buckled wheel on sons bike

photome

Euphoria1z wrote: »

its actually quite similar to that wheel in the video...I had already seen that video and thought they could fix it, but the guy ( Raleigh bikes) took one look and said no...(maybe he was inexperienced and replacing was much easier for him???)


ive already replaced the wheel at a cost of £45.


I didn't know Apollo were cheap. thought they were a good make going by the reviews! the bike was £108 down from £220ish, it was on sale.


my son doesnt do jumps, though he has admitted to riding off the high kerbs rather than the part that slopes down.


any way, for future reference, what kind of make is good for a mountain bike in the £100-£150 range?


thanks

forgotmyname wrote: »

Get a spoke adjuster and have a go at adjusting it yourself. You can usually pul even fairly badly damaged wheels straight enough not to be an issue.

If all fails buy a new wheel or buy a used bike and swap the wheel over.

Did you miss the above

I doubt anyone with no experience could get a wheel true again if it is badly buckled, tightening spokes is an art

Generali

photome wrote: »

I doubt anyone with no experience could get a wheel true again if it is badly buckled, tightening spokes is an art

Why? I taught myself to true a wheel on an old Raleigh when I was a kid, probably not much older than 10. It's not that hard really: tighten the spokes to bring the wheel in (be careful not to over-tighten and pop the inner tube) and loosen them to let it out.

fred7777

Euphoria1z wrote: »

because I assumed that a buckled wheel couldn't happen due to a manufacturing issue, rather they will blame my 10 year old son on riding carelessly, plus hes fallen off the bike a few times and I figured they will blame him.


I probably should have taken it to Halfords I suppose.

As the bike is less than 6 months old they have to prove it wasn't an inherent fault (ie that he broke it) it not simply try to shift the blame.

The most likely cause, in my opinion after having looked at some halford's bikes, is that the spokes weren't tightened properly in the first place at manufacture.

27col

Nothing very mysterious about straightening a bike wheel. I was doing it when I was 10 or 11.. Even if you cannot get it perfect you can almost always make an improvement. Obviously, if it is severely buckled then you are unlikely to pull it straight with a spoke key.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Euphoria1z wrote: »

my son doesnt do jumps,

You may not realise this, but every child does, or tries to, 'do jumps' at one point or another.

Even jumping off, or more likely back onto, a kerb is enough to buckle a wheel if done with poor technique or mistimed.

though he has admitted to riding off the high kerbs rather than the part that slopes down.

:rotfl:

As I said....

any way, for future reference, what kind of make is good for a mountain bike in the £100-£150 range?

There's nothing in that price range that will stand up to repeated heavy use from an adventurous child. Stronger bikes are much more expensive, and at their age it's not worth it anyway as they'll grow out of it too quickly.

Wait until early teens and buy a really well built second hand mountain bike with quality components, what's £500+ new is often under £200 second hand.

Until then, fix what breaks....

Marco_Panettone

It depends what you mean by "good". To some, a 'good' bike would be top of the range and easily £3000+ whereas to others a 'good' bike is one that hasn't broken yet and is rideable.


Having a bike is better than not having one, and buying expensive bikes for growing kids is silly, quite frankly.

Handsome90

Just wondering, is the bicycle less than 6 months old? If so then the onus is on the retailer that the bike wasn't inherently faulty. Please read the article in this link http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange

[Deleted User]

The issue here is whether the rim itself is damaged. If it is you need a new one, otherwise it's just a matter of re-truing. If you go to a shop who doesn't have a wheelbuilder then they will say you need a new wheel whether you do or not.

The difficulty or otherwise of building wheels lies in the temperament of the builder. If you're a slapdash impatient type you will get nowhere, if you're diligent and conscientious it's easy. The process itself is methodical and systematic, albeit very repetitive. Getting the wheel true is a start, but you need even spoke tension too, and if you don't stress relieve and remove the torsion correctly the wheel won't stay true for very long.

I used to get wheels repaired at shops but they never lasted 5 minutes, I build all my own now and haven't had any problems. If you want to have a go, you won't go far wrong if you read this and just follow the instructions.

SteveJW

Generali wrote: »

Why? I taught myself to true a wheel on an old Raleigh when I was a kid, probably not much older than 10. It's not that hard really: tighten the spokes to bring the wheel in (be careful not to over-tighten and pop the inner tube) and loosen them to let it out.

Must agree, I was fed up of breaking spokes, so decided I would change all the spokes in my rear wheel for Swiss DT Double Butted, couple of photos and changed the spokes one by one.
Now at the stage where I can build a wheel from scratch, never break a spoke and they run true till the day the rim is worn out.
I will never be fast at building a wheel but the satisfaction when you make the first ride and all the spokes ping as the tension is taken out of them makes it worth while
Cost of building a 26 inch mountain bike wheel, 36 Swiss DT DB spokes £22, Shimano XT Hub £30, Mavic D521 Rim, new one on ebay at the moment for £20. Total cost £72 for a bomb proof wheel, puts a Halfords £100 bike into perspecive

billynibbles

As a school cycling instructor, I've seen wheels get buckled quite simply. Child A will lay their bike down, and child B will walk over child A's bike to get to their own, treading on a wheel or two as they go. I would certainly echo what jack_pott says. Every time I've had a wheel trued at a shop, it has lasted about 5 miles! Not quite so noticeable with disc brakes though as the rim can't rub until the wobble is so bad it fouls the frame instead! I've had 'problem' wheels that I've quite simply dumped in the end. However, I don't see why Halfords should get away with it. One of the worst things a child can say to me on day 1 of our course, is "It must be OK, we got it from Halfords yesterday".