How far out of true can a wheel be

gcwebbyuk

Only had my bike just under two months now and not done anything mad on it.

However, when fixing a puncture before, I checked if the rim was out of true or if I hadnt seated the tyre properly - it was the latter, but the rim also wasn't perfectly true.

There was probably just under 5mm out in a certain area. Now I know this isn't much, but for future info, how far out of true can you let a wheel get before you should start to worry about it?

Before this I have run V-brakes so its quite obvious when the wheel is out, but with discs its not an instantly noticeable thing.

nicklouse

get it looked at. something is wrong.

johnsav

i would have said it was normal for wheels to need a tune up after a few months. I know mine did.

milkywhite

johnsav wrote:

i would have said it was normal for wheels to need a tune up after a few months. I know mine did.

Badly made or abused wheels maybe. Most posts about Merlin's hand built wheels state they never go out of true after lots of riding.

RussAlf

milkywhite wrote:

johnsav wrote:

i would have said it was normal for wheels to need a tune up after a few months. I know mine did.

Badly made or abused wheels maybe. Most posts about Merlin's hand built wheels state they never go out of true after lots of riding.

My 719 on Pro11s built by Merlin went out of tru.

Buy a spoke tool and have a go yourself using park tools guide on there site, its not that hard to tru a wheel that only out by 5mm.

milkywhite

RussAlf wrote:

milkywhite wrote:

johnsav wrote:

i would have said it was normal for wheels to need a tune up after a few months. I know mine did.

Badly made or abused wheels maybe. Most posts about Merlin's hand built wheels state they never go out of true after lots of riding.

My 719 on Pro11s built by Merlin went out of tru.

Buy a spoke tool and have a go yourself using park tools guide on there site, its not that hard to tru a wheel that only out by 5mm.

I didn't say none of them ever do. Just that most of their customers say they're very happy and that they never need truing up. There will always be exceptions, and a wheel that gets some serious battering will obviously need some attention eventually.

supersonic

Perfect trueness does not always mean even tension. A wheel builder will balance the two with a disc wheel. (and err on the side of truenees for a V brake wheel)

johnsav

yeah but your talking about a hand built wheel there.
Most bikes dont come with hand built wheels!

andyturner28

milkywhite wrote:

RussAlf wrote:

milkywhite wrote:

johnsav wrote:

i would have said it was normal for wheels to need a tune up after a few months. I know mine did.

Badly made or abused wheels maybe. Most posts about Merlin's hand built wheels state they never go out of true after lots of riding.

My 719 on Pro11s built by Merlin went out of tru.

Buy a spoke tool and have a go yourself using park tools guide on there site, its not that hard to tru a wheel that only out by 5mm.

I didn't say none of them ever do. Just that most of their customers say they're very happy and that they never need truing up. There will always be exceptions, and a wheel that gets some serious battering will obviously need some attention eventually.

Russ's wheels definately get a battering

GravityBolivia

5mm is definately too much. I'd say you should be trueing it up when its out about 3mm. I ride some really rocky trails out here and give my rear wheel a true every couple of rides. Then again I built the wheel so it was prob not built as well as some!