Truing a wheel

On 13/12/2010 11:40 PM, John Tserkezis wrote:
Geoff Lock wrote:

I might save up for a set of aluminium rims to see what the difference is.

Now that I think about it, I've tried on two steel rims.

By "tried" I mean failed abysmally in both cases.

First was on a friend's front wheel, who was slalom riding before the
bike threw him off when the front wheel tacoed.

First we have a pretzel, now we have a taco!! Man, we are gonna have a
smorgasbord here soon and aus.food better watch out

On the side of the path, while he was nursing bloodied palms and
elbows, I got to work on the wheel. Along with an adjustable spanner,
I bent the wheel back so it was less bent than before. It was still too
buckled to have any front brakes, but enough to get home without a long
walk.
I don't know if you want to call this one a failure or success, as if
it's bent that badly, you NEED to replace it anyway (which he did). It
got him home. But when it started out in the shape of a taco, it's very
little effort to make it "less bent", which makes it a failure.

Hey, he didn't have to walk home - sounds like a resounding success to me

The second attempt was on a non-damaged wheel, just a minor truing
adjustment after many years of use. I had no excuse on this one, and I
still failed.
To this day, I still think I made it worse.

Yeah, with the best of intentions, all my efforts start off as "minor"
as well

All other wheels I've done are Aluminium, and the worst of those was
not as bad as steel.

Hm, aluminium rims, eh? Might have a lookee see. Cost could be a factor
though.

"Geoff Lock" glock@home wrote
Geoff Lock wrote:

The second attempt was on a non-damaged wheel, just a minor truing
adjustment after many years of use. I had no excuse on this one, and I
still failed.
To this day, I still think I made it worse.

Yeah, with the best of intentions, all my efforts start off as "minor" as
well

All other wheels I've done are Aluminium, and the worst of those was
not as bad as steel.

Hm, aluminium rims, eh? Might have a lookee see. Cost could be a factor
though.

I've trued a few wheels but was happy with better than 2 mm. I've also
relaced two.

Aluminium rims are easy, steel rims are a serious pain if they are
distorted. New steel rims are easy but steel wheels are so cheap to buy it's
not really worth the effort.

Theo

Geoff Lock wrote:

Hm, aluminium rims, eh? Might have a lookee see. Cost could be a factor
though.

Cost certainly is a factor.
But well worth every cent IMO. Or every dollar, as the case may be. :-)
--
Religion ... is the opium of the masses.