I was riding around at a nearby university (it was actually a really nice place to ride) and decided to hop some stairs. I suppose I should have done more research first, but I figured my uni could survive a couple ‘bigger drops’. I side-hopped 4 steps down (maybe 2 ft vertical). I’ll admit the landing was kinda sketchy – the tire felt like it was gonna slip off the rim. As I rode off I could feel the tire rub against the frame (maybe the tire was a little misaligned?). Well, needless to say…
(see images below)
At least I landed it, right?:o
And to think I’ve only been riding it for little more than a month! (this gets me ‘unicycle fanatic’ pts though, right? :P)
So, is that bad? I can bend it back to some extent, right? If I bend it back, how long will my wheel last from there? If I have to replace it, do I have to buy a whole wheel, hub and everything? -or can save the hub and spokes?
p.s. Don’t take the torker lx off of anything more than curbs. (I only weigh 70 kg/154 lbs)
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Everything up to that one bad landing. A bad sideways landing can kill any wheel if it’s bad enough.
You can whack the wheel back into a shape similar to what it was before, but it won’t be as strong as it was before. Land straight, and save for the next wheel/unicycle!
I have to admit that I haven’t ever really put a straightened rim though much abuse, so i don’t know about the strenght. I will say that I have had very true, and well tensioned wheels with straightened rims. I wonder if the work hardening from bending the metal would maybe strenghten in a little. I’m sure it would be more brittle, but it might be a little stiffer for the work.
)