How to Repair a Bicycle Rim

A bent or wobbly rim is common in cycling. Mountain, road, touring, BMX and hybrid bike wheels all share the same rim technology, and the same repair methods apply to all bike rims. Professional bike shops use a delicate truing stand to repair a bent rim, but you can repair your rim out on the trail or on that long stretch of blacktop if you need to. All you need is a spoke wrench.

Things You'll Need

  • Black marker Spoke wrench
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Instructions

    • 1

      Turn the bike upside down. Examine the wheel to ensure that it is not installed wrong, or crooked where the axle sits in the bike’s fork. Remove small rocks or sticks that might be rubbing or causing the wheel to wobble. Loosen and retighten the skewer axle lever to check wheel tightness. The lever is the big one on the axle that you use to remove the wheel.

    • 2

      Give the wheel a spin by hand. Get at eye level and examine the wheel as it rotates. If the rim is bent, the wheel will oscillate sideways as it spins.

    • 3

      Let the wheel slow down and stop revolving. If the bend is bad, the wheel will stop revolving when it makes contact with the brake pad. If the wheel wobbles but does not make contact with the brake pad, stop the wheel when it wobbles closest to the pad.

    • 4

      Identify three spokes that are directly opposite the wobble. Trace them to the points where they enter the rim. Spokes attach to either side of the rim, alternating from side to side as they enter the rim. By choosing three spokes, you have a reference point on how they alternately skip from side to side of the rim. The spoke in the middle, which is farthest away from the brake pad, is the one you will tighten to repair the bend.

    • 5

      Slide the spoke wrench over the spoke nipple. The nipple is the shiny square end of the spoke that enters the rim. Make a small mark on the spoke with the marker. It is important to mark the spoke, especially if the wobble is subtle and hard to see, because it's easy to lose your place when all the spokes are identical.

    • 6

      Turn the spoke wrench clockwise 1/2 turn to tighten the spoke. Watch carefully as the spoke pulls the bend out of the rim. Spin the wheel by hand and observe the wobble. Notice how much the wobble has dissipated, and turn the spoke again accordingly to remove the wobble. If a spoke gets too tight, don't try to force it; stop turning it. Skip over the next spoke--it is on the wrong side of the rim--and begin tightening the next spoke on the same side of the rim as the one that was too tight. You can move above or below the one that was too tight, whatever is closer to the wobble.

    • 7

      Spin the wheel by hand several more times and observe the wobble. If the wobble is still perceptible, stop the wheel from spinning opposite the wobble and continue tightening the spoke until the wheel spins straight.