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#1
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Bicycle Repair
Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it
needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA |
#2
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Bicycle Repair
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#3
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Bicycle Repair
"Claude Hopper" wrote in message ... wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA All you'll do is make it worse. Likely, you are quite correct. But it is quite possible to improve things somewhat with a spoke wrench. The odds are the the rim has been damaged to the point that were all the spokes to be removed it would not lie flat. Unless it's a very expensive bike with expensive wheels, it just doesn't make sense to rebuild a wheel. I have a few old bikes laying about. One is a "folding bike" that in some situations would be very valuable/useful. I have the room to keep junk about but I shoud throw it out. If I decided it was worth "keeping" it would make sense to buy a cheap bike with the same size wheel and take the wheels off the cheap bike and put them on the folding bike. All that said, it is quite possible to completely rebuild a wheel by removing all the spokes and then making the rim lie flat while maintain its round shape and then re-instaling the spokes. Of course, it's easy to damage the rim beyond any repair. The first step is to buy a book or two that describes how to do it. There is no law that says you have to re-spoke in the same pattern as the orginal wheel. The books will help you decide what pattern to use. You can also replace the hub and/or get a new rim for a completely fresh start. I used to be "up" on this stuff but no more. I no longer read bike magazines but when I did there are ads for bike parts, etc. |
#4
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Bicycle Repair
On Oct 30, 9:26*pm, wrote:
Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? Save yourself a lot of frustration and just take the wheel to a bike shop. ----- - gpsman |
#5
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Bicycle Repair
On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:26:22 -0400, in2-dadark wrote:
Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA Bike shops have spoke wrenches. Follow Don Klipstein's advise. I've done this and also respoked wheels. This is my spoke wrench. http://s370.photobucket.com/albums/o...t=s7001395.jpg http://s370.photobucket.com/albums/o...t=s7001394.jpg At one time I had painted the different sizes to make it easier to use. Been a while since I've used it. |
#6
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Bicycle Repair
"John Gilmer" wrote in
e: "Claude Hopper" wrote in message ... wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA All you'll do is make it worse. Likely, you are quite correct. But it is quite possible to improve things somewhat with a spoke wrench. The odds are the the rim has been damaged to the point that were all the spokes to be removed it would not lie flat. Unless it's a very expensive bike with expensive wheels, it just doesn't make sense to rebuild a wheel. I have a few old bikes laying about. One is a "folding bike" that in some situations would be very valuable/useful. I have the room to keep junk about but I shoud throw it out. If I decided it was worth "keeping" it would make sense to buy a cheap bike with the same size wheel and take the wheels off the cheap bike and put them on the folding bike. All that said, it is quite possible to completely rebuild a wheel by removing all the spokes and then making the rim lie flat while maintain its round shape and then re-instaling the spokes. Of course, it's easy to damage the rim beyond any repair. The first step is to buy a book or two that describes how to do it. There is no law that says you have to re-spoke in the same pattern as the orginal wheel. The books will help you decide what pattern to use. You can also replace the hub and/or get a new rim for a completely fresh start. I used to be "up" on this stuff but no more. I no longer read bike magazines but when I did there are ads for bike parts, etc. Reminds me as a kid,when I found a bike in someones trash,and decided to fit it up so I would have a bike, The rear wheel was missing half it's spokes and was warped terribly.I bought lots of new spokes,and took out all the old ones before installing the new ones. When I saw that I was hopelessly lost,went to my dad for help. He took one look,and took me out and bought me a new bike. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net |
#8
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Bicycle Repair
In article ,
wrote: On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:26:22 -0400, wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA To true the wheel, you will need to jury rig a truing stand. In your case, the easiest way would likely be to turn the bike upside down, and build an upright post of some sort that can be placed on the ground beside the wheel. Duct tape a piece of stiff wire (coathanger) to the post pointing towards the side of the wheel rim. Adjust the pointer wire so that as you turn the wheel, the wire is as close as possible without touching at any point. It will probably be close in one or more spots and far away at others. Now spin the wheel and grab it to stop it as it passes the place that is farthest from the indicator. adjust the spoke tensions in that area to bring it closer. Don't over-do it. You'll be doing this repeatedly for quite some time as you GRADUALLY bring the rim into true in small increments. Take care that you don't end up pulling the whole rim all the way to one side in relation to the hub, or leave the hub anywhere other then exactly centered as the axis. A real truing stand would have indicators on both sides, and top and bottom. A practiced tech with the real equipment can often true a rim in minutes. If this is all too much work for you, just bring the wheel to any bike shop and let them do it. It won't cost that much. Sounds good if the wheel is out of true. OP didn't make it completely clear that it isn't a mounting issue wobble, which would be simpler. |
#9
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Bicycle Repair
On Oct 30, 9:26*pm, wrote:
Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA here are two excellent bike repair web sites http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ http://www.parktool.com/repair/ |
#10
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Bicycle Repair
On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:21:32 -0400, salty wrote:
On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:12:04 -0400, RLM wrote: On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:39:52 -0400, salty wrote: On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:26:22 -0400, wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA To true the wheel, you will need to jury rig a truing stand. In your case, the easiest way would likely be to turn the bike upside down, and build an upright post of some sort that can be placed on the ground beside the wheel. Duct tape a piece of stiff wire (coathanger) to the post pointing towards the side of the wheel rim. Adjust the pointer wire so that as you turn the wheel, the wire is as close as possible without touching at any point. It will probably be close in one or more spots and far away at others. Now spin the wheel and grab it to stop it as it passes the place that is farthest from the indicator. adjust the spoke tensions in that area to bring it closer. Don't over-do it. You'll be doing this repeatedly for quite some time as you GRADUALLY bring the rim into true in small increments. Take care that you don't end up pulling the whole rim all the way to one side in relation to the hub, or leave the hub anywhere other then exactly centered as the axis. A real truing stand would have indicators on both sides, and top and bottom. A practiced tech with the real equipment can often true a rim in minutes. If this is all too much work for you, just bring the wheel to any bike shop and let them do it. It won't cost that much. I would turn the bike up ended on it's handlebars. I used the front fork to mount either wheel and trued them using the fork as a benchmark. I think you should have read what I wrote before you posted. I read it and all you need is your finger to gage the proximity of the rim as you rotate it. Been there, done that. Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. -- Albert Einstein -- Nor more complicated than necessary. -- Added by RLM -- _______m___~¿õ___m_______ |
#11
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Bicycle Repair
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#12
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Bicycle Repair
In , Smitty Two wrote:
In , wrote: On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:26:22 -0400, wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA To true the wheel, you will need to ...... Sounds good if the wheel is out of true. OP didn't make it completely clear that it isn't a mounting issue wobble, which would be simpler. My experience is that a "mounting issue wobble" is usually loose bearings, occaisionally a broken axle. If the bearings are loose, they (along with the "cups" that they fit in and the "cones" that push them into place) probably also need to be cleaned and regreased. You will need cone wrenches, and probably also a book on DIY bike repair. If you have ball bearings in ring-shaped holders that broke apart, you need either exact replacement or proper number of "loose ball" bearings of the ame size. Do not mix new and old bearings within one side of a wheel. Do not move old bearings from one side of a wheel to the other side, or from one wheel to another. Unequally worn or otherwise microscopically-differently-sized bearings within one side of a wheel will cause the larger ones to experience extra pressure - leading to extra wear on the larger bearings, and also on the cups and cones. If you replace any bearings in one side of a wheel or add any, replace them all with brand new ones all from the same batch. If the axle is broken, you are in for removing the bearings and putting them back - cone wrenches required. If you have sealed bearing cartridges, it gets easier - merely replace them. I have done that without cone wrenches, but is seems to me better to have them. - Don Klipstein ) |
#13
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Bicycle Repair
On Sat, 1 Nov 2008 05:54:35 +0000 (UTC), (Don
Klipstein) wrote: In , Smitty Two wrote: In , wrote: On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:26:22 -0400, wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA To true the wheel, you will need to ...... Sounds good if the wheel is out of true. OP didn't make it completely clear that it isn't a mounting issue wobble, which would be simpler. My experience is that a "mounting issue wobble" is usually loose bearings, occaisionally a broken axle. If the bearings are loose, they (along with the "cups" that they fit in and the "cones" that push them into place) probably also need to be cleaned and regreased. You will need cone wrenches, and probably also a book on DIY bike repair. If you have ball bearings in ring-shaped holders that broke apart, you need either exact replacement or proper number of "loose ball" bearings of the ame size. Do not mix new and old bearings within one side of a wheel. Do not move old bearings from one side of a wheel to the other side, or from one wheel to another. Unequally worn or otherwise microscopically-differently-sized bearings within one side of a wheel will cause the larger ones to experience extra pressure - leading to extra wear on the larger bearings, and also on the cups and cones. If you replace any bearings in one side of a wheel or add any, replace them all with brand new ones all from the same batch. If the axle is broken, you are in for removing the bearings and putting them back - cone wrenches required. If you have sealed bearing cartridges, it gets easier - merely replace them. I have done that without cone wrenches, but is seems to me better to have them. - Don Klipstein ) Old proverb: When you hear hoofbeats, look for horses before looking for zebras. |
#14
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Bicycle Repair
My father was frugal, so all the bikes I and my sisters got as kids were
from police auctions, and all needed repair. My father made me help with the repairs, and I did the same thing with my kids; its a good way to spend time with your kids. Almost all the bikes we got had wobbly wheel issues, and the problem was with the rim, not with the tires. So step one was to measure the length of the spokes, then visit the bike shop and buy a dozen replacements and a spoke wrench. The next step was to remove the tire and inspect the rim. If the rim had clear problems, such as a bend in he metal, or rust, we usually bought a new rim. You can probably clean up rust, but there isn't much you can do if the metal is bent. With the tire off, check for broken or loose spokes. Replace broken ones, and snug up loose ones, but you will have to do further snugging or loosening later. The next step was to figure out the cause of the wobble. We only ever looked for two things: is the rim flat perpendicular its axis (does it wobble side to side), and is it round, not oval shaped (if someone has overtightened the spokes at 90 and 270 degrees, for example, the rim would have a greater radius at 180 and 0 degrees, and would wobble accordingly. Lacking special tools, we would just stand the bike upside down, and hold a marker (grease pencils are good, but I've used a common desk pencil) fixed on a frame arm while you spin the wheel; the pencil will mark where the rim is closer to that part of the frame arm and leave the rest unmarked. Do this from both sides of the bike, to get marks that will show you where the rim has to be pulled one way or another. Also do it from a member above the frame, to see if it is too oval, and where the high points are. We always addressed the sides first, then checked if it was oval after we got it flat (perpendicular to the axis). I don't know why we did it in that order, but it seemed to work well. By tightening and loosening the appropriate spokes, you can eventually get the rim true, but usually this means doing it once, removing the pencil marks, and then doing it again, and possibly again, as each adjustment will affect other areas. Its probably more efficient to take it to a bike shop, unless you like doing stuff like this, and/or want to spend some time working with your child. Around here most of the bike shops seem to look down on such work, unless you have a state-of-the-art bike, but we still have one place that has been here for years (it was where my father took me) that is happy to work on any bike, but all their people are getting old and I'm not sure how long they will stay in business. wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA |
#15
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Bicycle Repair
"RLM" wrote in message ... On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:21:32 -0400, salty wrote: On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:12:04 -0400, RLM wrote: On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:39:52 -0400, salty wrote: On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:26:22 -0400, wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA To true the wheel, you will need to jury rig a truing stand. In your case, the easiest way would likely be to turn the bike upside down, and build an upright post of some sort that can be placed on the ground beside the wheel. Duct tape a piece of stiff wire (coathanger) to the post pointing towards the side of the wheel rim. Adjust the pointer wire so that as you turn the wheel, the wire is as close as possible without touching at any point. It will probably be close in one or more spots and far away at others. Now spin the wheel and grab it to stop it as it passes the place that is farthest from the indicator. adjust the spoke tensions in that area to bring it closer. Don't over-do it. You'll be doing this repeatedly for quite some time as you GRADUALLY bring the rim into true in small increments. Take care that you don't end up pulling the whole rim all the way to one side in relation to the hub, or leave the hub anywhere other then exactly centered as the axis. A real truing stand would have indicators on both sides, and top and bottom. A practiced tech with the real equipment can often true a rim in minutes. If this is all too much work for you, just bring the wheel to any bike shop and let them do it. It won't cost that much. I would turn the bike up ended on it's handlebars. I used the front fork to mount either wheel and trued them using the fork as a benchmark. I think you should have read what I wrote before you posted. I read it and all you need is your finger to gage the proximity of the rim as you rotate it. Been there, done that. Personally, I use the brake shoes as the guage. |
#16
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Bicycle Repair
wrote in message ... Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? First thing - replace any broken spokes. |
#17
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Bicycle Repair
Bob F wrote:
wrote in message ... Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? First thing - replace any broken spokes. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/truing.html -- replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply. http://members.cox.net/njnagel |
#18
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Bicycle Repair
On Nov 2, 6:40*am, "Bob F" wrote:
Personally, I use the brake shoes as the guage. That's OK when you have experience, but a better method is to spin the wheel while bracing a grease pencil against the frame and slowly advancing it toward the rim. This marks the "high" points and remains as a reference during adjustments. The OP's appears to be unable to determine if his wheel may not be sprung beyond true-ability. He should take it to a bike shop. ----- - gpsman |
#19
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Bicycle Repair
Most shops charge about $10/wheel to true. Spending $20 to have a
usable bike is a great deal. On Oct 31, 6:47*am, RLM wrote: On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:26:22 -0400, in2-dadark wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA Bike shops have spoke wrenches. Follow Don Klipstein's advise. I've done this and also respoked wheels. This is my spoke wrench.http://s370.photobucket.com/albums/o...tion=view&curr... At one time I had painted the different sizes to make it easier to use. Been a while since I've used it. |
#20
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Bicycle Repair
I tightened up the spokes in the areas of the wobbles and it helped. I
fixed it up the rest of the way, put some more reflectors on it that I had laying around and gave it to a 9 year old girl in the neighborhood. To see how happy she was and her big smile was priceless. When I found it, she was who first came to mind... I think I'll be going yard saleing to see if I can find more bikes and more kids to match them with..Ya can't beat the feeling of doing something for someone who isnt' expecting it. And here in S. Fla things are bad, so we have no shortage of kids who need it but don't expect it.. I had so much fun test driving this one I bought myself a new cruiser type bike (Giant suede) like the one I found. I have a Specialized mountain bike, but I'm getting too old for that position.. |
#21
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Bicycle Repair
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:08:30 -0500, in2-dadark wrote:
I tightened up the spokes in the areas of the wobbles and it helped. I fixed it up the rest of the way, put some more reflectors on it that I had laying around and gave it to a 9 year old girl in the neighborhood. To see how happy she was and her big smile was priceless. When I found it, she was who first came to mind... I think I'll be going yard saleing to see if I can find more bikes and more kids to match them with..Ya can't beat the feeling of doing something for someone who isnt' expecting it. And here in S. Fla things are bad, so we have no shortage of kids who need it but don't expect it.. I had so much fun test driving this one I bought myself a new cruiser type bike (Giant suede) like the one I found. I have a Specialized mountain bike, but I'm getting too old for that position.. Now that's a success story. |
#22
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Bicycle Repair
On Oct 31, 10:10*am, Jim Yanik wrote:
"John Gilmer" wrote .se: "Claude Hopper" wrote in message ... wrote: Some moron left a pretty decent bike on my lawn (short version) and it needed a few repairs so I did 'em.. I'm left with one I'm not sure how to do. The tires have a wobble. Is there a method to the madness of adjusting the spokes to help alleviate those wobbles?? TIA All you'll do is make it worse. Likely, you are quite correct. But it is quite possible to improve things somewhat with a spoke wrench. The odds are the the rim has been damaged to the point that were all the spokes to be removed it would not lie flat. Unless it's a very expensive bike with expensive wheels, it just doesn't make sense to rebuild a wheel. I have a few old bikes laying about. * One is a "folding bike" that in some situations would be very valuable/useful. * I have the room to keep junk about but I shoud throw it out. If I decided it was worth "keeping" it would make sense to buy a cheap bike with the same size wheel and take the wheels off the cheap bike and put them on the folding bike. All that said, it is quite possible to completely rebuild a wheel by removing all the spokes and then making the rim lie flat while maintain its round shape and then re-instaling the spokes. * Of course, it's easy to damage the rim beyond any repair. The first step is to buy a book or two that describes how to do it. * There is no law that says you have to re-spoke in the same pattern as the orginal wheel. * The books will help you decide what pattern to use. * You can also replace the hub and/or get a new rim for a completely fresh start. I used to be "up" on this stuff but no more. *I no longer read bike magazines but when I did there are ads for bike parts, etc. Reminds me as a kid,when I found a bike in someones trash,and decided to fit it up so I would have a bike, The rear wheel was missing half it's spokes and was warped terribly.I bought lots of new spokes,and took out all the old ones before installing the new ones. When I saw that I was hopelessly lost,went to my dad for help. He took one look,and took me out and bought me a new bike. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - heh. reminds me of the time i crunched my back wheel, and absent mindedly cut all the spokes before removing my (expensive) freewheel from my (expensive) hub. should i say, trying to remove. i've still got the assembled unit to remind me not to do things which i know enough to not do. |
#23
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Bicycle Repair
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#24
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Bicycle Repair
I think taking the wheel to a bike shop is also a good idea.
Posted from the Free Home Improvement Forum at http://www.spicyhome.com |
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