How do I properly straighten a 700c rim?

D

dimentio

New Member
Hi all. I've had the bad luck of passing over a few bad spots in the roads with my wayfarer roadbike. I know the whole point of spokes is to align the rim, but how do you go about doing so?
 
Dive in and try it! Loosen the spokes on the opposite side of the bend and tighten the ones on the inside. Go slowly until you get a feel for the tension as you pull the rim back into line a bit at a time. Try to get both sides tightened about the same. I spin the rim and bounce a screwdriver off the spokes to sound them and tighten the ones that sound dull. Go over the rim as many times as it takes to work out the bend. It will save you money truing your own rims, and can make you cash too if you get good at it.
 
BTW- I made a quick and simple truing stand with some plywood and 2x4. I cut a slot in the plywood base, and used the 2x4 to mount the wheel in. I cut a V groove in the top of each 2x4 and mounted them on the base. I put that on a couple of saw horses and where the wheel goes through the slot I have a moveable piece of metal screwed on as a crude "run out" gauge.
 
Bikeguy Joe said:
BTW- I made a quick and simple truing stand with some plywood and 2x4. I cut a slot in the plywood base, and used the 2x4 to mount the wheel in. I cut a V groove in the top of each 2x4 and mounted them on the base. I put that on a couple of saw horses and where the wheel goes through the slot I have a moveable piece of metal screwed on as a crude "run out" gauge.
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any kind of pointer will work. Get a good quality spoke wrench too, the cheap ones can round off nipples.
 
I used the rear mounts of a frame, upside down, and taped a piece of cardboard across the chainstays to track the rim's side-to-side motion. Go back and forth with your spoke wrench making a small turn per spoke, don't try to just crank them over. I marked my rim, and went the length of the marked area tightening 1/4 turn per spoke on the opposite side to the warp. Then I started 1 spoke in from the mark and repeated, stopping 1 spoke short of the end mark, and so on, and so on. You may need to loosen the opposite side spokes a little bit as you go as well.
You can true a slightly out-of-round wheel the same way, but you need to tighten the spokes on both sides as you go to pull the 'bump' down.
 
i built a truing stand from some old forks and a broken frame.

i've been doing it for so long, i can do it on the bike with a screwdriver as a guage, and get them as straight (or straighter) than any bike shop.
 
If the rim is actually warped, it's going to be a band-aid fix (may break spokes later). If it's just knocked out of tune, you will be able to true it up. A lot of machine-built wheels are not tight enough from the factory, and it's common for them to need hand truing/tightening sometime in their careers.

I agree that a quality spoke wrench is worth the cash ($5-20), because if you damage the nipples, you'll have to resort to vice gripping them and maybe scratching your rim. Then you'll have to go get new nipples, in the correct size, and the wheel work will be a pain in the butt.

Truing stands and wheel goods are terribly high priced lately. But on the upside, complete budget wheels are down in price.

While you've got it in a stand, the best rim tape I've found yet is Gorilla Tape. You can tear long strips just the right width for your wheel, and it stays put for years.
 
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