Bought 2 cheap rims off marketplace, mainly for the rear rim/freehub.
I got home and noticed the front rim is missing 2 spokes.
Is it possible that the rim has been trued in the past sans the 2 spokes? Because it seems to spin pretty good. The spokes are taped over, which makes me think it's been used like this in the past.
I guess I'm wondering, am I wasting my time dialling in the wheel a bit more or is it dangerous to ride?
Furthermore the missing spokes are spaced by 1/3, could I take out a 3rd spoke to make it symmetrical? Idk, im learning.
by ContributionSad664
11 Comments
Why not just replace the missing 2 spokes and re-true?
It may be true now, but it won’t last.
I wouldn’t recommend a long term use with these missing spokes due to wheel integrity. Riding on this will put more stress on the other spokes as well as the rim itself. It might not be immediately unsafe, but will definitely mess things up later. Take it to your LBS and they can source and replace the spokes for you.
Let’s put it this way. You own a very basic house with four walls. One of those walls collapses but you ignore it as there is still a roof on top of you. Now, should you go ahead and remove all other walls and expect the roof to just float above you? No, everything will just collapse.
Wanna ride those wheels (not rims)? Just put those missings spokes where they belong and make sure to true the wheel.
ps: those brake flanks look very worn, before you do anything check them like this:
https://preview.redd.it/p5dtaxunquxe1.png?width=393&format=png&auto=webp&s=56ea61dfc98b642d07b7473d2115cdfc5677775e
It may be lateral true, but i suspect the radial trueness suffers from the missing spokes. Also too much tension in the spokes near the missing ones, so tensioning is all over the place
Just replace the spokes. The spoke holes are taped over because that’s what a rim strip does, other wise the spoke holes would pop your tube.
It’s currently held in the right shape but it’s going to be flexing irregularly under load, putting excess stress on the other spokes. They’ll snap eventually.
May we all be as strong and true as this rim
Dial it in, as in true it more with 2 missing spokes? Yes, you are wasting your time on that
As you’re seeing first-hand, it’s certainly possible that this wheel is true even though there are 2 missing spokes. The rim itself may be stiff enough and the other spokes are tensioned in such a way that this is spinning straight… but it won’t hold up like that!
Don’t ride very far on it like that… get 2 new spokes of the correct length (and nipples) to replace the missing ones and lace them back in. Or, visit your local bike shop and ask that they do the job… you’re likely going to have to visit them to get the spokes and nipples anyway!
Yeah. I’ve seen many wheels missing spokes and reasonably true. Most street BMX bikes are missing several.