels are less that true as it is, I don't need satellites to boot
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Old 08-13-08, 02:00 PM
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counter balance it with another set of reflectors on the opposite side...

better yet, use reflective tape to balance your wheel
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Old 08-14-08, 06:15 AM
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After swapping my rear wheel and getting it up on my makeshift "speed-bench" I noticed quite an unbalanced spin at high speed. I removed the reflector, which was just a skinny white one and the unbalance went away.

FYI: My makeshift "speed-bench" is an old broomstick spanned across the opening on my deck. The span is about 3 feet wide and the broomstick has a little flex to it. I run the stick through the frame up near the seat stays. It's a great way to see the effect of an unbalanced wheel.

Then I tested my front wheel with the big goofy old round yellow reflector and it didn't seem as bad, but then I wasn't able to get it to spin as fast. I removed it anyway, and it seemed to smooth out a little as well.

So now I have no wheel reflectors. I'm not sure I'm happy about that. What are some good ways to bring back some side viewing reflectors? I always liked them on the wheels because they were unmistakable as a bicycle at night.

I don't ride at night but I do ride when it is dark, like on cloudy rainy days, and cars do have their headlights on. So a reflector would probably show up in those circumstances. Any time tested ideas?
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