Truing a wheel - how long? - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

11-10-2004, 02:32 PM

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.

Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying the
brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt like I was
riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked at the wheel
closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and obviously no longer
'trued'.

I took it back today and was told:

"you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".

Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower speed
than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.

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". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus 'off the bike',
and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't understand what he was
getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I could borrow.

What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true when he
changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps, busy.

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

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we discovered the
wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about 1/2 hour.

Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

-B

11-10-2004, 03:10 PM

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.
||
|| Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying
|| the brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt
|| like I was riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked
|| at the wheel closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and
|| obviously no longer 'trued'.
||
|| I took it back today and was told:
||
|| "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
||
|| Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower
|| speed than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.
||
|| 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". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus
|| 'off the bike', and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't
|| understand what he was getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I
|| could borrow.
||
|| What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true
|| when he changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps,
|| busy.
||
|| I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a
|| typical Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
||
||
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
||
|| According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we
|| discovered the wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about
|| 1/2 hour.
||
|| Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

I popped a spoke on my rear wheel earlier this year. I took the bike in.
they supposedly trued the wheel twice (they didn't solve the spoke problem
the first time, so I took it back and the rebuilt the wheel), but neither
time did they get it right. I bought a new set of custom built wheels and
haven't had a problem since. I won't trust my LBS to true a wheel. I don't
think they do it enough to become good at it. YMMV.

11-10-2004, 03:10 PM

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.
||
|| Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying
|| the brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt
|| like I was riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked
|| at the wheel closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and
|| obviously no longer 'trued'.
||
|| I took it back today and was told:
||
|| "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
||
|| Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower
|| speed than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.
||
|| 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". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus
|| 'off the bike', and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't
|| understand what he was getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I
|| could borrow.
||
|| What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true
|| when he changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps,
|| busy.
||
|| I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a
|| typical Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
||
||
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
||
|| According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we
|| discovered the wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about
|| 1/2 hour.
||
|| Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

I popped a spoke on my rear wheel earlier this year. I took the bike in.
they supposedly trued the wheel twice (they didn't solve the spoke problem
the first time, so I took it back and the rebuilt the wheel), but neither
time did they get it right. I bought a new set of custom built wheels and
haven't had a problem since. I won't trust my LBS to true a wheel. I don't
think they do it enough to become good at it. YMMV.

11-10-2004, 03:10 PM

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.
||
|| Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying
|| the brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt
|| like I was riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked
|| at the wheel closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and
|| obviously no longer 'trued'.
||
|| I took it back today and was told:
||
|| "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
||
|| Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower
|| speed than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.
||
|| 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". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus
|| 'off the bike', and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't
|| understand what he was getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I
|| could borrow.
||
|| What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true
|| when he changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps,
|| busy.
||
|| I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a
|| typical Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
||
||
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
||
|| According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we
|| discovered the wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about
|| 1/2 hour.
||
|| Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

I popped a spoke on my rear wheel earlier this year. I took the bike in.
they supposedly trued the wheel twice (they didn't solve the spoke problem
the first time, so I took it back and the rebuilt the wheel), but neither
time did they get it right. I bought a new set of custom built wheels and
haven't had a problem since. I won't trust my LBS to true a wheel. I don't
think they do it enough to become good at it. YMMV.

11-10-2004, 03:10 PM

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.
||
|| Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying
|| the brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt
|| like I was riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked
|| at the wheel closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and
|| obviously no longer 'trued'.
||
|| I took it back today and was told:
||
|| "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
||
|| Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower
|| speed than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.
||
|| 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". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus
|| 'off the bike', and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't
|| understand what he was getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I
|| could borrow.
||
|| What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true
|| when he changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps,
|| busy.
||
|| I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a
|| typical Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
||
||
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
||
|| According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we
|| discovered the wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about
|| 1/2 hour.
||
|| Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

I popped a spoke on my rear wheel earlier this year. I took the bike in.
they supposedly trued the wheel twice (they didn't solve the spoke problem
the first time, so I took it back and the rebuilt the wheel), but neither
time did they get it right. I bought a new set of custom built wheels and
haven't had a problem since. I won't trust my LBS to true a wheel. I don't
think they do it enough to become good at it. YMMV.

11-10-2004, 03:17 PM

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.
>
> Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying the
> brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt like I was
> riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked at the wheel
> closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and obviously no longer
> 'trued'.
>
> I took it back today and was told:
>
> "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
>
> Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower speed
> than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.

it may have been slightly out of true - since the new brake pads are
bigger, you are noticing it now.

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

not sure whether he meant spending entire 60 mins on the wheel.. because
i have the same wheels and got it trued at my LBS in about approx. 15 or
20 minutes. And i took my bike in when one of the spokes came loose -
meaning i didn't notice the wheel was out-of-true for sometime before i
took it in.

> Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
> true". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus 'off the bike',
> and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't understand what he was
> getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I could borrow.

my LBS didn't charge me - infact they said i should have brought it to
them even when it was slightly out-of-true...

> What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true when he
> changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps, busy.
>
> I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a typical
> Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
>
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we discovered the
> wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about 1/2 hour.
>
> Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

my first guess is may be the guy was not in a good mood. i'd give him a
second chance - but again he should have found out that the wheel was
out-of-true when installing/adjusting the new brake pads - the basic
test being to spin the wheel and see if there is uniform gap between the
wheel and the pads....

+ravi

> -B
>
>

11-10-2004, 03:17 PM

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.
>
> Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying the
> brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt like I was
> riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked at the wheel
> closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and obviously no longer
> 'trued'.
>
> I took it back today and was told:
>
> "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
>
> Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower speed
> than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.

it may have been slightly out of true - since the new brake pads are
bigger, you are noticing it now.

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

not sure whether he meant spending entire 60 mins on the wheel.. because
i have the same wheels and got it trued at my LBS in about approx. 15 or
20 minutes. And i took my bike in when one of the spokes came loose -
meaning i didn't notice the wheel was out-of-true for sometime before i
took it in.

> Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
> true". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus 'off the bike',
> and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't understand what he was
> getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I could borrow.

my LBS didn't charge me - infact they said i should have brought it to
them even when it was slightly out-of-true...

> What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true when he
> changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps, busy.
>
> I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a typical
> Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
>
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we discovered the
> wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about 1/2 hour.
>
> Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

my first guess is may be the guy was not in a good mood. i'd give him a
second chance - but again he should have found out that the wheel was
out-of-true when installing/adjusting the new brake pads - the basic
test being to spin the wheel and see if there is uniform gap between the
wheel and the pads....

+ravi

> -B
>
>

11-10-2004, 03:17 PM

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.
>
> Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying the
> brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt like I was
> riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked at the wheel
> closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and obviously no longer
> 'trued'.
>
> I took it back today and was told:
>
> "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
>
> Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower speed
> than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.

it may have been slightly out of true - since the new brake pads are
bigger, you are noticing it now.

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

not sure whether he meant spending entire 60 mins on the wheel.. because
i have the same wheels and got it trued at my LBS in about approx. 15 or
20 minutes. And i took my bike in when one of the spokes came loose -
meaning i didn't notice the wheel was out-of-true for sometime before i
took it in.

> Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
> true". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus 'off the bike',
> and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't understand what he was
> getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I could borrow.

my LBS didn't charge me - infact they said i should have brought it to
them even when it was slightly out-of-true...

> What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true when he
> changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps, busy.
>
> I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a typical
> Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
>
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we discovered the
> wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about 1/2 hour.
>
> Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

my first guess is may be the guy was not in a good mood. i'd give him a
second chance - but again he should have found out that the wheel was
out-of-true when installing/adjusting the new brake pads - the basic
test being to spin the wheel and see if there is uniform gap between the
wheel and the pads....

+ravi

> -B
>
>

11-10-2004, 03:17 PM

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.
>
> Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying the
> brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt like I was
> riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked at the wheel
> closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and obviously no longer
> 'trued'.
>
> I took it back today and was told:
>
> "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
>
> Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower speed
> than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.

it may have been slightly out of true - since the new brake pads are
bigger, you are noticing it now.

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

not sure whether he meant spending entire 60 mins on the wheel.. because
i have the same wheels and got it trued at my LBS in about approx. 15 or
20 minutes. And i took my bike in when one of the spokes came loose -
meaning i didn't notice the wheel was out-of-true for sometime before i
took it in.

> Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
> true". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus 'off the bike',
> and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't understand what he was
> getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I could borrow.

my LBS didn't charge me - infact they said i should have brought it to
them even when it was slightly out-of-true...

> What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true when he
> changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps, busy.
>
> I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a typical
> Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
>
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we discovered the
> wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about 1/2 hour.
>
> Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.

my first guess is may be the guy was not in a good mood. i'd give him a
second chance - but again he should have found out that the wheel was
out-of-true when installing/adjusting the new brake pads - the basic
test being to spin the wheel and see if there is uniform gap between the
wheel and the pads....

+ravi

> -B
>
>

11-10-2004, 03:32 PM

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:17:55 -0800, Ravi <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> 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.
>>
>> Today I went out on my ride and it was harder than usual. Applying the
>> brakes, I got a severe but intermittant 'grabbing' and it felt like I was
>> riding over mini-railroad ties. When I got home I looked at the wheel
>> closely and discovered it was rubbing the brake, and obviously no longer
>> 'trued'.
>>
>> I took it back today and was told:
>>
>> "you hit something...this didn't happen overnight".
>>
>> Well that's just not true. I rode it on a bike trail at much slower speed
>> than usual, apparently due to the brake pad rubbing.
>
>it may have been slightly out of true - since the new brake pads are
>bigger, you are noticing it now.

Didn't get new brake pads. Only got a new tire and tube. Not sure you
caught it but a mechanic at Performance looked at the tire when I got my
clipless pedals and said 'it has a shimmy. Looks to me like the bead of the
tire was not installed correctly, and is off by a little bit.' (I had
mentioned being puzzled I couldn't ride it no-hands, and he said 'no
wonder...')

>> Then he tells me "it's going to take over an hour to true the wheel." (!)
>
>not sure whether he meant spending entire 60 mins on the wheel.. because
>i have the same wheels and got it trued at my LBS in about approx. 15 or
>20 minutes. And i took my bike in when one of the spokes came loose -
>meaning i didn't notice the wheel was out-of-true for sometime before i
>took it in.

He said "it's going to take me -over- an hour to true the wheel". Bear in
mind they just trued it 6/16/04 and though I've ridden it a lot, I've not
run over -anything-, zero, nada. Maybe a pebble now and then.

>> Followed by: "...and this is going to cost, b/c these wheels are hard to
>> true". Then he started talking about 'on the bike' versus 'off the bike',
>> and that I could just leave the tire? I didn't understand what he was
>> getting at. He said he didn't have a wheel I could borrow.
>
>my LBS didn't charge me - infact they said i should have brought it to
>them even when it was slightly out-of-true...

What I figured. Again, I don't mind paying. I just don't like the feeling
that he -knew- there was a problem, but sent me away, ostensibly so he ould
say 'oh you ran over something since I put in the new tire'.

I'd think that putting on a new tire would include balancing the wheel, but
I could be wrong on that.

>> What irks me is that I think he realized the wheel was out of true when he
>> changed the tire and didn't say anything, being, perhaps, busy.
>>
>> I'm just surprised that a wheel would take an hour to true. It's a typical
>> Trek race wheel, though with less spokes.
>>
>> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>>
>> According to my bike log, I took the bike in on 6/16 and we discovered the
>> wheel needed trued, and he did it no charge in about 1/2 hour.
>>
>> Am I being told the truth? <sigh> Sorry if I sound overly alarmed.
>
>my first guess is may be the guy was not in a good mood. i'd give him a
>second chance - but again he should have found out that the wheel was
>out-of-true when installing/adjusting the new brake pads - the basic
>test being to spin the wheel and see if there is uniform gap between the
>wheel and the pads....

Again, sorry if I confused you...he just put on a new tube and tire. I
mentioned it blew as I was pumping it up, and also mentioned the 'shimmy'
the other guy mentioned. This shimmy was -not- the out of true, I could
clearly see it was the rubber part that was rippled or something.

>
>+ravi

Thanks a lot, ravi!

BTW, you're not a 'Fravia' fan are you? Thought I recognized the "+".

-B