Bent Wheel

[oh10raven]

So I was riding down 6 this evening when I hit a rock the size of a baseball with the right side of my front wheel. I was going about 50 MPH and just barley missed hitting the thing head on. I pulled over to see if anything was damaged and didn't notice anything at the time besides a scuff on my tire. The bike rode fine all the way home and I didn't notice anything being wrong with it. When I got home I checked it out further and noticed that I have a small section of wheel that looks bent.
Here are some crappy cell pictures to give you some idea of the damage.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n105/Djones8040/wheel4.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n105/Djones8040/wheel3.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n105/Djones8040/wheel2.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n105/Djones8040/wheel1.jpg
I'm going to have a shop look at it before I ride it any further, but wanted to see what you guys initially thought?
Thanks!

[spideyrdr]

Looks bent from the pic which is a bummer. But the good news is you stayed upright. Good karma there. Have it checked out, a bent rim edge is not something I would ignore.

[spideyrdr]

btw you must ride like a grandma to still have tire hair on the sidewall!



j/k of course. Glad you kept it on two despite the encounter!

[rfranks303]

I know their are places that repair car and truck wheels but I'm not sure about bikes. If you can I wonder if its like pluging a tire, it can be done but is it recomended? Well either way I'm glad this wasn't any worse.

[spideyrdr]

Maybe give the following guys a call - Woody's Wheel Works. I haven't actually used their services myself but know a few racers who have had banged up rims repaired. There's a reason Woody has MRA #11 retired in his name...

[rfranks303]

ok that answers my question thanks.

[oh10raven]

btw you must ride like a grandma to still have tire hair on the sidewall!
j/k of course. Glad you kept it on two despite the encounter!
Yeah, I'm still getting used to the bike, new in February and the stock Dunlops are not the most confidence inspiring tire out there. I was hoping to put some new Q2's on in the next couple weeks.

I know their are places that repair car and truck wheels but I'm not sure about bikes. If you can I wonder if its like pluging a tire, it can be done but is it recomended? Well either way I'm glad this wasn't any worse.
It could have been a lot worse. I'm very glad I stayed upright, thanks.

Maybe give the following guys a call - Woody's Wheel Works. I haven't actually used their services myself but know a few racers who have had banged up rims repaired. There's a reason Woody has MRA #11 retired in his name...
I'll give them a call tomorrow, thanks for the recommendation.

[Kitten]

Woody's does great work. I had them fix a wheel for me.

[oh10raven]

I spoke to a nice guy over at Woody's this morning and was quoted anywhere from $100-200 to heat the metal and bend it back. He said that if the wheel isn't wobbling and the tire is keeping pressure, that it probably wasn't something I needed to fix right away. I'm a little skeptical about not fixing it, I'd hate to be riding along and all the sudden my front tire deflates, so I'll probably end up getting it fixed. I also considered trying to buy a new/used front wheel. I think I'd be able to pick one up for under $200, but not sure?

[brennahm]

That's not bent that badly. Never hurts to err on the side of caution but you'll be fine. Also, many places will pay for repairs to vehicles if their roadway caused the damage. Maybe it was a pothole and not a stray rock? :)

[oh10raven]

hmmm, that's got me thinking. I have a full warranty on it, but I doubt it covers this. I need someone to at least look at it in person and give me their thoughts on if it's safe or not. I tend to error on the cautions side, but I'd love to not drop $200 fixing it.

[Scer]

The worse bends are the ones the make your rim wobble up and down and not out and in (like you have) Unless you are down on the edges and hauling the mail, you might never feel it. However, that is quite a big bend. Since its bent out it would be easy for you to rubber mallet it back to straight-ish. But not sure how comfortable you are doing that. If you are going to spend the 200, it would be worth looking for used ones and keeping that as a spare.

Just my suggestion.

Straighten on straightenas

[oh10raven]

I stopped by Woody's to have them take a look at it. In his opinion, it's mostly cosmetic and doesn't look like it would cause a safety hazard. Next I went to the dealership to see what they thought and got roughly the same info. They did say I might feel some wobbles/shudder going at very high speeds 150+.

I think I'll just keep my eye on eBay and try to buy a new/used rim rather than getting this one fixed.

Thanks for all the input!