I have a Chinese no name brand Uni, my first Uni still, which has a 24" 1.75" rim. I have a Kenda 1.95" tyre on. I recently started to learn how to hop, and was slowly building up some confidence with that. Then I suppose the inevitable happened while I was hopping, I buckled the rim. From my perspective it looked like the rim almost bent in half… it probably didn’t, but seeing it bend as I landed on a hop it really seemed like it. Wanting to be sure that I saw it correctly I tried hopping again, and the same thing happened… duh !!
So my rim in now buckled… not bad enough not to be able to ride, but enough to know that it shouldn’t be like that, and looking down while riding that wobble is just well… you know… sigh
It’s probably a lost cause, however can a rim be straightened slightly ? If so how ? I assume that tightening the spokes in certain areas may pull it straighter… ?
I know it’s time to upgrade… but I don’t have the money for anything that I would want right now, will need to save up some more first.
Your wheel is out of true. You need to true it by tightening and loosening certain spokes with a spoke wrench.
Here’s a tutorial that explains how. It’s for wheel building from scratch, so either read it all for better understanding or skip straight to the truing part.
Have good fun luck.
Oooh, and this reminds me of that municycle.com postcard: Time to get a new one. Has anybody got a picture of it?
Thanks Ivan… I don’t have a spoke wrench, but am hoping to make it to a cycle shop around the corner from my house later today to try get one… Just wasn’t sure how to go about doing it… so thanks for the pointer to the tutorial !!
I would sujest you get the guys at the LBS fix this one for you as a buckled rim may not be the best place to start learning how to true a wheel. If you do decide to true the wheel yourself I would sugest removing the cranks so you can properly stress relieve the wheel evenly when you are done.
lol
that rim is not buckled… just a little out of true. If you can, let the guys at the LBS fix it and watch. otherwise, is it even noticable when riding? that is a very slight bend.
Not that noticeable when riding. Went out for a 6km ride yesterday (road ride). Didn’t feel any wobble, but did feel that I wasn’t sitting properly, and was tending to go towards the right… maybe unrelated to the bend.
Tried to get to the LBS yesterday, but as I walked in they were closing so they couldn’t fix it for me. Going to another cycle shop today to get a spoke wrench (don’t have my Uni with me today), and will give it a go myself just to see if I can do it. Failing that will take it to my local LBS on the weekend and get them to sort it out.
The spokes do need tightening, as I can feel that some are loose, or rather looser that others. Never really had to deal with spoke issues before, so treading in new grounds here, but more than willing to learn and give it a go.
I managed to get to a cycle shop this afternoon and bought myself a spoke wrench/spanner, cost 110 South African Rant. A Tripple Spoke Wrench
Followed the guidelines in the wheel building tutorial from the link that Ivan posted, and have managed to straighten/true my wheel… well probably close enough.
I’ll probably need to take my Uni for a ride now, and check it again afterwards to see that it stays true.
Thanks for the help and pointers !! much appreciated
