Bin it or cheap ss winter bike?
- Thread starter Tommy2
- Start date
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smokeysmoo
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bolton, not very far from Nob End
If you feel you'd get use out of it as a winter bike then fill your boots.
If not perhaps donate it somewhere rather than binning it.
Wheel should tru up easy enough IMO.
If not perhaps donate it somewhere rather than binning it.
Wheel should tru up easy enough IMO.
You need a spoke key and a lot of patience. Cheap wheels are harder to true and you end up with a compromise between trueness and even spoke tension. I made some studded tyres for snow and ice using a cheap pair of tyres with the largest sized knobble, self tapping screws and a dremel.
Yeah when I say bin it I mean take it somewhere it would be gratefully received, I actually found it thrown over a fence next to the railway tracks and hated to see it a)littering and b)wasted.
So hopefully it wasn't stolen and dumped but it had been there a while judging by the overgrowth.
Not sure where to take it though if I decide not to use it?
that back wheel is well bent, i dont even kniw where to start trueing, i have just been out and put a little tension on all the slackest spoke!!!!
So hopefully it wasn't stolen and dumped but it had been there a while judging by the overgrowth.
Not sure where to take it though if I decide not to use it?
that back wheel is well bent, i dont even kniw where to start trueing, i have just been out and put a little tension on all the slackest spoke!!!!
Attachments
Mad Doug Biker
Just a damaged guy.
- Location
- Craggy Island
Why not just buy a new wheel cheaply for it?
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
Just have a go at trueing that wheel. Nothing to loose if it goes pear shaped (maybe literally 
)
Try to pull the rim over towards the center of the brake bridge by tightening and loosening spokes on each side. Little adjustments not huge ones. Keep going round the wheel. You probably won't get it properly straight but you only need it to miss hitting the brake blocks. All good experience. Also - you'll find videos on youtube which should help.
)Try to pull the rim over towards the center of the brake bridge by tightening and loosening spokes on each side. Little adjustments not huge ones. Keep going round the wheel. You probably won't get it properly straight but you only need it to miss hitting the brake blocks. All good experience. Also - you'll find videos on youtube which should help.
ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
As a rule of thumb, I've found half a turn of the spoke key on each of the spokes you want to move the rim towards is a good place to start when truing up a knackered wheel. Then keep on with half or quarter turns until the wheel runs true-ish.
Last step is to pinch the spokes together where they cross to get a rough guesstimate of the tension around the wheel - if you have an opposing pair that are both loose they can both be tightened a little without moving the rim.
First time takes a little while but once you've done a few it's surprisingly easy and a really useful skill (I've helped friends out and they've been dead impressed). Take it carefully and the worst case is that a spoke will ping when you tighten it, in which case it's a toss up whether to bother sourcing a new spoke or just look for a cheap 2nd hand wheel.
When I've trued wheels up that have been in a baaaad state I've sometimes found there is a little bit of "hop" left, where the rim runs all in one plane (so the brake blocks have a constant clearance), but the wheel is not quite round. In bad cases, if you hold the bike up and spin the wheel fast, you can actually feel the hop of the wheel. But I've ridden wheels in this state on three different bikes and they've always felt fine when riding, so I wouldn't sweat it if this happens to you too.
Last step is to pinch the spokes together where they cross to get a rough guesstimate of the tension around the wheel - if you have an opposing pair that are both loose they can both be tightened a little without moving the rim.
First time takes a little while but once you've done a few it's surprisingly easy and a really useful skill (I've helped friends out and they've been dead impressed). Take it carefully and the worst case is that a spoke will ping when you tighten it, in which case it's a toss up whether to bother sourcing a new spoke or just look for a cheap 2nd hand wheel.
When I've trued wheels up that have been in a baaaad state I've sometimes found there is a little bit of "hop" left, where the rim runs all in one plane (so the brake blocks have a constant clearance), but the wheel is not quite round. In bad cases, if you hold the bike up and spin the wheel fast, you can actually feel the hop of the wheel. But I've ridden wheels in this state on three different bikes and they've always felt fine when riding, so I wouldn't sweat it if this happens to you too.
