Bent rim. Write off or repairable?

[Peter F]

Hit a Cats eye at speed and as well as two flat tyres my front rim is bent. Is this repairable or should I just buy a new wheel?

[Brucey]

some modern rims are heat treated to make them strong. This has the unfortunate side-effect of making them crack when you try and correct damage like that. So by all means try but be prepared to have to implement a back up plan.

cheers

[pwa]

Some bike shops have tools to do that job if you don't fancy DIY.

[Peter F]

Oh, not going to attempt DIY. Will try my local bike shop.

[Marcus Aurelius]

That could be rolled out, with a dent roller, however as has been said, it might crack the rim, so have a new rim as a ‘plan B’.

[TheBomber]

Is that tyre inflated in the photos? It might be the way the picture was taken but for a familiar Continental tyre there’s very little sidewall showing - making me wonder if there isn’t something odd about the setup that makes it prone to impact punctures/damage.

[Peter F]

Is that tyre inflated in the photos? It might be the way the picture was taken but for a familiar Continental tyre there’s very little sidewall showing - making me wonder if there isn’t something odd about the setup that makes it prone to impact punctures/damage.

No, tyre is completely flat there.

I've fixed it myself. A bit of wood, a hammer and a work bench knocked the dent back out sufficient to let the tyre seat correctly. Holding 110psig.

[Brucey]

….I've fixed it myself....

yay!

[Peter F]

Update.
So rode the bike yesterday and while the wheel isn't 100% it doesn't really effect the way the bike rides.
However Hunt have got back to me and they will sell me a replacement rim for £45 (35% discount).
What to do...

[hamster]

At £45 I think it's worth replacing.

[Jamesh]

Your wheels are worth 30-50% of what they were worth before you hit the cateye.

Ok £45 isn't a small amount but I rekon its smaller than the loss of value due to hitting the cateye.


Also alot less than front teeth repairs, should the rim cause a catastrophic failure to the wheel as a whole.

Cheers James

[Peter F]

Your wheels are worth 30-50% of what they were worth before you hit the cateye.

Ok £45 isn't a small amount but I rekon its smaller than the loss of value due to hitting the cateye.


Also alot less than front teeth repairs, should the rim cause a catastrophic failure to the wheel as a whole.

Cheers James

This is all true. However the value bit doesn't mean anything to me. I will keep the wheels until they break anyway.

However, the question is how likely is the wheel to fail in the future, compared to a new rim. Front teeth is one thing but a wheel failing on a descent could be much worse.

[Cyclewala]

I presume the Hunt offer is the same rim so it will be easy to transpose to existing spokes.

Sounds reasonable if you're handy with a spoke key, but factor in labour charges if asking a bike shop to do it.

[Bonefishblues]

At £45 I think it's worth replacing.

Do this if you plan to keep descending at speed. £45 for peace of mind.

[Peter F]

I presume the Hunt offer is the same rim so it will be easy to transpose to existing spokes.

Sounds reasonable if you're handy with a spoke key, but factor in labour charges if asking a bike shop to do it.

I'll pay a bike shop to do it. I'm not confident enough to do it myself. Yes, it is exactly the same rim.