Servicing/buckled wheels...

x8swift9x
x8swift9x Posts: 268
edited November 2008 in Road beginners
Hello people buckled wheel issue. Basically a friend and I were forced to ride into the potholes/mud you find on the side of country lanes (that drivers use to give way to other cars) by some f**ker in a 'pimped' chav car who was driving way to fast and on our side of the narrow road!

Both wheels are slightly buckled and I am no bike mechanic...yet. I see that Evans cycles charge £15 to 'true' a wheel and as they charge 12.50 (wow) to mend a puncture it may not be such a hard job? I feel that it must be over priced?

My LBS is Blackboy hill cycles (bristol), yet I have never been in there.

Would just like to know if that is over priced and if anyone on here uses my LBS/could reccmend one in bristol

cheers
Road: Felt AR0, Di2
Touring/commute: Dolan Multricross
TT: PX Exocet Sold because it was like a sail in the wind (sh*t)

Comments

  • Not Another Hill
    Not Another Hill Posts: 382
    My LBS just done 3 of my wheels at £12.50 each. So £15.00 is around the mark for truing. They might charge more if it is severley buckled or it may be beyond truing.
  • musttriharder
    musttriharder Posts: 29
    I tried to true a wheel once it was a disaster, it ended up shaped like a taco. I think this is a job that requires significantly more skill than mending a puncture. I would say local bike shop is the way to go, £15 doesn't seem too far wide of the mark.
  • batch78
    batch78 Posts: 1,320
    Its not that difficult if you get a good 'how to' and take your time.

    I'm not sure I'd trust Evans myself, service can be a bit hit and miss depending on which part timer you get.

    £15 is about the going rate, my LBS charges that and really wasn't very good, which is why I now do it myself.
  • synchronicity
    synchronicity Posts: 1,415
    Oh my lord that is so expensive. Where I live, they'll true a wheel for like 2 pound. :shock:
    vertebr.ae | precision braking & shifting
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    x8swift9x wrote:
    My LBS is Blackboy hill cycles (bristol), yet I have never been in there.

    I wouldn't recommend Blackboy Hill Cycles, nor Mud Dock, however Bike Bristol in Queens Avenue (opposite Habitat) are very good in my experience (very friendly and helpful, have given me small parts free, lent me tools, offered me 10% discount without asking, just because I had been in a few times). Their priice list shows wheel truing at £7.50-£15. They charge £40 per hour labour (£10 for 15 minutes, £20 for 30) (fair enough) so the wheel truing price suggests it takes between 10 and 20 minutes, also fair enough.
  • Mister W
    Mister W Posts: 791
    It's not that hard. My GF does mine........... mainly because I'm too lazy. Get yourself onto the Park Tool website and follow the instructions.
  • x8swift9x
    x8swift9x Posts: 268
    alfablue wrote:
    x8swift9x wrote:
    My LBS is Blackboy hill cycles (bristol), yet I have never been in there.

    I wouldn't recommend Blackboy Hill Cycles, nor Mud Dock, however Bike Bristol in Queens Avenue (opposite Habitat)

    Oh yeah, forgot there is a bikeshop there....although I walk past it everyday on the way to uni! :D I have been into Mud Dock but they weren't very interested in helping me so I decided to 'wiggle' the items i needed instead :wink:

    Thanks to the other repliers also.
    Road: Felt AR0, Di2
    Touring/commute: Dolan Multricross
    TT: PX Exocet Sold because it was like a sail in the wind (sh*t)
  • brighton-biker
    brighton-biker Posts: 31
    I trued my first wheel last week and its quite easy and actually rather addictive!

    I googled wheel truing and the first result is a handy step by step guide.

    If you follow that and do it methodically there's not a lot that can go wrong!

    (apart from maybe a spoke snapping and shooting into your eye - ouch)
    Wanna go for a ride? :)
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    £12.50 for a puncture when all they do is put a new tube in and check the tyre for intrusions is a pi$$ take. Most LBS charge £5 for the same.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • System_1
    System_1 Posts: 513
    £12.50 for a puncture repair! A replacement tube only costs £3 so they essentially charge £9 just to fit it! Then again, if you're daft or lazy enough you can't fix a puncture yourself then maybe you deserve to be relieved of £12.50.

    But £15 to true a wheel! Sorry, that's a f***ing joke. Most competent wheelbuilders can BUILD you wheel for not much more than £10 over the cost of the parts. Trueing a wheel, assuming it's not miles out or bent beyond repair will take anyone who knows what they are doing 5 minutes. Charging more than a fiver is taking the p**s.

    Invest a couple of quid in a spoke key, get googling and learn to do it yourself. It's not rocket science and your wheels will go out of true enough times that it's a skill worth learning. Especially at those prices.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    System, I agree £12.50 for a puncture repair is steep, and all cyclists need to get to grips with this skill, but hey, there are all sorts of services we can buy in life if we are wealthy enough and lazy enough. As for wheel truing, I also agree that it is a relatively easy skill (I have always done my own) but I think 10 minutes is realistic, and Bike Bristol are charging accordingly (£7.50-£15). If it is not economic they won't sell the service, they are in business to make money, it ain't a hobby or a social service! Also, I don't begrudge the LBS charging this, they have the overheads, including paying mechanics, and a wheel true doesn't gain any revenue from selling components - they have to make a living and can't simply charge the net cost and make a profit. We want the LBS to survive, don't we?
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    £10-15 is about what you should expect to pay, as others say, if you feel it's too expensive - learn to do it yourself. Some only take a few minutes, but sometimes the easiest retrue can turn into a nightmare - seized/rounded nipples, overtightened spokes can turn a 5 minute job into half an hour - it's often the wheels on basic / old bikes that are the worst. Generally, 10mm out of true is manageable, but depends on the type of rim, whether the rim has been deformed or kinked - sometimes involving releasing the tension on all the spokes and starting again! The same goes for low-spoke-count wheels where tensions are higher - it's easier to slacken all the spokes and tighten them evenly than just working on a few and the risk of one snapping. For really bent wheels, I've used vices, mallets and excessive amounts of bodyweight to get a taco'd wheel somewhere near true - gets you home but I can't guarantee how long it will last!
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • billybiker
    billybiker Posts: 272
    System wrote:
    £12.50 for a puncture repair! A replacement tube only costs £3 so they essentially charge £9 just to fit it! Then again, if you're daft or lazy enough you can't fix a puncture yourself then maybe you deserve to be relieved of £12.50.

    But £15 to true a wheel! Sorry, that's a f***ing joke. Most competent wheelbuilders can BUILD you wheel for not much more than £10 over the cost of the parts. Trueing a wheel, assuming it's not miles out or bent beyond repair will take anyone who knows what they are doing 5 minutes. Charging more than a fiver is taking the p**s.

    Invest a couple of quid in a spoke key, get googling and learn to do it yourself. It's not rocket science and your wheels will go out of true enough times that it's a skill worth learning. Especially at those prices.

    You try building a wheel and see how long it takes.
    www.withamwheelers.co.uk
  • x8swift9x
    x8swift9x Posts: 268
    Took me a while to get round to it, but I have booked it in for next week. Looking at buying a truing stand as I'm going to do it myself from then on. Anyone recommend a particular one? Wiggle have a park tools one at £80, but have seen cheaper. But not sure if it will be so great.
    Road: Felt AR0, Di2
    Touring/commute: Dolan Multricross
    TT: PX Exocet Sold because it was like a sail in the wind (sh*t)
  • MrGrumpy
    MrGrumpy Posts: 288
    http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=T7566

    dunno if thats much cope, I suppose you get what you pay for.
    http://veloviewer.com/athlete/352771/
  • billybiker
    billybiker Posts: 272
    x8swift9x wrote:
    Took me a while to get round to it, but I have booked it in for next week. Looking at buying a truing stand as I'm going to do it myself from then on. Anyone recommend a particular one? Wiggle have a park tools one at £80, but have seen cheaper. But not sure if it will be so great.
    I have the Park Tools one and I would recommend this. Consider also a good book and a spoke tension gauge-these are used by the pros so really essential for us amateurs. Building wheels is a great pastime-just get a stool, heater, cup of T and retire to the shed!
    www.withamwheelers.co.uk
  • JWSurrey
    JWSurrey Posts: 1,173
    Curious to know how long it does take to build a front and rear wheel - typically?
    I always assumed it was more of an art-form, and took a day for a pair of wheels?
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    JWSurrey wrote:
    Curious to know how long it does take to build a front and rear wheel - typically?
    I always assumed it was more of an art-form, and took a day for a pair of wheels?
    Why not ask Robbarker or Jamey, they built some recently.
  • bobtbuilder
    bobtbuilder Posts: 1,537
    It's not that hard. My GF does mine

    Awesome! Where can I get a GF like that? Mine makes me pump up her tyres! :roll:
  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    I have just taught myself to true wheels,it`s quite satisfying and once you know which way to turn the spokes to tighten them it is much easier!I have even bought a cheap truing stand http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=T3175 so i can do it sat at my desk and it`s a doddle.I now go looking for tiny buckles just so i can do some truing.
    Smarter than the average bear.

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