Buckled Rim?

[MrT]

Hey all, I just got myself my first road bike (Trek 1400) less than a week ago, and have put maybe 50-60km on it in a couple days.

The thing is that I was playing around with it today, and noticed that the back brake was rubbing occasionally when i spun the rear wheel. It turns out that there is a small buckle in the rear wheel, only a couple mm out in one part of the rim, but it still worried me. Should a new bike be doing this?

Cheers,

Dan

[Mulger bill]

G'Day Dan

Can you remember anything happening that might explain it?
I'd be taking her back to the LBS, see if they'll do a warranty
Even if it's not warranty, the cost would be pretty small.

Shaun

[sogood]

There's a difference b/n buckle vs out of true. Buckle would refer to a permanent deformation of the rim while out of true refers to a wheel that is out of round due to spoke tension issues. The first can't be fixed by "truing".

[mikesbytes]

Its more likely to be needing adjustment rather than be damaged. Take it back to the LBS and they will adjust it for you.

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[Halfanewb]

Hi MrT, it has been my experience that sometimes new wheels need to be re-tensioned after settling in.

I had this problem with my R550's, after a ride i would come back and they would be slightly out of true, i would get it taken out, wash rinse repeat. The thing is i did not want to take the bike in to early for its first service as i felt i needed to do a few more k's to let things settle in.

When i did bring it back for its first service i made a point of telling the bike mechanic that the wheels were going out of true and that the spokes would need to be re-tensioned, then i go for the next ride come home and the wheel is out of true again, so back i go and this time stand there and watch him while i'm chatting, anyhow the upshot of all this is that the rear wheel has still got a deformation grrr. I ended up replacing the wheelset with a pair of Velocity deep v's 32 spoke 3x and have retired the 550's to the shed until im down to fighting weight.

So far the deep v's have taken a hammering and shrugged it off. Even if they do eventually get out of true, i'm better equipped to be able to deal with it myself on the spot as they are a more traditional style of wheel with the spoke adjusters at the rim instead of at the hub. No more trips to the lbs!.

[wndrdr1111]

Shimano R500 and R550 wheels have a bad reputation for heavier riders. I have read many reports about those wheels constantly going out of true or breaking spokes. That's why when I got my Cervelo I opted to go for Easton Vistas. I'm around 88kg mark and will probably add more weight on.

I don't think Trek comes with Shimano wheels though. But like others said, the wheel is probably out of true and the LBS you got the bike from should be able to true it for you at no charge. If the wheel keeps going out of true the LBS should replace it for you under warranty.

Cheers,
Tom

[europa]

There are a lot of threads over the various forums about new wheels giving a few problems at first. These days, wheels are built by machines, not by hand. There are two offshoots - one is cheaper wheels and the other is occasional spoke problems.

Just have a yarn with your lbs about it. I've yet to hear of someone being messed about with spoke issues on a new bike (though I'm sure it has happened sadly). The usual response of bike shops is to adjust the wheel without question unless the problem appears (or becomes) too bad when the local wheel builder respokes it by hand - the latter usually cures the problem.

So no, your wheel shouldn't be going out of true. Yes, it can be fixed. Yes, go back to your shop now and have a yarn with them.

Richard

[MrT]

cheers guys, yeah i shouldve done a search for the topic but thanks for the help anyway.

[nimm]

my rear R550 was out of true and i noticed after putting on maybe 200km on the bike. Took it to the lbs and they fixed it up and it's been fine since then (maybe another 350km).

[MountGower]

asd

[MichaelB]

My LeMond Tourmalet has Bontrager Select rims (20 spoke front and 24 rear) and haven't had a problem in over 900km despite a few potholes.

I weigh in at around the 96 - 97 kg mark (getting lighter)

I thought the Treks came with Bontrager Select as well ?

Cheers

Michael B

[mikesbytes]

my rear R550 was out of true and i noticed after putting on maybe 200km on the bike. Took it to the lbs and they fixed it up and it's been fine since then (maybe another 350km).

R550's are a bit fragile, in particular broken spokes. Some have had a lot of problems and some have had no problems at all.

Velocity Deep V rims are about as tuff as it gets on a racer, it all depends what spokes/hubs/and who with those rims. They are very popular with fixie riders too.

_________________________________________________________________________________
Burn plenty of Glycogen
Frame Size Calculator.....Park Tools Repair Guides Frame Size Calculator.....Rolling Resistance.....Rolling Performance.....Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info
training log.....Body-Mass Index, Waist-to-Height Ratio, Basal Metaboic Rate
Bicycle FAQs.....Bicycle Safety.....Cadence in Cycling.....Types of Bicycles

[Bnej]

So far the deep v's have taken a hammering and shrugged it off. Even if they do eventually get out of true, i'm better equipped to be able to deal with it myself on the spot as they are a more traditional style of wheel with the spoke adjusters at the rim instead of at the hub. No more trips to the lbs!.

BTW Shimano have stopped doing the spoke nuts at hub thing, their current wheels are back to a non-assbackwards arrangement.

The LBS dude mentioned that they'd changed it back, got the impression that he thought the different arrangement was somewhat errrr, STUPID...