Bicycle Repair

[in2-dadark]

Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (

[Don Klipstein]

Get a spoke wrench. Do not use an adjustable wrench or vice grips - those will probably mash or round the square parts of the spoke nipples (the "nuts" that hold the spokes in the rim).

Where the rim is too far to the right, tighten the spokes on the left side and loosen the ones on the right side.

And vice versa.

Go gradually - I usually tighten/loosen by half a turn at a time, sometimes 1 turn at a time.

Also, see of spokes that would be tightened have some loose and some tight - and just tighten the loose ones that need to pull the rim toward their side. And amone ones to loosen, do not loosen ones that are already close to lacking tension.

Don't worry about tension being perfectly even. It may be somewhat uneven if the rim has any bent areas that the spokes have to work against.

And after riding the bike for about a week, check the spokes again.

And if you go to a bike shop for tools or replacement parts - don't call a wheel a tire. A tire is just the outer rubber part. And don't call the whole wheel excluding the tire and inner tube a rim - the rim is just the hooplike part between the spokes and the tire & inner tube.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[Claude Hopper]

All you'll do is make it worse.

[John Gilmer]

Likely, you are quite correct.

But it is quite possible to improve things somewhat with a spoke wrench.

The odds are the the rim has been damaged to the point that were all the spokes to be removed it would not lie flat.

Unless it's a very expensive bike with expensive wheels, it just doesn't make sense to rebuild a wheel.

I have a few old bikes laying about. One is a "folding bike" that in some situations would be very valuable/useful. I have the room to keep junk about but I shoud throw it out.

If I decided it was worth "keeping" it would make sense to buy a cheap bike with the same size wheel and take the wheels off the cheap bike and put them on the folding bike.

All that said, it is quite possible to completely rebuild a wheel by removing all the spokes and then making the rim lie flat while maintain its round shape and then re-instaling the spokes. Of course, it's easy to damage the rim beyond any repair.

The first step is to buy a book or two that describes how to do it. There is no law that says you have to re-spoke in the same pattern as the orginal wheel. The books will help you decide what pattern to use. You can also replace the hub and/or get a new rim for a completely fresh start.

I used to be "up" on this stuff but no more. I no longer read bike magazines but when I did there are ads for bike parts, etc.

[gpsman]

Save yourself a lot of frustration and just take the wheel to a bike shop. -----

- gpsman

[RLM]

Bike shops have spoke wrenches.

Follow Don Klipstein's advise.

I've done this and also respoked wheels.

This is my spoke wrench.

?action=view&current=s7001394.jpg At one time I had painted the different sizes to make it easier to use. Been a while since I've used it.

[salty]

To true the wheel, you will need to jury rig a truing stand. In your case, the easiest way would likely be to turn the bike upside down, and build an upright post of some sort that can be placed on the ground beside the wheel. Duct tape a piece of stiff wire (coathanger) to the post pointing towards the side of the wheel rim. Adjust the pointer wire so that as you turn the wheel, the wire is as close as possible without touching at any point. It will probably be close in one or more spots and far away at others.

Now spin the wheel and grab it to stop it as it passes the place that is farthest from the indicator. adjust the spoke tensions in that area to bring it closer. Don't over-do it. You'll be doing this repeatedly for quite some time as you GRADUALLY bring the rim into true in small increments. Take care that you don't end up pulling the whole rim all the way to one side in relation to the hub, or leave the hub anywhere other then exactly centered as the axis. A real truing stand would have indicators on both sides, and top and bottom. A practiced tech with the real equipment can often true a rim in minutes.

If this is all too much work for you, just bring the wheel to any bike shop and let them do it. It won't cost that much.

[Jim Yanik]

"John Gilmer" wrote in news:490a74d2$0$20785$ [e-mail]:

Reminds me as a kid,when I found a bike in someones trash,and decided to fit it up so I would have a bike, The rear wheel was missing half it's spokes and was warped terribly.I bought lots of new spokes,and took out all the old ones before installing the new ones. When I saw that I was hopelessly lost,went to my dad for help.

He took one look,and took me out and bought me a new bike.

[RLM]

I would turn the bike up ended on it's handlebars. I used the front fork to mount either wheel and trued them using the fork as a benchmark.

[salty]

I think you should have read what I wrote before you posted.

[Cam in Toronto]

here are two excellent bike repair web sites

[RLM]

I read it and all you need is your finger to gage the proximity of the rim as you rotate it. Been there, done that.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. -- Albert Einstein --

Nor more complicated than necessary. -- Added by RLM --

_______m___~¿õ___m_______

[Phisherman]

Yes. First check the wheel for any rim/hub damage/rust and remove any reflectors/decoration from the spokes. There is a small tool to tighten/loosen the square-shaped spoke nipples. You can true the wheel without removing it from the bicycle by watching the spacing near the brake pads. Look where each spoke is attached and how it is pulling against the rim. When you're done, plucking will tell give you about spokes that may be too loose.

[Not]

My father was frugal, so all the bikes I and my sisters got as kids were from police auctions, and all needed repair. My father made me help with the repairs, and I did the same thing with my kids; its a good way to spend time with your kids.

Almost all the bikes we got had wobbly wheel issues, and the problem was with the rim, not with the tires. So step one was to measure the length of the spokes, then visit the bike shop and buy a dozen replacements and a spoke wrench. The next step was to remove the tire and inspect the rim. If the rim had clear problems, such as a bend in he metal, or rust, we usually bought a new rim. You can probably clean up rust, but there isn't much you can do if the metal is bent. With the tire off, check for broken or loose spokes. Replace broken ones, and snug up loose ones, but you will have to do further snugging or loosening later.

The next step was to figure out the cause of the wobble. We only ever looked for two things: is the rim flat perpendicular its axis (does it wobble side to side), and is it round, not oval shaped (if someone has overtightened the spokes at 90 and 270 degrees, for example, the rim would have a greater radius at 180 and 0 degrees, and would wobble accordingly. Lacking special tools, we would just stand the bike upside down, and hold a marker (grease pencils are good, but I've used a common desk pencil) fixed on a frame arm while you spin the wheel; the pencil will mark where the rim is closer to that part of the frame arm and leave the rest unmarked. Do this from both sides of the bike, to get marks that will show you where the rim has to be pulled one way or another. Also do it from a member above the frame, to see if it is too oval, and where the high points are.

We always addressed the sides first, then checked if it was oval after we got it flat (perpendicular to the axis). I don't know why we did it in that order, but it seemed to work well.

By tightening and loosening the appropriate spokes, you can eventually get the rim true, but usually this means doing it once, removing the pencil marks, and then doing it again, and possibly again, as each adjustment will affect other areas.

Its probably more efficient to take it to a bike sh> Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn ( needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how

[Bob F]

Personally, I use the brake shoes as the guage.

[Bob F]

First thing - replace any broken spokes.

[Nate Nagel]

[gpsman]

That's OK when you have experience, but a better method is to spin the wheel while bracing a grease pencil against the frame and slowly advancing it toward the rim. This marks the "high" points and remains as a reference during adjustments.

The OP's appears to be unable to determine if his wheel may not be sprung beyond true-ability. He should take it to a bike shop. -----

- gpsman

[bigjimpack]

Most shops charge about $10/wheel to true. Spending $20 to have a usable bike is a great deal.

[in2-dadark]

I tightened up the spokes in the areas of the wobbles and it helped. I fixed it up the rest of the way, put some more reflectors on it that I had laying around and gave it to a 9 year old girl in the neighborhood. To see how happy she was and her big smile was priceless. When I found it, she was who first came to mind...

I think I'll be going yard saleing to see if I can find more bikes and more kids to match them with..Ya can't beat the feeling of doing something for someone who isnt' expecting it. And here in S. Fla things are bad, so we have no shortage of kids who need it but don't expect it..

I had so much fun test driving this one I bought myself a new cruiser type bike (Giant suede) like the one I found. I have a Specialized mountain bike, but I'm getting too old for that position..