LBS trying it on?

My mate snapped 3 spokes on his rear wheel the other day. Going slowly a branch jumped up and got jammed in the wheel. Between us we managed to straighten the wheel enough for him to be able to gently ride home without taking all the paint off his chainstay.
Long story short he took it to the lbs today and received a call late afternoon saying that he needed a new rim as the rim was foo barred. The mechanic then when on to say that he had trued it as far as he can but that it’s 1% out.
1% Hardly warrants a new rim does it………

matter of opinion. Doubt he has measured it for 1% but its a way of saying he can’t get it perfect. What does your mate want?

Ride it. He won’t die. Probably.

What does 1% out mean? What would 100% out mean?!

I’d be amazed if any of my wheels are 99% straight (or round… straightround)

Sounds quite reasonable, I’ve tried to fix but I can’t, I’m afraid it needs a new rim. How the hell is that trying it on?

It does if the spoke tension is now so uneven that the wheel is substantially weakened.If there is a large buckle over a long section of rim then they are pretty straight forward to true,if it as concentrated over a small area then it is less easy.Have you ever tried to bend a rim with your hands?How much force do you think it takes to bend one?You are asking the spoke tension to not only support your fat ass,but also bend the rim straight again……something has to give.
The repaired wheel will be unlikely to stay very true and probably snap more spokes-which you will no doubt blame the shop for.
Or they’re lying to you.

What does 1% out mean? What would 100% out mean?!

Fair point.

LBS shop owner retires to the sun after selling 1000’s of un needed rims to gullible cyclists shocker.

Between us we managed to straighten the wheel enough for him to be able to gently ride home without taking all the paint off his chainstay.

It sounds knackered, blame the branch not LBS.

LBS shop owner retires to the sun after selling 1000’s of un needed rims to gullible cyclists shocker

Ha ha just made my nightshift

How do you make a small fortune as a LBS owner?

Start off with a large one…

I just thought it was weird to say the rim is **** while also saying it’s only 1% out of true.
I’m certain there are few rich lbs owners.
It wasn’t really a question of blame.

I just thought it was weird to say the rim is **** while also saying it’s only 1% out of true.

What Rorschach said. Ive trued a badly bent wheel to the point it was almost perfectly straight- but half a dozen spokes were complete de-tensioned (ie. you could have removed them) in order to achieve that. I decided against riding it!

Trueing won’t straighten a bent rim, it’s that simple.

Have a go yourself I’m sure getting that 1% cant be difficult !

we had a technical drawer for straightening bent rims before truing up 😀

that is – we opened a drawer in the heavy tool chest.

closed it onto the rim

and pressed down till the rim was nearly straight.

repeat adnauseum.

would come with a similar cavaet about replacing it soon to CYA

I use the speed bump on my floor for some precision rim straightening 😉

if the rim is bent a lot then the tension some of the spokes are under to get it straight is high. Essentially there is a good chance the repair will fail.

As a bike shop there is some responsibility to provide a reliable repair (otherwise folk on internet forums moan) so reliable fix is a rebuild with new rim. As a consequence folk on internet forums moan that the shop is trying it on.

LBS trying it on?

No.

LBS trying it on?

It wasn’t really a question of blame.

?

Evidently the rim has had it. The guy can get it almost straight, but can’t get it perfect. I think he’s saying if you want it perfect, it’s new rim time.

Tell your mate to stop being tight. It’ll be nice to know that next time he takes a jump/bump/drop the wheel isn’t going to pretzel and have him off.

the thing about LBS is trust – you either trust them or you don’t. If you don’t you can either seek a second opinion from another LBS or do it yourself.

If you can’t do either option then you are stuck really.

I’d ask how much it would cost for him to rebuild a new wheel and then compare that with the cost of picking a new wheel up on sale somewhere.

If the cost is significantly lower then go with the LBS, if its close, I’d go with the new wheel, on the basis that someone who makes wheels for a living will probably make it truer than a local spanner in a bike shop (with the obvious exception of David Hinde).

In addition to the other comments, having a stick jam in a wheel and then break 3 spokes would leave me to believe the rim will have had far too much force applied at the eyelets, and probably not at the angle it was designed for.

In other words, if it’s not cracked yet it likely to crack soon around the eyelets [if fitted].

Sounds like a new rim to me, too.

The eyelets may be weakened (or not) but the rim should not be bent – correctly tensioned new spokes should return it to normal. Unless of course you and your mate bent an otherwise perfectly straight rim while trying to fix it on the trail.

Next time carry the bike home and all will be well