Took out the road bike at the weekend and managed to find a huge pot hole. Front wheel undamaged but the rear is trashed. Rim has a huge ding and a very large flat spot resulting in 4 very loose spokes. It certainly doesn't look repairable. The bike, a Trek 1.5, is only a couple of months old and is used mainly for commuting to work and some training rides. Is it better to get a new wheel or is it worth seeing if I can get a new rim and have the wheel rebuilt.

If it's a new wheel any recomedations for a cheap, strong wheel. I have looked at Merlin and they have some Shimano Wheelsets (RS10 and RS20) for what seems to be reasonable money. Road wheels seem to be more expensive than MTB wheels 🙁 (and the missus isn't happy cause I have just bought a set of Hope Pro IIs)

Get some pictures of the hole and the damage its done. Contact the council see if you can claim the expense back.

What parksie said but you'll need to keep chasing them and if as I suspect it's a new, unreported pothole due to the recent weather then they won't be responsible but at least it'll get fixed.

As for the wheel, get s new rim and replacer it yourself. It's the perfect opportunity to learn how. Just use ond of the many online guides such as the Sheldon Brown one. Oh and stop riding the existing wheel as you'll knacker the spokes by riding with them loose.

Oh and stop riding the existing wheel as you'll knacker the spokes by riding with them loose.

I stopped straight away – good job the missus was home otherwise it would have been a bloody long walk home.

If You take the wheel to the lbs and get them to replace the wheel You'll probably pay more than a new wheel. Trek 1.5 probably didn't come with some posh wheels so what You can do is to find the same rim You already have and than it will be a case of using the same spokes and than maybe dropping the wheel to true it a bit once You get the spokes swapped. Easy way my mate told me if You have the same rim than just put the new rim to the old wheel and swap spokes one by one to the same holes in the new rim. Only thing is it will take some time swapping the spokes 🙂

With new wheels You can get some nice Shimano R500 for way under £100, normal spokes (will be less of a pain to find replacement spokes if it will break). If You'll be going the new wheelset way I can recommend Pro-Lite wheels, Robble has some good deals and they spin smooth as on day one after almost a year on my commuter/road bike. I managed to pick up the Shimano R500 wheels for £50 some time ago for my old bike and even if they are now around £80 You'll get a lot for Your money, smooth spinning and reasonably light wheels (not much heavier than RS10). You will always get some money for Your front wheel and You already have tyres and tubes so new wheelset will not be that expensive. Again check Ribble for some good deals. My pro lite lucianos were going very cheap not so long ago, and they weight under 1800g, use normal spokes and hubs are well sealed + on cartridge bearings.

I'd have a look on the classifieds here – there's often cheap road wheels available.

If you want to spend some money and have a go at a wheel build then crc are doign some very cheap rims at the mo. Tape the new rim to the old and then just transfer one spoke at a time between them to get the lacing and everythign right then have a go at tension and trueness.

Personally I'd get a new wheel. Unless you are happy rebuilding it yourself it will be pretty expensive to get a bike shop to do it.

Have a look at ribble, probikekit, planet x as well as the usuals to see what they have.

Oh and stop riding the existing wheel as you'll knacker the spokes by riding with them loose.

I'd say he's more likely to collapse the wheel than do any damage to the spokes.

If you are on a budget, you can undo the dent with an adjustable spanner, then loosen the loose spokes even more and hit that section of the rim with a hammer from the inside (protect it with wood ro something), making it more round again, tighten the spokes up to tension and hey presto!

IIRC a re-build at the Bicycleworks was £45+ depending on the rim a few years ago, I might not bother re-building on a crap hub though.

Only if he hits more potholes. Normal riding is unlikely to damage the rim even in that state.

Not nulikely that he wont' subject the rim to more impacts is it?

I don't see how the loose spokes can get damaged by riding in this scenario. How?

Hard to say whether he'll hit another pothole 🙂

Riding with a loose spokes in the wheel will mean that all (not just the loose ones) spokes will flex more which inevitably leads to spokes breaking, usually at the elbow. That's why spokes nice tight wheels are a good thing.

Yes I know tight spokes are good, and your analysis works on a loose wheel – but I don't see that it does where there are only a few localised loose spokes.

shimano r550 are good for the money, I got a pair for £35!

I'd look to get some custom built with normal spokes, avoiding factory wheels.

Incidentally… I've got a couple of pairs I want to flog!

The wheel in question is a Bontranger rim and hub. Not a specific wheelset that they sell though – just a cheap set. I don't want to spend a lot replacing, but will probably get a wheelset just so it looks right. I was looking at the Shimano cheap sets or Mavic Askiums.