Beat rim into true or not?

App wrote:
After a recent crash I have discovered a permanent bend in my front
rim, more of a single wave that extends about 1/4 of the way around the
rim. Laying the rim on the floor after disassembling the wheel, the
max out of true is ~1/4". There doesn't seem to be a kink in it,but
rather a smooth wave.

Would you beat on the rim with a rubber mallet or just bring it into
true with the spokes?

Oh, yeah, rim is Open Pro 36 spoke.

I've straightened bent rims many times, but only ones bent inward due
to pothole hits. FWIW, on my 1972 commute bike I'm riding Weinmann
A-129 rims that date from about 1980. They've had those kinks removed
many time.

But I used a more controllable technique than the mallet. I made a
fixture out of two-by-fours that allowed me to work out the dents using
a bench vise. It supports the rim to the two sides of the dent, and
the vise applies pressure in the center. Works well.

Based on this, I'd assume a little side-to-side straightening would be
easy.

- Frank Krygowski

"John Everett" wrote in message
...
On 15 Jul 2005 09:03:07 -0700, "App" wrote:

After a recent crash I have discovered a permanent bend in my front
rim, more of a single wave that extends about 1/4 of the way around the
rim. Laying the rim on the floor after disassembling the wheel, the
max out of true is ~1/4". There doesn't seem to be a kink in it,but
rather a smooth wave.

Would you beat on the rim with a rubber mallet or just bring it into
true with the spokes?

Oh, yeah, rim is Open Pro 36 spoke.

I recently had a rim that was bent worse than that, courtesy of being
in a cargo trailer with a bunch of other bikes during a serious
accident. For what it's worth it's an Alex DA16, 700c, 36 spoke.

It never occurred to me to try to beat it with a rubber mallet.
Instead I removed the rim from the wheel, first taping the spokes
together at their outer crosses. I laid the rim on a carpeted surface,
concave side down, with the out-of-round spot resting on one leg of my
work stand. I jumped up and down on the two high spots (one foot on
each spot), then checked for flatness on my coffee table.

I do this too. It's not an exact science... People that obsess about that
0.5kgf deviation on the one or two spokes probably need another hobby.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:
"John Everett" wrote in message
...
On 15 Jul 2005 09:03:07 -0700, "App" wrote:

After a recent crash I have discovered a permanent bend in my front
rim, more of a single wave that extends about 1/4 of the way around the
rim. Laying the rim on the floor after disassembling the wheel, the
max out of true is ~1/4". There doesn't seem to be a kink in it,but
rather a smooth wave.

Would you beat on the rim with a rubber mallet or just bring it into
true with the spokes?

Oh, yeah, rim is Open Pro 36 spoke.

I recently had a rim that was bent worse than that, courtesy of being
in a cargo trailer with a bunch of other bikes during a serious
accident. For what it's worth it's an Alex DA16, 700c, 36 spoke.

It never occurred to me to try to beat it with a rubber mallet.
Instead I removed the rim from the wheel, first taping the spokes
together at their outer crosses. I laid the rim on a carpeted surface,
concave side down, with the out-of-round spot resting on one leg of my
work stand. I jumped up and down on the two high spots (one foot on
each spot), then checked for flatness on my coffee table.

I do this too. It's not an exact science... People that obsess about that
0.5kgf deviation on the one or two spokes probably need another hobby.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

I guess I was reluctant to try the beating method. I just never have
had to do this to a rim before and the very idea of taking a sledge or
large mallet to it sounded so much like a joke. However, I just found
out, not so. I guess a little patience and thought will sometimes win
out over inexperience.

Anyway, left the wheel detensioned but built and spun it in the fork to
check where it was off. Marked a coupla out-of-true arcs and clamped
the wheel down on two sawhorses (placing a 2x2 on top to keep from
marring the wheel), one of the arcs extended out of the sandwich
created by the top of the sawhorse and the 2x2 and beating the exposed
arc with a large rubber mallet. I clamped the part of the wheel
opposite down to the other sawhorse for lever arm against the mallet
blows. Stubborn areas got the 2 lb sledge and a chunk of hardwood
treatment. Hit more often in the center of the arc where the the
lateral excursion was the greatest.

I also used a woodworking clamp (the one with the twin screws and the
hardwood jaws) to grab the rim in a large area and bend it. I found
the beating method to be the most controlled (I probably beat the 6 mm
out area 15 - 20 times to get it back ~1 mm).

As it sits, max out of true appears to be ~1 mm. Think I am going to
quit while I am ahead.

App

On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 05:25:43 +1000, meb
wrote:


App Wrote:

I am going to try - 1.5 hours to very possibly save myself the effort
of finding another NOS red OP rim. Plus, I just built the damn
things.
Worth it, I think.

App

I broke a mallet trying this once, the steel Schwinn rim barely
returned back toward round so I gave up and bought another wheel.

I still have the wheel, and it could still be ridden at slow speed, but
even if straightened would leave me wondering about the strength of the
wheel if I was at speed.

You obviously were not using the Schwinn Special Tool, then. Here's
the current version:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...400&lpage=none

alias

http://tinyurl.com/c7wva

This is the one for "fine adjustments"; the one for "large
adjustments" is bigger. (The version for working on road bikes has a
taped handle, but is otherwise identical.)

This should not be confused with the Universal Schwinn Alignment Tool
which is used when extreme difficulty in achieving acceptable
operation has been encountered, to ensure that everything on the bike
is adjusted into the same plane:

http://www.steam-up.co.uk/marshall/marshall_apx542.htm

Once so adjusted, most Schwinns require no further attention.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
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On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 19:03:31 GMT, John Everett
wrote:

In
fact I'm planning on climbing Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier
National Park on that bike next week. ;-)

AAARGH! I haven't been able to cobble together an excuse to hit
Glacier in nearly 30 years. I am envious, I tell you, *envious*.

(Candidly, I'd never be able to keep up with you on that climb. I
recall the road well, though. Lots of visual anesthesia to take one's
mind off the effort. Beware of the sheep and the drivers; neither
will give you any room.)
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack Wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 05:25:43 +1000, meb
wrote:


App Wrote:

I am going to try - 1.5 hours to very possibly save myself th
effort
of finding another NOS red OP rim. Plus, I just built the damn
things.
Worth it, I think.

App

I broke a mallet trying this once, the steel Schwinn rim barely
returned back toward round so I gave up and bought another wheel.

I still have the wheel, and it could still be ridden at slow speed
but
even if straightened would leave me wondering about the strength o
the
wheel if I was at speed.

You obviously were not using the Schwinn Special Tool, then. Here's
the current version:

http://tinyurl.com/c7wva

alias

http://tinyurl.com/c7wva

This is the one for "fine adjustments"; the one for "large
adjustments" is bigger. (The version for working on road bikes has a
taped handle, but is otherwise identical.)

This should not be confused with the Universal Schwinn Alignment Tool
which is used when extreme difficulty in achieving acceptable
operation has been encountered, to ensure that everything on the bike
is adjusted into the same plane:

http://www.steam-up.co.uk/marshall/marshall_apx542.htm

Once so adjusted, most Schwinns require no further attention.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Your speculation is correct that I didn't try the Schwinn Special Tool
The high tech design of the special tool emphatically illustrates th
shortcomings of the rubber mallet: a wooden handle that broke afte
chunks of the rubber head had seperated. The Schwinn Special Tool i
the hands of a master craftsman such as Thor would appear to capable o
forcing any misaligned rim or many other finicky appliances away fro
their malfunctioning state.

Is the Universal Schwinn alignment tool suitable for use on frames a
well as wheels

--
meb

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 01:53:45 GMT, Werehatrack
wrote:

On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 19:03:31 GMT, John Everett
wrote:

In
fact I'm planning on climbing Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier
National Park on that bike next week. ;-)

AAARGH! I haven't been able to cobble together an excuse to hit
Glacier in nearly 30 years. I am envious, I tell you, *envious*.

Going-to-the-Sun Road turned out to be a non-starter. Seems we were
about half way from Illinois to Montana when we realized that while
our bikes were firmly locked into the fork mounts on the roof of the
car, our front wheels were still sitting in the garage. :-(

While the trip was mainly for hiking and backpacking, we did manage to
get in a ride courtesy of Lee Stanley at Glacier Cyclery in Whitefish.
He rented us a couple of front wheels and we got in a ride up the east
shore road at Hungry Horse Reservoir. :-)


jeverett3ATearthlinkDOTnet http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 17:43:50 GMT, I wrote:

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 01:53:45 GMT, Werehatrack
wrote:

On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 19:03:31 GMT, John Everett
wrote:

In
fact I'm planning on climbing Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier
National Park on that bike next week. ;-)

AAARGH! I haven't been able to cobble together an excuse to hit
Glacier in nearly 30 years. I am envious, I tell you, *envious*.

Going-to-the-Sun Road turned out to be a non-starter. Seems we were
about half way from Illinois to Montana when we realized that while
our bikes were firmly locked into the fork mounts on the roof of the
car, our front wheels were still sitting in the garage. :-(

While the trip was mainly for hiking and backpacking, we did manage to
get in a ride courtesy of Lee Stanley at Glacier Cyclery in Whitefish.
He rented us a couple of front wheels and we got in a ride up the east
shore road at Hungry Horse Reservoir. :-)

Before someone familiar with the area takes me to task, we actually
rode up the WEST shore road. I believe the east shore road is unpaved.


jeverett3ATearthlinkDOTnet http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

I SWEAR NO ONE WITH AN IQ UNDER 120 READS MY STUFF.

wrote:

I SWEAR NO ONE WITH AN IQ UNDER 120 READS MY STUFF.

{no good reply possible}

D'OH!!!

Dammit, Gene, you're a mad genius...

NF