Bent rim help and replacing wheel

[gratts]

Hey all.
Left my road bike locked in unsecure, covered bike racks at uni this term, and some twat has managed to bend the rim of my rear wheel
It's bent to the extent where it rubs against the break pads, even when they're pulled quite far apart..looking down it seems to wobble a good 1cm+.
Is there any way to unbend it convincingly? Me and my dad, through applying pressure to the bent part, have managed to reduce it an amount, but not enough to make it anywhere near perfect again.
If there isn't a way to unbend it properly, can anyone suggest a new rear wheel?
I don't have a big budget, ideally sub £50 if that's do-able..
Also, does the rear cassestte come off the wheel, and pop easily onto a new one?
Bike is a Claud Butler Roubaix, wheels are 700C..I think..

Cheers!

 

[vernon]

There's a good chance that you can have the wheel re-trued at a bike shop. Cost - up to £15. Much cheaper than buying a new wheel. The cassette can be removed from the wheel.

Sounds like you need to add a bike maintenance book to your Santa list. Zinn and the art of bicyle maintenance or the Haynes bike maintenance book would do.

 

[gratts]

I thought truing would only fix "up/down wobble", rather than "side to side wobble"? Oooh the technical language is killing me
Annoying because the wheel was only trued a week or so prior to being bent!

 

[accountantpete]

You can't just bend wheels back into shape unfortunately gratts. If there is a crease in the metalwork forget it - the rim is beyond repair. If not do as Vernon suggests and get it re-trued at the LBS - i'd get the spokes in the offending area replaced whilst you are at it as some of them will have been stretched.

Otherwise check out eBay for a shimano 9spd compatible rear wheel (which is what you presumably have) and transfer the cassette to that wheel.

truing is correcting the side to side and up and down movements of the wheel.

 

[HJ]

If you have a good LBS they can replace just the rim for you which can be cheaper than replacing the whole wheel...

 

[gratts]

Cheers guys.
Honestly not sure on the quality of LBS around here, as I've only used ones while away.
I'll pop into a few and see what they suggest/have to offer.

The metal isn't creased, but I'd have thought it'd be beyond the power of adjustment of spokes, but we'll see!
On the subject of wheels, is it a much of a muchness on quality of wheels around that price? Are there any particular brands etc to look out for?

Ta!

 

[jimboalee]

If it's not 'kinked' a wheelbuilder will be able to fix it.

Up to 1/4" sideways can be pulled out by retensioning spokes.

More than this and the wheelbuilder will use a sandbag to bend the rim back to less than 1/4".

A skillful man could get this one straight.

 

[Globalti]

With the cold dark holiday evenings coming up, why don't you and your Dad take up the challenge of rebuilding the wheel yourselves? I have done this a couple of times now and it's quite easy. It will make a nice father/son bonding exercise, especially if you get a couple of bottles of his favourite beer chilled beforehand!

Buy a new rim from the shop and tape it alongside the old rim. You'll also need a spoke key; the round plastic disc type are pretty good. Oil the spoke nipples then transfer the spokes over to the new rim, one by one. This will leave you with a loosely built new wheel. Then it's a question of systematically tightening the spokes while maintaining the dish of the wheel - if you look carefully you will see that the spokes on the drive side are flatter and must be tighter than those on the LH side of the bike, this is to allow space for the cassette. Basically the rim must be centred on the hub. You can check the dish by borrowing a dishing gauge or making yourself a simple gauge out of a piece of timber batten the same length as the diameter of the wheel with three bolts or screws through it in the centre and at the braking surfaces. Set the depth of the screws using the old wheel so that, when the centre screw is touching the end of the axle, the two others are touching the braking surfaces, equally from both sides of the wheel (if you can't achieve this equally with the old wheel, it's already out of dish.)

Building and trueing a wheel like this is very satisfying for an amateur and it will teach you a skill that will stay with you for ever; you will never have a fear of trueing a wheel again. If the whole operation goes wrong you can always take the wheel to a professional to finish off with his proper wheel building stand.

Put it this way: rebuilding a wheel is easier than changing the battery on an iPod!

 

[accountantpete]

Cheers guys.

On the subject of wheels, is it a much of a muchness on quality of wheels around that price? Are there any particular brands etc to look out for?

Ta!

I'd take a look through eBay for "shimano wheels" as there are always some odd ones popping up like this one for eg

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shimano-Mavic...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR?hash=item23044f0900

or you could check out the entry level factory built wheels like Mavic Aksiums - used pairs go for something like £70-80.

 

[gratts]

Wheel is bent less than that I'd say, Jimbo.
Will have a ring around tomorrow, thanks alot for all the input guys, it's really appreciated

 

[PpPete]

You still at uni down my way Gratts or back home?
If you get up to Ch. Ford you can put the wheel in my truing stand and I can show you how it's done. Def one of those skills you need to aquire, rather than paying LBS each time.

 

[gratts]

Cheers Pete, but I'm back home now.
Wheel was too far bent to be straightened with adjustment, so a new wheel has been ordered, which didn't work out as flightily expensive as I expected