[Jeremy R]

Alright, I finally found a rim I like.
It is the Sun MTX rim. The same rim that comes on the 8 track wheelset.
Its 50 grams heavier than a singletrack, and it is built like the mag 30's which is a strong rim.
Anyway, at Mt. Snow, I flatted on a high speed section, and did not know it until I got to a corner. All of those rocks put 3 dents in my rim, and one of them was really big. But my rim stayed perfectly true, no flat spots, the spokes are tight and everything.
So last night, I took some vice grips, and pulled the big dent out of the rim.
It worked so good, that I got rid of the other two as well.
Before I took the tire off, you could easily see where the dents were, and I did not totally trust the sidewall to stay in on the big one. But afterwards the rim looks like new. I know it is not a good idea to be bending aluminum back and forth, because it makes it weaker, but I think I would rather have my rim crack, than my sidewall come flying out. Plus, I did not use alot of force to fix it, and only bend on each dent.
Has anybody else done this, and did it work out for you in the long run?

 

[kidwoo]

Has anybody else done this, and did it work out for you in the long run?

I have a friend who does this constantly with his WTB rims. He touts them for this reason....."but they bend right back" He aslo goes through many many many wheels per season. I dent rims much less than him
Hard to tell if it's brand/build though because he goes much faster than most. I don't do it when I dent a mavic. I've seen one crack pretty easily when bent back.

 

[Zark]

Yes, I've pulled out dents in a 321 it held up for over a year. It was sketchy though. There were a spiderweb of microcracks on the inside of the rim. I think it might have been the grey finish treatment cracking and not the actual aluminum. Well the proof is in the pudding, I rode the hell out of it for over a year and never had a problem.

 

[buildyourown]

I've done this on bikes with rim brakes in an attempt to get the pulsing feel out of the lever. A block of wood and a hammer on a wooden bench works well. Just be careful. On softer, cheaper rims, you can bend it a lot more before they crack. Less on Mavics.

 

[MikeD]

I did it with some nice buttery soft Atomlabs. Worked fine until the seam decided that life wasn't worth living.

On my 521s I avoid doing it unless the dent interferes severely with the rim bead; I think I've only done it once, in fact, and very gingerly at that.

 

[speedster]

I do that everytime I get a dent in the side of my rims and have not had one problem with it yet, works well

 

[Curiouscaptian01]

man sounds like it will work out well...

My sweet zip-tie job on my brake lever still works, and is still strong.

 

[Rabie]

I've done it quite a few times with 521's. Most of the time they'll crack when you bend them back, but it's easier to ride a cracked rim that your tire will stay on than a solid rim that your tire comes off. And the cracks are just cosmetic anyway.

 

[DßR]

soft rims do that great, like Suns or Velocity's. Harder ones not so much -- Mavics don't seem to like it much but my 321s have held up to a number of those jobs. I tried it with an Arrow DHX and cracked the sidewall thru completely. Not a good idea. Now it bulges out at the cracked spot... so do that at your peril.

 

[CreeP]

I sorta figured arrows were a more mediocre alloy. I know the surface finnish is very hard but i thought the aluminum was a little more elastic.

 

[Shmoe]

Ive done that many times. Hell my rim has seperated and I welded it back shut, held up for another season after that.

 

[CreeP]

that's insane!

 

[Jeremy R]

man sounds like it will work out well...

My sweet zip-tie job on my brake lever still works, and is still strong.

Dude, that is the coolest thing ever.
I would ride it that way for life.
For those who do not know, CC snapped his lever assembly on his brake in half when he was doing a shuttle run with us. And this hippy Jack took a bunch of zip ties, and fixed it, and I swear it is stiffer than the other brake lever.
He told me what he was gonna do, and I said, if you fix that lever, I will stand on my head and fart my socks off.
Oops, looks like I am gonna need a bunch of chili!

 

[Rik]

soft rims do that great, like Suns or Velocity's.

Tall sidewalls never help the cause either. The amount of times I've bent back my Velocity rims is hilarious, I must've ended up having more dents than I did straight sidewall. Same goes with Dice SMO rims (probably sold under another brand in US), soft as hell, with tall sidewalls, but every time you smashed them, a quick tweak with a shifting spanner would straighten things up nicely.

 

[Lexx D]

soft rims do that great, like Suns or Velocity's. Harder ones not so much -- Mavics don't seem to like it much
.

Funny how I said mavics are a harder rim a few months back and got flamed for it. I love how things work on the

 

[Curiouscaptian01]

Dude, that is the coolest thing ever.
I would ride it that way for life.
For those who do not know, CC snapped his lever assembly on his brake in half when he was doing a shuttle run with us. And this hippy Jack took a bunch of zip ties, and fixed it, and I swear it is stiffer than the other brake lever.
He told me what he was gonna do, and I said, if you fix that lever, I will stand on my head and fart my socks off.
Oops, looks like I am gonna need a bunch of chili!

I would keep it that way for life except the fact that the lever backs out now... It takes 3 fingers or more to reach for it but, I will keep it for a little while longer. Until the cash is ready.

 

[DßR]

Funny how I said mavics are a harder rim a few months back and got flamed for it. I love how things work on the

Mavics are pretty hard, that's a simple fact. what did the flamers say was harder? Sun? ink:

 

[Lexx D]

Mavics are pretty hard, that's a simple fact. what did the flamers say was harder? Sun? ink:

It was when I was first on the board. I think the thread is gone but I said suns were soft and mavics were harder. Basically I said mavics are more prone to failure once it's been damaged. It's funny that a few months later others say the same thing and nobody says otherwise.