TLDR: My rim is damaged & tire won't hold air. Can I buy replacement direct, or should I purchase through local shop.
Been riding a 2021 Scott Genius 920 (link) that I bought new, and 2026 will be my third full riding season on the bike. This past spring I dumped ~$1k into the bike between regular service and replacement of components (rotors, break pads, chain, cassette, chain ring, tires).
Last night I noticed that my rim was dented from an early season ride, and the back tire is no longer holding air. I'm assuming this needs to be replaced. Reason for the post is that I'm wondering if this is something I should try and buy on my own vs. through the shop. Aside from tire maintenance – I know nothing about wheels. Is there a way to buy a replacement wheel or does the wheel have to get "built" from scratch?
For context, I have a great relationship with my local shop – and plan to take my bike in for regular pre-season maintenance, but I'd also like to start working on simple things myself (break pads, chain replacement, etc.), and would like to save a buck when appropriate. Any thoughts/help are appreciated!
by RareBig3145
7 Comments
Short awnser depends on if you are rich or not if so do it with the bike shop and i dont know how bad your wheel is some times you can bend it back(done it before but risky) and i dont know if ur hub is expensive or you could buy an intire wheel at ur own or just the rim and lace it your self or let the bike shop do it
I do everything on my own now. Cheaper. I also buy from my bike shop becouse i get discounts but that me.
Bikeshop expensive and surly good
At ur own cheap and hopefuly good
Well you should learn to, at the very least, replace a tire on your bike – so when you buy the new wheel you can do it yourself (you tube is fantastic). You would need tool though to remove the cassette properly and put it back on. For most of my 17 yr cycling/MTB life…..I always went to bike shops and probably have dropped more than $5K on labor alone (maybe even more). COVID – forced me to learn to do my own work….I have now gotten to a point where I don’t need “install work” done at all. Ever. It is very, very rewarding to work on your own bike. I love it and wish I had learned all this sooner.
Now – as for the your LBS (local bike shop) – I personally try to give them the business when I can. But I also just know how to shop very effectively Online. I’m not rich and I thus try not to pay retail prices. I recently upgraded my fork (got 55% off online) and also my crank (35% off direct). My rule now is that if the price is 20% off or more, I don’t even bother going to the bike shop to talk to them about it. You haggle too much it’s just not worth the resulting negativity. But recently, I had to buy a new rear tire. I went to them, paid retail of $75 and gave them the business. Happy to help them out when I can.
I would buy a bike stand and start learning – it might be frustrating at first…..but it is SO awesome to be able to bleed my brakes, change parts experiment with stems, seats, grips, bars….and doing all the work myself! 🙂
Cheap fix first, try to bend the dent back with a flat adjustable wrench. Watch a YouTube video. It works. I’ve had rims last several thousand miles after doing this.
Often times you can buy a whole wheel cheaper than a rim plus the labor and new spoke/nipple cost. Online will always be cheaper than an lbs unless they have a take off wall of parts. I don’t buy parts from a shop unless I am desperate (road trip, need part today for a road trip, etc) or it’s something that is never on sale.
Inexpensive bike tools, a good stand and DIY youtube videos go a long way in mitigating repair/upgrade costs.
Replacing wheel and tire is pretty easy. You can buy the wheel from online bikeshop or your local shop, then take off the old wheel from your bike, remove the tire from the wheel, but back the tire on the new wheel, then put your new wheel on your bike. You only needs two simple tools to do so: allen key to wrench your axle bolt and a tire level (optional – you can yank out the tire with your hands).
I buy most components myself online and install them. Bigger jobs like suspension service, wheel build something I could learn to do but I’ll go to the shop because I feel bad I don’t get the other stuff done there. When it’s 50 online vs 100 for a tire from the lbs it’s hard to say no
I’d learn to DIY if I were you, especially this one. It’s fun to learn new stuff and really rewarding. Tons of free videos online and once you. Honestly once you have the stuff and the knowledge it’s easier to do it yourself and knock it out immediately rather than dropping off, paying a bunch of and waiting for it to be complete.
That said the genius is a little bit trickier in some regards to diy, but it should still be doable. I have one set to arrive today =)