KimLaroux
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2011
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Sometimes, you've gotta make do with what you've got.
This is the wheel that was bent like a pretzel by the idiot who ran me over a couple of months ago. I wanted to see if the rim could be straightened, so it could be used again. Surprisingly, it's quite easy to unbend an aluminum rim. In fact it's so easy, I bent it the other way by going overboard. All you need to do is mark the maximums and minimums with a dry-erase marker, then place the wheel on the first step of a stair and jump on it. Within a few minutes, I had a rim with around 5 cm of wiggle to a rim with less than 5 mm off. The problem is, it's just as easy to bend it again, and now that I have some spokes with max tensions and others looser, I'm scared it'll bend again under stress. I fine-tuned the tension in each spokes to equalize the tension, but some are still remarkably looser than others. Ah well, I'll give it a try and see.
Now the question is, do I sell the new set of rims I bought after the "accident", or do I keep both. Since I have studded tires for winter, keeping both will mean I won't have to re-rim tires twice a year. But if I move to a larger city next year for University and sell this bike, I won't need two rims, so I may as well sell the new set while they are still new. Ah the dilemma.
This is the wheel that was bent like a pretzel by the idiot who ran me over a couple of months ago. I wanted to see if the rim could be straightened, so it could be used again. Surprisingly, it's quite easy to unbend an aluminum rim. In fact it's so easy, I bent it the other way by going overboard. All you need to do is mark the maximums and minimums with a dry-erase marker, then place the wheel on the first step of a stair and jump on it. Within a few minutes, I had a rim with around 5 cm of wiggle to a rim with less than 5 mm off. The problem is, it's just as easy to bend it again, and now that I have some spokes with max tensions and others looser, I'm scared it'll bend again under stress. I fine-tuned the tension in each spokes to equalize the tension, but some are still remarkably looser than others. Ah well, I'll give it a try and see.
Now the question is, do I sell the new set of rims I bought after the "accident", or do I keep both. Since I have studded tires for winter, keeping both will mean I won't have to re-rim tires twice a year. But if I move to a larger city next year for University and sell this bike, I won't need two rims, so I may as well sell the new set while they are still new. Ah the dilemma.
