Wheel buckled again.

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markharry66

Über Member
I purchased a canondale before christmas and suffered from buckled wheel. My daily commute is 10 miles a few road humps.

I had not ridden it since christmas after having the wheel trued. Got on it this morning after only having used it monday and tuesday noticed its buckled again after 20 miles is this due to dodgy wheel (shimano) or bad job at lbs when wheel was trued.
 

davidphilips

Veteran
Location
Onabike
What you could do is buy a cheap spoke key from ebay about £1 delivered and tighten spokes if/when required?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=spoke+key&_sacat=0
 

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overmind

My other bike is a Pinarello
One of the most useful skills I acquired in the last 5 years is the ability to true wheels (to a reasonable standard). I have been commuting by bicycle for the past 20 years now. I used to fairly regularly break a spoke. I would replace the spoke that evening and true the wheel as best I could but it was never quite good enough. Over time the wheel would get increasingly worse until I would buy a new one.

I watched a number of videos on Youtube and initially I used the method of just trueing using the brake blocks as a guide which was ok. Then my daughter bought me a wheel truing stand for Christmas about 3-4 years ago. I've been using that ever since.

The trick for me is not to be too anally retentive about it and if the truing is within, say, 1mm then stop because it is good enough. I also find that having that skill make me more at one with the bike. I will notice as I am riding alone subtle lateral movements in the wheels and make minor tweaks to the spokes to correct them. I've noticed that I have a lot fewer issues. I do not seem to break as many spokes as I used to either.
 
+1 to @overmind , Cheap machine built wheels will do this, as well as wheels that are not built to withstand the use you are putting them through. It's likely to happen again. The good news is, you now have a set of rims/hubs which are not worth much. Rather than send them to landfill, why not have a bash at the above suggestion? Even if you get a pair of decent rims, you can still have a go at truing or rebuilding your current wheelset with new spokes and keeping them as a backup. If they have buckled twice in such a short space of time, it was likely a bad initial build. Uneven spoke tension being the likely culprit. If that is the case, it won't be long until the spokes fatigue and start snapping on you, even if you get them trued at the LBS every time this happens. The cost of getting a mechanic to true and replace spokes regularly adds up fast.

I find wheel building fun, but it's also a great skill to be able to true a buckled wheel or compensate for a broken spoke at the roadside, if you ride in a group, you'll eventually become a hero in someone's eyes. :ninja:

If I were you and didn't know where to start, I would begin with getting hold of a spoke key and truing it yourself, then get a book on wheel building and learn the theory behind the wheel build. If it intrigues you, have a go at rebuilding your current wheelset*. Also, no need for expensive wheel truing stands. You can do it in the frame, by securing a pencil to the seat stays with a rubber band and using that to gauge the radial and lateral true of the wheel. I have done all my wheel builds/servicing this way. Dish can also be gauged using this method by flipping the wheel in the frame. You will only need a decent work stand that can hold the wheels up high enough so that you are not hunched over the bike.

*Disclaimer, the other possibility is you are riding a wheelset with too few spokes, and rims not designed to carry your weight, plus bike and cargo, or handle the kind of riding you do. In which case, it's probably a good idea to invest in a stronger set of rims with higher spoke count, rendering your current wheelset useless to you. Fix up and sell on in this case.
 
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Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
buy a cheap spoke key from ebay
Do not buy one of those - I have one (part of a tools kit) and it's a pain. Buy a spokey dokey, and follow the advice above re trueing, pending getting a new (set of) wheels. See this comment and its thread.
it won't be long until the spokes fatigue and start snapping on you,
I'm not sure I agree with this, though. The spokes will take many thousands of miles to 'fatigue' and the OP has not had one fatique on them so far.

But if this bike was bought new "before Christmas" and suffered from a buckle, had it trued (assume by LBS) and then not ridden for two months and then it immediately buckles again, this wheel is not fit for purpose and (if bought new) the seller should be invited to replace with a functioning wheel. Also if the LBS trued this wheel and it's buckled straight away, then I think their pride would require them to have another go, and perhaps increase the tension all round, with a spot of proper stress relieving as part of the process.
 
I'm not sure I agree with this, though. The spokes will take many thousands of miles to 'fatigue' and the OP has not had one fatique on them so far.

Sorry I could have been clearer and I missed that this bike had only been purchased in December.

I had assumed the bike has been ridden for some time, it took only 10 months of 16 mile round commutes for my own Giant Defy's cheap wheels to start failing. IIRC, Roger Musson writes something along the lines of if you don't know if the wheel was built/stress relieved and evenly tensioned, don't reuse the spokes in a rebuild. I would extend advice to suggest OP doesn't pour loads of money down the drain by getting suckered into regular truing and spoke replacement services at the LBS, but given this bike hasn't been ridden much at all since its been in a garage since xmas, I think it's fair to say the spokes won't have fatigued all that much. My bad!

I agree that OP should take it back to the LBS, they might do the right thing and correct their obvious oversight, but I'm biased and would do the work myself for the sheer joy of it. :tongue:
 
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si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Sounds like it's going to be a problem wheel to me. A new wheel - properly built - should get many thousands of miles of worry free riding before you need to even think about getting it trued.

Obviously if an external force has been applied to the wheel - say a car- then it is possible for the rim to become buckled, causing ongoing problems. If that is the case, then obviously that wouldn't be a warranty issue.

I'd definitely take it back to the LBS, get them to re-true it, they should do this FOC if it's been done recently, especially if it hasn't been ridden since.
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
The wheels on the lower end Cannondales are poor quality I'm sorry to say.
Same is true of Specialized IME.

The wheel building machines in those Taiwanese mega factories can produce wheels which are true even out of duff rims which have a natural pringle - but the spoke tensions will be all over the place, and it will be virtually impossible for the wheel to stay true, however skilled the LBS you ask to sort it later.

If you fancy having a go at building your own, then this could be the best £9 you will ever spend on bike stuff. I've not ridden anything but my own builds based on that book for the last 8 years, not broken a spoke, not had anything go seriously out of true in upwards of 25 000 miles, and that includes a few builds for beaters using decidedly 'pre-loved' components.
 

pclay

Veteran
Location
Rugby
My first bike was a Cannondale synapse 2014 brand new. The stock wheels went in the bin 6 months later.

Shimano r501 30mm rim depth lasted my 10,000 miles with no problems whatsoever.
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
The OP states that the wheels are shimano, they are not known for being weak. I would be going back to the originally bike seller to ask them to sort it (new wheel).
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
The OP states that the wheels are shimano, they are not known for being weak. I would be going back to the originally bike seller to ask them to sort it (new wheel).
He doesn't really say they are Shimano, at a guess I'd say Shimano hubs with Cannondale in-house rims.
 

pclay

Veteran
Location
Rugby
I just had a quick Google, and the caad and the synapse alloy both come with maddux wheels. So I am not sure which Cannondale comes with Shimano wheels.
 

I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
I feel duty bound to add to this thread! The DIY wheels I built for my commuting hybrid have now done over 16,000 miles including off-road and urban hooliganism (riding down flights of steps, etc) and have not seen a spoke key since the day they were fitted! Food for thought......
 
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