A friend liberated this old dusty bike from the trash basically and didn’t need it so he asked if i wanted it. I took it and since it is free and nice to have on campus. I also have other bikes at home, so i’ve felt free to be a little rough with it. Anyways, I started recently trying to learn how to jump over curbs in it and I tried to take one curb that was a little too tall a little too fast and i bent the front rim. It does hold air still without any leaking. However, the bent part does rub against the rim brake.
can I still ride it? I’m guessing the answer is not safely. Also, since I’m not necessarily dependent or attached to this bike, and I was probably going to give it away or something eventually since I dont want to go through the trouble of transporting it back home, fixing it professionally is not an avenue i plan on taking. If someone has a good DIY solution, I would love to hear it though because it is a cool bike and really convenient to have around. Thanks!
by People_of_Pez
22 Comments
You have rim brakes, not disc brakes. That‘s why the brakes have problems with a bent rim. You either need a new rim or wheel.
I don’t have the experience to help you with the rim. I just wanted to say those tires look really dodgy. I wouldn’t feel happy riding around on those. The walls look to be crumbling.
Get a large adjustable wrench and bend it back. If it still holds air when you put a new tire on it (when, not if, your tire is shot) then it’ll be okay.
If it doesn’t, just get a new wheel + required hardware, and you’ve already got a tire
We used this tool a lot. Removes this kind of dent. Awesome tool.
https://preview.redd.it/h8iyxx0qqo7h1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64d181f933de5c6a1903a488d58737398ecf1276
Given that it looks like a steel rim, this should be repairable. Others have already commented on repair approaches. A similarly damaged rim made of aluminum should be replaced.
A couple of people have mentioned the tyres perishing, what no one has said is that these are likely older 27 x 1 1/4″ rims that will not be compatible with many tyres.
If you want to keep this bike long term it’s probably worthwhile finding some aluminium 700c wheels as those look to be chrome coated steel which are terrible for braking in the wet.
The cost of finding tyres for these rims will probably be about the same as a second hand set of 700c and some cheap modern tyres.
That steel rim can take a beating and be beat back into shape (don’t try this with an aluminum rim). Take the wheel off the bike and put a block of wood under the rim and another on top of that dent and whack it hard with a hammer. Will be easy to make the rim stop rubbing. Will be harder to get it braking smoothly. Likely there is uneven spoke tension as well and broken spokes may be in the future. Certainly a new wheel (and tires) are the best choice, but it can still be ridden until then.
Those seem to be steel rims, and so you can *try* to get the bump out with an adjustable wrench. There will be a weirdness when braking, but depending on how you use the bike you may get it to the “good enough” point. Or good enough until you find better wheels. I see the 32×630 size on the tire, which means 27″ tires. It looks like you *may* be able to switch to 700C wheels which are slightly smaller- the brakes have to have sufficient adjustment to reach- but the bike will be a bit more fun to ride. Maybe straighten the rim out enough to ride until you get the hang of jumping curbs!
Here’s an article about this type of repair, which used to be very common: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/Tech-Tuesday-Fixing-Rim-Dents-2012.html/url
Make sure the brakes aren’t too grabby for your riding after the repair- test them in a safe area, especially if it’s the front wheel. Do be careful, as if they do grab too much you can go over the handlebars. This would be uncommon particularly with that style of brake.
Those are steel rims. They were dangerous before you dented them. They brake like shit in the wet.
Go on eBay and get some aluminum box-section rims of the same size and spoke hole count. Get some beers and a spoke wrench. Watch some YouTube videos on wheelbuiling and swapping rims. On old high-spoke count wheels, you can pluck the spokes and listen to the tone for a “good enough” gauge of spoke tension.
Enjoy your new skill.
I would air down the tire then use something like Channel Loks (water pump pliers) to bend that bulge in the rim back in. You should just be able to squeeze the “pinch” to get it back somewhat close. …though I’m surprised you didn’t get a snakebite puncture.
The comments about getting 700 wheels are correct. Don’t penny-ante yourself, safety is worth it.
Can probably bend it back with a crescent wrench. It won’t be perfect but it might brake better.
Quick and dirty “fix”? Get an adjustable wrench on it and bend it in. Do some “fine-tuning” with a mallet.
Hit with hammer. Or, preferably, a rubber mallet.
Are those spokes loose too? They look a bit curved in the second photo.
Get something so that you can hit it with a hammer on a flat wooden surface, being careful of course. For me a large bolt worked, with a round head, I hit the bolt with the hammer while the bolt was placed on the rim.
That is a steel rim. Very hard to bend back, very hard to stay true. Heavy and non existent braking in wet conditions. I’d change it if money is not a very big problem.
Chrome rims are dangerous.
A wooden plank and a hammed should do the job done
you can bend it back. violence is the answer. when i (absolutely) need to “fix” a rim like this one, i just use snap pliers or some other powerful pliers. very carefully and slowly (as always, bending metal).
is it safe? yeah, totally. a bend like that doesn’t mean cracking. if you use a damaged rim like this, always check for cracks from time to time (bended back or not). if that’s steel that’s definitely not going to break (though, better safe than sorry). of that’s aluminum that’s **MOST LIKELY** not going to break. (you can use a magnet to check if it’s steel or not – if it doesn’t stick, that’s aluminum).
is it worth it? probably not. best practice is to swap wheel(s)/rim(s) anyway. but check the wheel size before doing that (a commenter said they’re an old rim diameter size i only read about in books – actually, on sheldon brown’s). in that case I’d ask a proper bike mechanic for a new fitting.
New tire.
It’s steel, you can just ride it like that. If it bothers you, hit it with a hammer.