[Closed] Taco'd my front wheel... what are my options?

Shops will charge a lot to build a wheel as it is a lot of time to out for their mechanic. See if you can find a local wheel builder who builds wheels in the evenings at home should be cheaper, they may even be a mech during the day looking for extra cash.

I do this myself and have recently just stopped working as a bike mechanic. I have built far more wheels at home than I have ever done working at a shop so don't be put off by not taking it to a shop. Go on reputation from friends. Personally I charge from £12 lab for a wheelbuild. I have known of people who charge from £10 others £15 - £20. That should give you an idea of labour prices, shop I worked at was £50 including basic spokes, spokes should cost about £12 online inc p&p. Rim obviously depends but that should be enough info for you. (London prices, although I'm no longer in London personally).

If you take the wheel off and give it a bash, like stand next to a slope somewhere and **** it onto the ground, the rim should straighten up ok. Then take it to the LBS for a true and tighten for a tenner and you'll be all set.

it'll probably cost around £80 to have something like a Mavic 719 laced to the hub

what hub have you got?

If it is an XT or something cheap - get a new wheel and keep the old hub for spare parts. If it is something decent it is worth a rebuild surely?

Mavic XM317 are coming up at £23.99 at CRC, so + spoke £12, plus build £15 = £50.99 est

I've got a xm719 on an xt hub you can have for £40 if you're interested.

Take it to your LBS & see what they say

How old is the wheel? If it is relatively new I would be takng it back from whence it came and demanding an explanation!

If you do fancy buying a new wheel I have an XC717 on a Hope XC hub sat around doing nothing so would let it go for cheap (say £40 posted).

How old is the wheel? If it is relatively new I would be takng it back from whence it came and demanding an explanation!

He rode he crashed landed awkwardly and it bent. Sh!t happens.

no spectacular crash, just a wash out round a corner

Yeah, that'll destroy most kit.

I would expect a wheel to withstand a washout.

I would expect a wheel to withstand a washout.

so would I & I'd be a bit peeved if it happened
Trouble is, I don't reckon you've much chance of convincing the grease monkey down the LBS that it was only a washout

A washout happens quickly by the very nature of it, it's hard to say exactly what happened during that crash, something fairly severe did because even a rim with no spoke takes a fair bit of force to bend.

because even a rim with no spoke takes a fair bit of force to bend

My point exactly.

Coyote is either trolling or an idiot.

Wheels are weak laterally so if you cross up there's easily enough force to taco them as those of us who ride enough know.

LOL at Garry Lager too, good work.

OP a new wheel may be cheaper than a rebuild. Worth doing yourself if you are keen, the old spokes will be fine.

My wife taco'd her wheel the other week and I was faced with a similar dilemma. The LBS wanted silly money for a rebuild so ended up buying a rim off of CRC and relaced the wheel, turned out ok and so far still holding up nicely...

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/broken-rim-can-i-re-use-the-spokes

I did exactly the same thing on a nearly new wheel not so long ago

[img] [/img]

as someone else said - sh1t happens.

why not buy a new wheel and practice truing on that one? gain experience - if it works spare wheel if not spare hub win win situation imo 🙂

thats what i would do
now i just need a taco'd wheel off someone to try my truing

LOL at Garry Lager too, good work.

OP a new wheel may be cheaper than a rebuild. Worth doing yourself if you are keen, the old spokes will be fine.

Put your truing stand away, brah. The OP would be crazy not to at least try to straighten the rim out, costs nothing and can work out.

I tacoed a lefty front wheel years back. Just like the OP, it was on something completely innocuous. A more experienced rider showed me how to straighten it out to get me home, by tvvatting it on the ground. Turned out it was fine after that, got it tightened up and rode it for years afterwards.

Thanks for all the replies.

The wheelset it about two years old, stock one that came with the bike. WTB SX24 rims on Shimano non-series hubs, though I've been very happy with them. It's not the bike/LBS's fault, they have held up beautifully. It's just like someone said - rims aren't meant to take much lateral force. Obviously it was more than just a wash out, the rim must have bent against the bermed corner when I fell, we had a look at the skid marks afterwards and that seems to be what happened. Rider's fault really. One of those things that can happen to anyone, in fact one of my friends has done the same at that spot too.

I need a wheel pretty quick as we have got a trip coming up next weekend. I'm not gonna force it back into shape as was mentioned above, I'm no expert but I'm fairly certain that after a crash like that the rim has been considerably weakened, re-using it doesn't seem like a good idea. I'll do some research into the offers people have made above (thank you), and if I don't settle on them I'll probably just get one of those wheelsets from Merlin.

that will true out, get to work with the spoke key

If the rim hasn't been kinked, I would try to straighten it. Nothing to lose, and some kinks can be sorted too.

Hmmmm...looking at that pic, tough to say whether the rim is straight or not epocyclo.

It is quite surprising what can be straightened - all depends on how smooth the deformation though , did my back wheel but the buckle was quite severe within quarter of a turn and it wouldn't true out

Thanks cynical. I bow to your superior knowledge and live in awe of your skillz.

I was expressing an opinion, apologies if I upset your sensibilites with my lack of understanding. Dick.

Buy a spoke spanner and have a play!

I have had one go like that and it went bike nicely. (ok not perfect by any means but close enough is good enough for me..im not on rim brakes!)

I do all my wheels now and get better each time. [b]Buy some beer.[/b] Take your time. My best tip for getting them to stay put is to remember to back the nipples off a tad when you do the final tension.

I'm all for bashing it on the ground '2001' stylee.
+ spoke key - but wear some safety specs for when you over tighten a spoke it snaps and bolts into the ceiling 😆

Have you heard of rim tape?

If you do fancy buying a new wheel I have an XC717 on a Hope XC hub sat around doing nothing so would let it go for cheap (say £40 posted).

Can you send an email to the address in my profile with details and pics please?

you can not true that wheel you morons 😆

Wheel aside, why have you got your bars rotated all the way forward like that, or was that part of the "washout" as well?

I'm going to have a go at rebuilding this over winter:

[IMG] [/IMG]

you can not true that wheel you morons

🙂

Yep, its scrap

new rim and new spokes IMO

Build your own. Hub will be ok, probably.

Both mine and Crell's tacos were DT Swiss XR 4.2D.... hmmm

@_tom_ I might be interested in your hope+717 wheel. Could you drop me an email with the spec and condition? A photo would be great if that's possible.

Ta lots.

It's a few years old with some scratches and that, but bearings have no play as it hasn't been used for much off road - wouldn't have said its had more than 300 miles on it total, majority of them being road rides. Slightly out of true but nothing that can't be sorted by someone who knows what they're doing! It's a non-disc rim as I bought it when I was still using v's. Hub is 6-bolt disc, 9mm QR.

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

Thanks, but I'll pass - I'm getting my hub rebuilt by a mate for beer.