It’s aluminum so a pretty solid no unfortunately, can’t bend it safely especially considering you have to have a tight lock with your tire
dominiquebache on
Nopedinope …
Technically – you could bend it back, but it won’t be straight.
Tried it several times and never got the rim completely flat/straight like before.
Sorry for the loss.
SspeshalK on
Even if you could bend it back that looks like a substantial crack so the rim is fine. Either rebuild it with a new rim or replace the wheel.
bikesnkitties on
Small dings are fine, but that’s a big ding.
New rim time! If the wheel is lower end then it’s probably cheaper to replace the whole thing. You can take the damaged wheel to a local bike co-op and they’ll salvage the hub.
Acceptable_Grape_437 on
how? with brute force. no way around it.
I’d say it’s ready to be tossed, but trying won’t hurt 😉
sorry for your fatal curb hit 🙁
terdward on
Helllll no. Even if you could bend aluminum back without structurally compromising the material, that shit’s cracked!
booced on
Thanks for the replies guys! I just wanna renew everyone’s faith in humanity and clear up that NO I wasn’t planning on bending back a cracked rim. That’s just a decal that caught the light in a funny way.
Consistent-Bat2917 on
blowtorch it first
steroboros on
That crack means it’s dead
LibraryTime11011011 on
You bend it back by prising open your wallet and levering out a credit card to buy a new wheel.
BBMTH on
First pic, thought probably going to crack but nothing to lose bending it back anyway. Second pic saw it’s already cracked. I would bend something like this back to get home or a couple miles to the bike shop.
I ended up replacing the wheel few weeks later Surprisingly, the (tubeless) tire held pretty well, and was able to ride until the end of my holidays.
I showed the wheel to 2 bike mechanics (because answers in this sub were too wildly different between commenters), who both told me: “if it held, don’t touch it. Ride while having a spare tube on you, replace the wheel when you can”
Odd_Neighborhood2176 on
I would try to bend it back using an adjustable wrench, as others have stated it may be too far gone, I would also pour boiling water on it to warm it up before attempting to bend it back. I’ve done so successfully before but IDK if my dent was as severe as yours.
Also, if you had a curb, that must’ve been a really hard hit or possibly the tire was not fully inflated in order to take up some of the shock. This is a valuable lesson for all of us; good luck, brother.
lrbikeworks on
Done
Celemourn on
Do some googling on work hardening. I don’t recall if aluminum is vulnerable to it, but if it is, I would use a torch to anneal the affected area before trying to bend it back.
sketchycatman on
You try and fix mountain bike rims because it will more than likely happen again several times per year.
For a one-off oopsie on a road bike it doesn’t make a lot of sense except in an emergency.
HuumanDriftWood on
Aluminum bent to certain amounts yeh ok depending if it’s not structural.
But it looks like it’s got a crack where the extrusion line on the inside meets the inner structure.
Nsquire22 on
Well i would – otherwise you’ll still have that big dent…
19 Comments
It’s aluminum so a pretty solid no unfortunately, can’t bend it safely especially considering you have to have a tight lock with your tire
Nopedinope …
Technically – you could bend it back, but it won’t be straight.
Tried it several times and never got the rim completely flat/straight like before.
Sorry for the loss.
Even if you could bend it back that looks like a substantial crack so the rim is fine. Either rebuild it with a new rim or replace the wheel.
Small dings are fine, but that’s a big ding.
New rim time! If the wheel is lower end then it’s probably cheaper to replace the whole thing. You can take the damaged wheel to a local bike co-op and they’ll salvage the hub.
how? with brute force. no way around it.
I’d say it’s ready to be tossed, but trying won’t hurt 😉
sorry for your fatal curb hit 🙁
Helllll no. Even if you could bend aluminum back without structurally compromising the material, that shit’s cracked!
Thanks for the replies guys! I just wanna renew everyone’s faith in humanity and clear up that NO I wasn’t planning on bending back a cracked rim. That’s just a decal that caught the light in a funny way.
blowtorch it first
That crack means it’s dead
You bend it back by prising open your wallet and levering out a credit card to buy a new wheel.
First pic, thought probably going to crack but nothing to lose bending it back anyway. Second pic saw it’s already cracked. I would bend something like this back to get home or a couple miles to the bike shop.
Had a same magnitude ding this summer (few days in my holidays).
https://www.reddit.com/r/bikewrench/s/Cylvyb3YCG
I ended up replacing the wheel few weeks later Surprisingly, the (tubeless) tire held pretty well, and was able to ride until the end of my holidays.
I showed the wheel to 2 bike mechanics (because answers in this sub were too wildly different between commenters), who both told me: “if it held, don’t touch it. Ride while having a spare tube on you, replace the wheel when you can”
I would try to bend it back using an adjustable wrench, as others have stated it may be too far gone, I would also pour boiling water on it to warm it up before attempting to bend it back. I’ve done so successfully before but IDK if my dent was as severe as yours.
https://preview.redd.it/so6nbjvoybxf1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=c3a1dbb265b7e312245ad8a92b7818d1f9b9792e
Nope. Happy New Wheel Day to you!
Also, if you had a curb, that must’ve been a really hard hit or possibly the tire was not fully inflated in order to take up some of the shock. This is a valuable lesson for all of us; good luck, brother.
Done
Do some googling on work hardening. I don’t recall if aluminum is vulnerable to it, but if it is, I would use a torch to anneal the affected area before trying to bend it back.
You try and fix mountain bike rims because it will more than likely happen again several times per year.
For a one-off oopsie on a road bike it doesn’t make a lot of sense except in an emergency.
Aluminum bent to certain amounts yeh ok depending if it’s not structural.
But it looks like it’s got a crack where the extrusion line on the inside meets the inner structure.
Well i would – otherwise you’ll still have that big dent…