to stand on the rim?
I brought a bent rim into my LBS to have it trued. to straighten it, the lead mech stood on the rim to undo the warp. He did this several times, then put it on the truing stand, inspected it and handed back to me, saying "sorry, your rim's cracked, it's no good; I can't fix it." sure enough, the rim had come apart at the seam where the two ends join to form a circle...
for the record, I'm 98% certain that it wasn't cracked when I took it in. The tire came off while riding on pavement and scuffed up the rim pretty badly. I spent quite a bit of time filing down the edges; I would have noticed the crack and misalignment. Have I been had? Did this guy just f up my rim and shrug it off?
If a rim requires anything other than a spoke wrench to true it...it is toast. So he should have either said that up front or he's an idiot and he eff'd up your rim. Might choose a different shop next time.
If a rim requires anything other than a spoke wrench to true it...it is toast. So he should have either said that up front or he's an idiot and he eff'd up your rim. Might choose a different shop next time.
Hard to say if your wheel was long for this world anyway. If it was only out of true 1/4", I see no reason to stand on it like you would if you were out on the trail with a truly taco'd wheel that won't spin all the way around without severely rubbing the frame/fork.
to stand on the rim?
I brought a bent rim into my LBS to have it trued. to straighten it, the lead mech stood on the rim to undo the warp. He did this several times, then put it on the truing stand, inspected it and handed back to me, saying "sorry, your rim's cracked, it's no good; I can't fix it." sure enough, the rim had come apart at the seam where the two ends join to form a circle...
for the record, I'm 98% certain that it wasn't cracked when I took it in. The tire came off while riding on pavement and scuffed up the rim pretty badly. I spent quite a bit of time filing down the edges; I would have noticed the crack and misalignment. Have I been had? Did this guy just f up my rim and shrug it off?
If you have the order of events correct, no, that is not how to do it. 1/4" out is not much.
The wheel should go into the the truing stand first to see how bad it is and if it can be fixed with spoke tension. If it can not be trued, then and only then, do you bend the rim itself.
If the rim is not welded at the seam a little bit of separation is also not an issue and it is not a crack. Will usually close up when the wheel is properly tensioned.
mtbtires.com
The trouble with common sense is it is no longer common
If it is REALLY bent, standing on it can work - this is usually b/c if it breaks during the process..it was toast anyway. 1/4" is nothing; easy to true up in the stand. I would speak to the manager and see about getting your wheel replaced at the cost of a wheel true.
Geologist by trade...bicycle mechanic (former) by the grace of God!
If I had to guess, I would say that your rim was toast before he started, and standing on it was a last resort to try to straighten to bent part. Though, if that was the case, I've always given the customer a warning such as, "your wheel is bent, and there's nothing I can do other than banging the bent part on the ground to try and fix it. It might work, but it probably won't, and it may end up worse than it is now, which is not good."
If they agree to that, then I'll go for it. If that doesn't work, we talk about replacement options (at their cost)
Here's my thinking of what went thru your mechanic's head:
...rim's rashed up to sh1+ and should be replaced, so no extraordinary effort to salvage but let me try to just bend it back.
Personally, these would have been my thoughts, but I DEFINITELY would NOT have stood on the rim...if anything, I'd try clamping it into a work table since it offers a LOT more control over the forces applied.
But all this is moot...you should be getting a new rim cause chances are you either had a manked up the bead seat or just did it anyway. BTW, how low of pressure were you running for the tire to have rolled off the rim?
Yes what the otheres have said...some bends can be fixed with spoke tension, and these are likely just due to the tension being upset in the first place. The otheres are actual permanent kinks in the rim which it is pot luck to fix. He may have thought it was obvious, but maybe it wasn't, in which case like shiggy said, it should have been trued to see if it could be straightened. If you are unsure, we'll never know unless we see it ourselves.
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Originally Posted by Bike Whisperer
