Keep bending wheels!!!!!

[Jake_the_potato]

My Engine is on a 38 year old bike that my mom used to have, last year i discovered that my back wheel was bent. we tried to true it with a spoke tool, did not work so i paid 30 dollars for a new 26'' wheel and tire, it rode great now i was just riding and discovered that my back wheel it badly bent. Every now and then it hits the bike frame on the right. Is this from the engines torque bending the wheel because that's where the power output goes? These kits are nothing but trouble, you get a few good weeks then something goes ****y.

 

[josh]

yea man with that spoke attachment piece that comes with the kit it will bend every wheel over time, the best thing to would be to get a hub mounted sprocket adapter like this one http://www.kingsmotorbikes.com/40-tooth-cnc-sprocket-adapter_4103_prd1.html they hook up directly to the hub of the rim so there is no tension on the spokes. i just got mine and it works great, they are very heavy duty and worth the price. just make sure you measure your hub and order the correct size there is a video on bikeberry.com on how to do it. they also sell these but its for almost double the price. one more thing to remember is to really tighten the bolts down when you get it or it will move and press on the spokes. you will most likely never have to take it off again so its important to make sure its very secure.

 

[KCvale]

yea man with that spoke attachment piece that comes with the kit it will bend every wheel over time

I disagree.
Hitting pot holes and curbs at 30mph bends rims, not engine power regardless of where it's attached.

 

[crassius]

yep, had many customers with this problem - all fixed by getting them to watch more carefully for potholes - I note also that rider's weight is a big factor in just how carefully one must ride

 

[josh]

you disagree? come on its common sense and simple logic. the spokes are what keep the rim true, when you take and bike rim to a shop they true it by tightening and loosening spokes. If you place any type of pressure on them it will alter the rim. im really shocked i even had to explain that. but in your defense potholes will also have an affect.

 

[crassius]

sorry, but a properly mounted rag joint will not pull a rim out of true - based on my experience working on 6 or 7 hundred (maybe 800 by now) of these

EDIT: I suspect that a rim could be pulled out of true if the spokes were really loose before mounting the rag joint, but that is the fault of the mounter rather than the rag joint, since spokes *should* have been tightened before mounting.

 

[butre]

a manic mechanic style sprocket or a jackshaft to the pedal side is a better solution anyway. I don't care how many rag joints you've done "properly", my time is worth far more than than the $80 or so doing it the right way will cost. On top of that, the pretty billet adapters look a hell of a lot better than a nasty piece of chinese tire cut into circles.

I don't know if you're just faster at it or I've got better standards, or maybe it's a combination of the two, but it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to get a rag joint sprocket installed and perfectly true, or about a minute and a half to get a manic mechanic sprocket installed. The going rate for motorcycle mechanics in the area is around $100 an hour. You can do that math I'm sure, but going with a manic mechanic sprocket only costs me an extra $5 over the stock sprocket and I can charge a good bit more money because I'm using nicer parts.

Do you just eyeball whether it's true or not or what? I've got a jig with a dial indicator I use to check them

 

[KCvale]

I like motor power to the bikes pedal drive the best myself too, everything is already in place and designed to turn your back wheel.

My contention is a rag joint sprocket mount don't bend tight true wheels, not even on cheap alloy rims with 14g spoke wheels, and I have near 100 local builds out for 5 years and not a single bent wheel from the drive sprocket.

I have no problems with rag joint mounts either, it only takes my mechiniac Cole or me ~ half an hour to mount and true a sprocket.
It depends on the wheel, 7-speed wheels are harder to get a wrench in, but they darn near center themselves and no coaster brake to remove.

My point is don't look at that as being the cause of bending wheels, unless of course it's not done properly.
If that's the case drop the $80 and do it the fool proof way.
I would rather keep the $80 in my pocket.

 

[crassius]

motorcycle mechanics get $100/hour, but anyone working on these when a whole new motor can be had for $100 shouldn't expect more than about $20/hour

 

[dougsr.874]

I once had a person that was always bending his rear rim....after a lot of trying to figure out why we went to his house and what we found was this....the driveway from his carport was at a steep angle, and at the street the driveway dropped bout 2 inchs , then a flat curb, then the pavement on the street raised bout 2 inchs, point is that the drop & rise in the pavement was just right to bend the rear wheel....