Truing a wheel - how long?

Badger wrote:
|| On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 02:36:48 -0500, "Jacobe Hazzard"
|| wrote:
||
||| Badger wrote:
|||| I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to
|||| have
|||| a new tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it
|||| after installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I
|||| immediately got the feeling that something was wrong, but that he
|||| wasn't telling
|||| me what.
|||
||| Sounds to me like you zapped your wheel out of true precisely when
||| you exploded the old tire and tube, this is a fairly common thing
||| to happen with blowoffs. I imagine it would happen more easily with
||| lightweight, low spoke count wheels. I would say the problems
||| you're having are not your mechanics fault, although he should have
||| pointed it out and offered to repair it the first time, like you
||| say.
||
|| OK, fair. I =told= him that it exploded off the rim and told him to
|| look at that and check it. Now, I'm sure he saw it and just didn't
|| feel like fixing it, though I'm glad he put the tire on right away.
||
|| I'm thinking I'm gonna go elsewhere. As I said it's negligent to see
|| a problem and not say anything and imo, unethical to send a newbie
|| out with a bike that has a mechanical problem. I shudder to think
|| what would have happened on a fast descent the way the brake was
|| shuddering.
||
|| Uh, don't believe I said it was the mechanic's fault, though, but
|| thanks for the comment.

IMO, if you decide to go elsewhere, you should let them know why.

"Badger" wrote in message
...
I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have a
new
tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it after
installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I immediately got the
feeling that something was wrong, but that he wasn't telling me what.

I would respectively suggest that you learn how to change a tube/tire
yourself. What would you do if you had a flat during a ride?
I never go anywhere without a spare tube, levers and a patch kit. This
will ensure that you will never get a flat

Cheers,

Roy

"Badger" wrote


Then he tells me "it's going to take over an hour to true the wheel." (!)

Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
true".


I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a
typical
Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.


http://www2.trekbikes.com/Bikes/City...0_FX/index.php

A hybrid with low spoke count wheels is like a minivan with a hood scoop.
If you had standard wheels it would be a simple matter to learn to true
them yourself. Checking wheels, brakes, bars/cranks/stems for cracks,
adjusting cables, etc. should be skills mastered by cyclists. The reason is
that it's just impractical to bring a bike into the shop frequently enough
for this if you ride a lot.

If you had standard wheels, I'd say the mechanic was full of it, but never
having worked on wheels like those, I don't know, he may have been telling
it like it is.

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 08:47:59 -0500, "araby" wrote:


"Badger" wrote in message
.. .
I took my bike in to the shop where I purchased it yesterday to have a
new
tire and tube installed, and when the mechanic looked at it after
installation to readjust the brakes (?). However, I immediately got the
feeling that something was wrong, but that he wasn't telling me what.

I would respectively suggest that you learn how to change a tube/tire
yourself. What would you do if you had a flat during a ride?
I never go anywhere without a spare tube, levers and a patch kit. This
will ensure that you will never get a flat

Cheers,

Roy

I have a hip/lower back injury which makes it painful to do things like
change a tube or tire, but, surprisingly, not too painful to ride, though
it does bother me, and had flared up yesterday rather severely.

The flat occurred at home on my front porch while inflating the tire, and
it looked to me like the tire itself had a problem; iow, I could see the
metal of the wire around the rim of the tire exposed in the section that
blew out. Since I didn't have a tire, I took it in for both to be replaced.

HTH,

-B

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 13:54:36 GMT, "Peter Cole"
wrote:

"Badger" wrote


Then he tells me "it's going to take over an hour to true the wheel." (!)

Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
true".


I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a
typical Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.


http://www2.trekbikes.com/Bikes/City...0_FX/index.php

A hybrid with low spoke count wheels is like a minivan with a hood scoop.

Haha, good one. Well, blame Trek. I don't make 'em, I just bought one off
the rack. ;-)

Maybe Mike J. can chime in and explain why this odd config of race wheels
on a hybrid?

If you had standard wheels it would be a simple matter to learn to true
them yourself. Checking wheels, brakes, bars/cranks/stems for cracks,
adjusting cables, etc. should be skills mastered by cyclists. The reason is
that it's just impractical to bring a bike into the shop frequently enough
for this if you ride a lot.

I was told by the LBS guys that if I did this I'd only mess up the
adjustment, to bring it in instead. I check those things before I ride, but
with my lousy vision not sure I'd be able to see a crack. I had to get help
reading the max pressure on the new tire, lol.

If you had standard wheels, I'd say the mechanic was full of it, but never
having worked on wheels like those, I don't know, he may have been telling
it like it is.

According to another poster, he had his done in 15-20 minutes. I don't
understand why the mechanic kept saying 'on the bike' and 'off the bike'
truing (or something like that).

So if I did decide to learn these things, where would I go for instruction?

Thanks for the input, PC.

-B

"Badger" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 13:54:36 GMT, "Peter Cole"

If you had standard wheels it would be a simple matter to learn to true
them yourself. Checking wheels, brakes, bars/cranks/stems for cracks,
adjusting cables, etc. should be skills mastered by cyclists. The reason
is
that it's just impractical to bring a bike into the shop frequently
enough
for this if you ride a lot.

I was told by the LBS guys that if I did this I'd only mess up the
adjustment, to bring it in instead.

You probably will, but this is the only way too learn, it's not difficult
to adjust shifting or brakes (that's why they have adjusters built in).
Wheel truing is a little more of a challange to learn, but still within the
easy grasp of most.

So if I did decide to learn these things, where would I go for
instruction?

Sheldon Brown has a number of bike repair/maintenance articles on his site.
I actually had the very good fortune of having him as my mechanic when I
was starting out. The Park Tool site is also very good. Jobst Brandt has a
book just on wheels that's probably overkill if you're not into
wheelbuilding, but most of the important points are covered in the FAQ and
in the articles written by him that Sheldon hosts. My hometown (Boston) has
a very rich cycling community, so we have additional resources, like
organizations that will teach bike repair, rent tools and shop space, but I
realize most places don't have that stuff. There are always books, but I
don't have one to recommend off the top of my head.

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 17:12:54 GMT, "Peter Cole"
wrote:

"Badger" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 13:54:36 GMT, "Peter Cole"

If you had standard wheels it would be a simple matter to learn to true
them yourself. Checking wheels, brakes, bars/cranks/stems for cracks,
adjusting cables, etc. should be skills mastered by cyclists. The reason
is
that it's just impractical to bring a bike into the shop frequently
enough
for this if you ride a lot.

I was told by the LBS guys that if I did this I'd only mess up the
adjustment, to bring it in instead.

You probably will, but this is the only way too learn, it's not difficult
to adjust shifting or brakes (that's why they have adjusters built in).
Wheel truing is a little more of a challange to learn, but still within the
easy grasp of most.

Yeh, uh, the only problem with trial and error is that if I mess something
up, gouge the rim, step on the spokes while limping around with the bike on
the floor then I miss that day's ride, most likely.

Sounds defeatist, I guess.

When I got the bike I tried to get the LBS guy (actually the owner) to go
over how to adjust those things and he kinda shouted at me across the room
to 'turn this knob'. Tough for the mechanically dis-inclined. Me scientist,
not toolie. ;-)

So if I did decide to learn these things, where would I go for
instruction?

Sheldon Brown has a number of bike repair/maintenance articles on his site.
I actually had the very good fortune of having him as my mechanic when I
was starting out. The Park Tool site is also very good. Jobst Brandt has a
book just on wheels that's probably overkill if you're not into
wheelbuilding, but most of the important points are covered in the FAQ and
in the articles written by him that Sheldon hosts. My hometown (Boston) has
a very rich cycling community, so we have additional resources, like
organizations that will teach bike repair, rent tools and shop space, but I
realize most places don't have that stuff. There are always books, but I
don't have one to recommend off the top of my head.

Heh, don't think that's the kind of thing I could learn from a book. Some
ppl may do well with the 'insert slot A in tab B', stuff, but me, I dunno.
I'll look around locally - there is a UVa cycling club but they seem very
elitist and won't really answer simple questions about good routes around
town.

Thanks, though.

-B

Badger wrote:
On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 17:12:54 GMT, "Peter Cole"

You probably will, but this is the only way too learn, it's not difficult
to adjust shifting or brakes (that's why they have adjusters built in).
Wheel truing is a little more of a challange to learn, but still within the
easy grasp of most.

Yeh, uh, the only problem with trial and error is that if I mess something
up, gouge the rim, step on the spokes while limping around with the bike on
the floor then I miss that day's ride, most likely.

Sounds defeatist, I guess.

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a spare set of wheels to me.

g

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's
the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
-Dan Quayle

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 18:05:55 -0000, Dane Jackson wrote:

Badger wrote:
On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 17:12:54 GMT, "Peter Cole"

You probably will, but this is the only way too learn, it's not difficult
to adjust shifting or brakes (that's why they have adjusters built in).
Wheel truing is a little more of a challange to learn, but still within the
easy grasp of most.

Yeh, uh, the only problem with trial and error is that if I mess something
up, gouge the rim, step on the spokes while limping around with the bike on
the floor then I miss that day's ride, most likely.

Sounds defeatist, I guess.

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a spare set of wheels to me.

g

If, by that, you mean get a real road bike, I'd say, yep, that's a great
idea.

That's why I'm hoping there will still be a Trek 1200C, or LeMond BigSky SL
2004 model available, come December 1st (payday).

-B

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 13:57:05 -0500, Badger wrote:

If, by that, you mean get a real road bike, I'd say, yep, that's a great
idea.

or check out the seasonal sales at the online shops and get a really
sturdy set of 36 spoke wheels for a hundred bucks or so and mount some
cyclocross tires on em and throw some really fast rubber on your stock
light wheels. Two bikes in one.