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How much does it cost to true a wheel?

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How much does it cost to true a wheel?

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Old 08-01-10 | 10:37 PM
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How much does it cost to true a wheel?

Hey guys. I found an incredible deal on a pair of Mavic Ksyrium Elites. However the rear wheel has a wobble that was trued once and the wobble came back after 200mi.

It's $125 for the set. The front is still true. Worst case, how much does it normally cost to rebuild a wheel? Would that help?
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Old 08-01-10 | 10:39 PM
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semi-wild guess: $15 to true whell
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Old 08-01-10 | 10:45 PM
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wheel truing is usually $10-20 depending on how bad it is.

*per wheel*
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Old 08-01-10 | 10:46 PM
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Would rebuilding the wheel help with getting rid of the wobble?
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Old 08-01-10 | 10:48 PM
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Around here, LBS charge $10-20 for it.

You could learn to true a wheel yourself. Some bike multi tools come with spoke wrenches. A truing stand isn't necessary. It may take a while to learn at first, but it's something you quickly figure out. It probably took me 45 minutes to true my wheel, at first. Now, it's usually a quick 5-10 minute job. I've also done it at home.
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Old 08-01-10 | 10:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Lenaxia
Would rebuilding the wheel help with getting rid of the wobble?
Yes, but what's the point if it's just a little bit. If it keeps causing you trouble, then you might want to get the spokes re-tensioned.
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Old 08-01-10 | 10:51 PM
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If it's just kinda annoying and doesn't make it unusable then be glad you got a good deal and ride the hell out of it.

Which shop did you use? I'm in your area.

Last edited by damnpoor; 08-01-10 at 10:55 PM.
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Old 08-01-10 | 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by ptle
Around here, LBS charge $10-20 for it.

You could learn to true a wheel yourself. Some bike multi tools come with spoke wrenches. A truing stand isn't necessary. It may take a while to learn at first, but it's something you quickly figure out. It probably took me 45 minutes to true my wheel, at first. Now, it's usually a quick 5-10 minute job. I've also done it at home.
I probably will try this because they would be secondary wheels anyway. My current bike already has Ksyrium's on them (given they're 1st gen SSCs, but still good). I'll probably take them as wheels to learn on.

Also is retensioning something you can do yourself, or are scales, etc needed for that?

@damnpoor, what shop do I use? or ptle?
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Old 08-01-10 | 11:01 PM
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for a true, depending how bad usually costs 15-25 bucks, a complete rebuild is usually 40-80 depending on who is building it, plus supplies (spokes, nipples, etc)
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Old 08-01-10 | 11:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Lenaxia
@damnpoor, what shop do I use? or ptle?

Oh yeah I didn't specify! I meant you. I'm always looking for good shops around here.
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Old 08-01-10 | 11:13 PM
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I use a couple actually. I like going to Palo Alto Bicycles for larger things, its further away, but much bigger and has great people. Look for Jeff, he's a manager there and is awesome with customers.

Locally I use Cal Mar Bicycles, its near El Camino and San Tomas. It's a bit smaller, but awesome people and great for the small things like if I need something while on my commute to work.

These are really the only shops I use. Palo Alto bikes is actually a little cheaper than Cal Mar, but its somewhat inconvenient.

My friends use Sun Bikes if you're further north a bit near Milpitas/North SJ. They say it's pretty good but I haven't had any work there so I can't really comment.
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Old 08-01-10 | 11:18 PM
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I paid $8 to have my front wheel trued a couple months. It wasn't that far out of true, so I think they charged me a little less. The $10-20 seems about right.
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Old 08-02-10 | 01:06 AM
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Just be warned, some wheels are out of true because they need a $10-25 true. Some are out of true because the rim is tweaked and will give you continued problems. If the deal is good enough that you're willing to risk that, it sounds like a possible great deal.
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