Road Bike - Constantly Buckling Wheels

[SystemParanoia]

AAAARRRAGH!!!

im beginning to really hate how delicate my road bike is.

it seems that every time i ride the damn thing one of my wheels gets buckled, or a buckle from a previous ride gets worse.


i dont bounce up kerbs, ride down stairs, ride in skate parks, do DH racing on it etc.

but the roads are st in several areas ( all of which are roads leading to/from my home... great )

is there anything i can do besides weigh it in and just use my MTB with Mud spec tyres

[Marcellus]

that sounds just plain stupid....what wheels are they?

I've done in excess of 10,000 miles on mine all over the place and never had them even slightly wobble and I've hit some very big holes!!!

[catso]

SystemParanoia said:

is there anything i can do besides weigh it in and just use my MTB with Mud spec tyres

Lose some weight.........

[mk1fan]

Try a 32-hole touring wheel instead. Failing that a 36-hole.

You don't say how heavy you are, the type/quality of wheels or bike, the type of road riding you do - are you commuting with panniers? Do you just have one pannier full to bursting and slung on the drive side of the bike?

Wheel failures usually are the result of improper use - this is not to say abuse. If yo can't give more info then pop into your LBS and have a chat with them. They should ask you all the right questions to get you the right set of wheels.

[wildoliver]

Your either hitting a lot of pot holes, are a fat b****rd or are using an inappropriate wheelset. When i was buying the bits to build my latest bike the temptation to go and buy a flashy wheelset with about 4 spokes per wheel was high, but seeing as 99% of the riding I do is touring while they look sexy they aren't appropriate.

That said even a set of full race wheels shouldn't be buckling every time you go out, so I refer you to the first 2 points. Stop eating all the pies

[SystemParanoia]

6ft 3, 13st

no panniers, just a bare bike with lights and a lock on.

its a Raleigh Air Lite

the wheels are CFX Mach1 460G ( well thats whats written on em' )

and the hubs have Union written on them.

and i keep my tyres at 120psi

all the hardware on the bike, is as it came from the shop, i haven't upgraded any parts.


I guess you could say i commute on it, i have a 3.5mile ride that i do, sometimes 4 times a day when i don't want to drive the van.

[Marcellus]

I suspect that it's just that they're cheap(ish) wheels and if you were to spend money on some serious stuff (needn't be expensive) then you would have far less buckles...

[sjg]

Looks similar end of the market to my bike - hence cheapo machine-built wheels. Either get a spoke key and learn how to true them, or the Mavic Askiums (at about £120/pair) are great and far better made than the ones you have.

[SystemParanoia]

bleh

spending all my spare cash repairing my MTB at the mo. ( its more fun )

so it looks like im gonna have to get a spoke key


Thx for the help guys

[pawsmcgraw]

My guess is they're assembled without any form of lock tight on the nipple and they unwind.Crank em up real tight as 13 stone isn't real pain.It might just get them to stop unwinding, i've done this a fair few times now with good results.
If your having to true them daily it may be that the rim or hub is cracked somewhere?This is a fairly common problem in a bike shop.I've sent maybe a dozen wheels back with hair line cracks in rims this season, fault found by not staying true.

[wildoliver]

Put it this way I'm 16stone and have no issues!

Unless your hitting potholes it must be a wheel fault. Maybe worth looking for some good used wheels on ebay when you get some pennies, look at it this way 100 quid for a decent used wheelset is less than 2 tanks of diesel....

[Saddle bum]

I have a pair of Campag Veloce 32-hole hubs going spare, if they suit, I will build you a set of wheels if you want?