Buckled wheel - options

M005

Hello, lurker here looking for advice.

I am on my 3rd week of a new job to which I commute by bike, 12.5 miles each way on Wiltshire A roads - very potholed and poor surface.

I have 'converted' a spare MTB I had for commuting which included putting 1" slicks on that make a huge difference to speed and hence cycle time.

Harder ride in than usual this morning which I initially put down to weekend excesses, but on closer inspection (do all cycle commuters find themselves fettling at lunchtime??) the back brake was rubbing due to the wheel being buckled. The wheels had previously survived 4yrs of hard moutain bike type abuse, so I'm confident it is the switch to slicks that has led to the buckling.

If I replace the wheel the same thing could / would happen again? I could try and increase the tyre size, but then lose the benefits of the slick? Are there bigger profile slicks available, I have semi slicks as a summer tyre on my P7 but the rolling resistance is still high compared?

Stuey01

Are you capable with tools?
If so I'd suggest truing it yourself and checking the spoke tension is good all the way around whilst you're at it.

Your wheel should be able to hold up to some rough roads, even with the slicks. What pressure are you running them at?
i run my road bike tyres at 100psi, a lot of people go higher, but this seems a good compromise of speed, comfort, and p*ncture and rim protection to me.

Avoid or bunnyhop the worst potholes?

ride_whenever

Nah, probably just age/bad luck.

See if you can get the wheel re-trued at your lbs (depends on the size of the buckle basically) then run the slicks a little softer.

You can get big volume slicks, basically street tyres, so large smooth, the old tioga FS100 which has now been re-named is fun and comes i na 2.3 as well.

amnezia

what pressure have you got the slicks at? I believe MTB slicks require a higher pressure than standard XC tyres.

M005

Thanks for the replies.

Tyres are at ~100-110psi and I do try and avoid the majority of potholes, but have had to take the odd hit due to traffic etc.

I am quite handy with tools, so will have a go and see what I can do with it, it's not massively out and I only had to take a shim out of the brake pad to stop it rubbing. Just means there is more travel in the brake leaver than I'd like.

Probably doesn't help that I'm rugby player build and carrying pannier bags - hardly the lightest combination!! :shock:

Stuey01

If you want to think about tyre changes I used to use 1.5" spesh nimbus armadillos that I ran at about 80psi. Did a fine job and never punctured (except when the brake rubbed through the side wall, but that was my own stupid fault...)