My rear wheel seems to be bent

[jnb]

The rear wheel on my bike touches to brakes at one point as I spin the wheel, it's probably moving out maybe a millimetre or two so it's not as though it's been run over but it's enough to makthings hard work. Now my immediate thought was that I think this is what they mean by truing a wheel so I stop in my local Halfords and pick up a spoke wrench on the basis that I should have a go at this.

Now having looked at a few videos and that Sheldon Brown web site I am more confused than ever. Some sites seem to suggest it's easy othrs, For example Sheldon Brown's, seem to suggest it's a black art that basically means disassembling the whole wheel before straightening the rim and then rebuilding.

Is it possible to do anything horrendous by trying to fix this with a spoke wrench? Is something other than just truing via the spokes likely to be needed. (ie can I have a go at this or do I risk making it unridable?)

 

[smithy92]

Hi jnb,

Having a go yourself does run the risk of over-tightening certain spokes which will leave other spokes under tensioned in comparison. It all comes down to how willing you are to learn by trying. The best way to learn is on a wheel which is a spare, however if you do try on your regular wheel and end up makin it further out of true then it will cost no more at the LBS than if you took it in now.

The best advice I can give for trying it yourself is do it in painstakingly small increments, so that you will quickly see if it is not going to plan.

Hope this is of some help.

Smithy.

 

[festival]

depends on the general state of the wheel, but use a bit of chalk of similar to mark the area needing attention, go one spoke beyond the buckle each end and tighten the spokes opposite the buckle to pull it back, 1/4 turn at a time. Loosen the spokes on the other side in a similar fashion. Job done.