Truing a wheel - Cost?

I appreciate this is a "how long is a piece of string" question, but I've never had a wheel trued but I've got one that's out quite a bit.

So how much is it likely to cost me to get a wheel trued?


I've got a few good local shops near me - Merlin, Paul Hewitt, Ribble Cycles but I'd prefer to have a general idea of what a fair price is before I bother them.

Thanks in advanced!

depends on how out it is, the shop, and the mood of the mechanic...anywhere from a packet of biscuits and puppy dog eyes, to £20 (<-- extortion)

if you were local I'd do it for the biscuits for you.

I do my own, so no idea of the cost. It's dead easy, but can be time consuming. Do you know anyone local that would be happy to do it for biscuits?

amedias":2jg2aqhf said:

depends on how out it is, the shop, and the mood of the mechanic...anywhere from a packet of biscuits and puppy dog eyes, to £20 (<-- extortion)

if you were local I'd do it for the biscuits for you.

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Just what I wanted to hear!

I was thinking it would cost £10-15

Thanks mate!

Pyro Tim":2jg2aqhf said:

I do my own, so no idea of the cost. It's dead easy, but can be time consuming. Do you know anyone local that would be happy to do it for biscuits?

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No I don't really know anyone who cycles enough to have to get their wheels trued. I'm good with my hands etc but I don't have the time unfortunately.

Thanks!

Read Sheldons wheel truing article, make yourself a cup of tea and do it yourself. It's a skill you'll never regret learning.

Is there a link to this wheel truing?

My rear wheel could do with it and wouldn't mind having a go myself.

How long is a piece of string ??

Twice the length from the middle



While at the bike station the other day i asked one of the wheelbuilders to show me roughly how to true one.
Left at it for about 10 mins [that has ZERO experience in it and is pretty overawed by those that can ] i was quite surprised by how easy it is when you know what the basic that is required.
I took that wheel from being bad enough where you couldnt open the V's or canti's enough to allow the wheel to turn unhindered to something i would happily ride to get me home or to the lbs to get it professionally trued

AFTER ONLY TEN MINUTES :shock: :shock:

nathb":6mnw5wkl said:

I appreciate this is a "how long is a piece of string" question, but I've never had a wheel trued but I've got one that's out quite a bit.
So how much is it likely to cost me to get a wheel trued?
I've got a few good local shops near me - Merlin, Paul Hewitt, Ribble Cycles but I'd prefer to have a general idea of what a fair price is before I bother them.
Thanks in advanced!

Click to expand...

If you're close to Merlin, I suggest taking it to them. I believe they have a full-time wheel-builder, so as he's all set up and ready, it should really only take him a minute or two to true your wheel. Especially as he has the best kit available and he must be an absolute master of his trade, as Merlin wheels are excellent. If you take it to an ordinary LBS, it'll be done by somebody who isn't as good at it and only spends 5-10% of his time working on wheels, so it'll take longer.

This is assuming your problem is just loose spokes. If your rim is warped, truing can be quite difficult, juggling the tensions so as to find the best compromise to pull the rim back from its natural untrue position.

I would agree that if you just want the wheel to be rideable and not necessarily perfectly true, you could do that yourself. That's especially if you don't have your brakes set up all that close to the rim. It's much easier with the tyre removed though - put the wheel back, close the brakes, turn the bike upside down to stabilise it, and you could do a reasonable job in 5-10 minutes armed only with a spoke key.

I think around a tenner isn't too bad.

It agree it's not that hard to do yourself, but it depends on how bad it is. My rear wheel needs some love because it's not very round! It is quite light and taken a bit of a battering on my old DH bike.

I think I'll drop it into a shop that I know has a good wheel builder as I think he'll need to muck about with the tension etc. I'd rather it was done properly as I'm not always that sympathetic on the SX!

I think around a tenner isn't too bad.

It agree it's not that hard to do yourself, but it depends on how bad it is. My rear wheel needs some love because it's not very round! It is quite light and taken a bit of a battering on my old DH bike.

I think I'll drop it into a shop that I know has a good wheel builder as I think he'll need to muck about with the tension etc. I'd rather it was done properly as I'm not always that sympathetic on the SX!