Had a hell of a fall today in Swissvale! I'm completely unscathed, but my new bike is not. I'm used to riding a fixed gear bike with really deep-section wheels, and I've had crashes like this on them with no damage... but, my new wheels are tacos. So, since I've never been in this situation before, should I:
1. disassemble wheel, try to bang out rims flat with a rubber mallet, attempt to rebuild and true
2. disassemble wheel, throw out wasted spokes and rim, buy all new spokes, nipples and rim, and rebuild (where should I buy this stuff? online? kraynicks?
3. get someone else to do one of the above (recommend a bike shop that builds wheels for a reasonable price)
4. quit trying to ride fancy bikes that shift and have modern components and permanently go back to my schwinn fixed conversion??? steel is real?
I wouldn't bang a rim flat unless it's to become furniture or dreamcatcher.
even if you had the time to straighten the rim with a hammer or manhole cover, and fine tune the spokes, you'd still have creases your brakes will not like.
you could buy the same rim, reuse the spokes and just replace the nipples.
The spokes weren't actually bent, but do you think reusing spokes that have gone through a crash like that is a good idea?
Crud. I had composed a reply my mobile lost.
Recap.
I would only reride bent rims when I can make sure that doesn't effect the ride. Trail to commute. No f that. I ditched every rim I've chipped. Even after riding miles out of woods with detached brakes.
In short. Not a good idea IMO
I'd say give 'em to Pierce...
Here's another thing - I'm not bad at truing wheels but have never built any before. What're the chances I'll be able to figure it out without having some of the more expensive tools of the trade? Will I be able to build a decent wheel with a spoke wrench, my bike's fork, and some luck, or do I really need a truing stand, tension meter, etc.?
How are the spokes not bent if the rim is taco'd?
And yes, it is quite possible to build a wheel with nothing but a bike and a spoke wrench. The fancy tools would make things easier, but they aren't 100% necessary. Brake pads instead of truing stand, ruler instead of dishing tool, finger squeeze instead of tension meter.
I suppose what I mean is the spokes aren't bent so badly that they're creased or anything, but I probably wouldn't want to use them again. I think I'll probably try the DIY rebuild... good places to get spokes and a rim around here? Probably best to just head to Kraynick's, yeah? Benefit of that would be to potentially just use a truing stand there. And also to support Kraynick's, and to not spend a fortune.
Listen to steve k. It's fine to reuse spokes from a tacoed wheel.
As luck would have it, someone's selling me a complete wheel with a cassette for el cheapo today! But, rebuilding my wrecked wheel as a spare will definitely be on my to-do list...
