Just saw this dent in the backwheel of my gravelbike (stockwheels, alu). No idea how this happened or when.
Should i change it immediately and never ride it again, keep riding while looking for a new wheelset or just keep riding whatsoever.
Was already looking for a tire upgrade in the future, but was hoping i could use it as a winter wheelset with more chunky tires
by Soursynth
10 Comments
Did the bicycle travel on the back of a car?
I’d try bending it back and put tubes if you’re not running them already.
If you’re racing or going long distances then you better get new wheel for safety.
I’m not the market of telling people to take risks. So the responsible part of me says to replace the wheel.
The part of me that has been there would ride it.
The part of me that gets discounted wheels cuz of work would replace it
Unless you’re badly out of true, or the rim struggles to hold in air (i guess you’re running tubes and it’s not a problem) you should be fine. My MTB rims always end up looking like this. There is a point to this kind of bend where shit is entirely toast, especially if the tire bead cannot sit tight or non-wonky on this kind of damage, but you seem to be just shy of that point.
I suspect that if you ever change tire you might never get it to sit proper, so maybe consider swapping the rim or entire wheel at that point. But otherwise, go ride.
It’s the rear wheel so even a sudden pressure loss would not be really catastrophic. If it holds air you can either keep running it as is or try to straighten it, gently, until it looks a bit better. Don’t try to straighten it too much or it might fracture – aluminum is brittle. There are vids on it but basically a crescent wrench or pliers with a rag or a bit of wood between the metal – metal contact and don’t be a gorilla.
I’d also check to see if you have any loose spokes where you took that impact.
If it’s not holding air and you’re running tubeless, I’d still try to straighten it to see if it will hold air, or swap to a tube.
MTB wheels end up like this all the time. Unless it’s got a flat spot (no longer round and can’t be trued back to round) or is visibly cracked or you really want to run tubeless and it won’t hold air, I would keep running this in the back.
I had a wheel that looked almost exactly like that! It’s toast
actually dents like that in a smooth geometry make the body more rigid. so now you got a super strong wheel.
trust me, im an engineer
Bring it to a mechanic. They will be able to tell you if it can or cannot be fixed
Yes
Toast…..put some air in your tires next time.