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Cycled my friend’s bike and fell forward. Hoping this can be fixed.

Argenti Apparatus
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Xavier Toh
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    im not sure it can – Ben Poulter Jan 23 '18 at 15:56
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    +1 for good picture. I edited your title to make it specific to wheel rim damage. If you add some detail on what bike this was from or what make/model the wheel is the community may be able to guide you replacing wheel vs replace rim. – Argenti Apparatus Jan 23 '18 at 16:14
  • If it's a front wheel it's almost certainly cheaper to just buy a new wheel vs have this one rebuilt with a new rim. Rear wheel might be a toss-up. However, if you want a "project" to learn wheel maintenance you can attempt to fix the rim (depending on how badly damaged) by taking apart the spoke assembly and installing a washer on the inside. Hard to say how reliable such a fix would be, however. – Daniel R Hicks Jan 23 '18 at 19:51
  • Its worth checking with the manufacturer for a warranty on the rim/wheel. That looks like some kind of wrinkle which simply shouldn't happen. – Criggie Jan 23 '18 at 23:37

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If the damaged wheel comes with a cheap to midrange bicycle, it should not be fixed for economical purposes. What you should do is to buy a new matching wheel. Otherwise the cost of replacement rim, new spokes and nipples plus manual labor of a wheel builder may easily overshadow the cost of a complete factory-built wheel.

If you are really determined to save the most of the wheel, you should look for a matching replacement rim. Fixing the current rim is unrealistic as there is no ready equipment for that, and DYI would most likely make an unbalanced wheel or unreliable fix.

Sad things like this happen. I was backpacking once and discovered that my rear rim cracked exactly at the midway point of my trip. Managed to get back home safely and made this picture:

Cracked rim

It was extra sad because I changed a faulty hub on the same wheel barely several months before that, and the first hub only did 40 km.

Grigory Rechistov
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  • Actually, replacement rims are available for many wheels. – ojs Jan 23 '18 at 17:22
  • Yep, depending on what quality the wheel is (or actually the hub, as that's the part that will be re-used) rebuilding with a new rim might make sense. – Argenti Apparatus Jan 23 '18 at 18:10
  • The problem with rebuilding the wheel (using a replacement rim) is that the labor is expensive, plus you should replace all the spokes. It may make sense economically to rebuild vs replace for a rear wheel with an expensive hub, but rarely for a front. – Daniel R Hicks Jan 23 '18 at 19:44
  • @DanielRHicks exactly. I rebuilt my rear wheel the first time by replacing the hub. I did it in a country where manual labor is relatively cheap. Then I damaged the rim and planned to replace it keeping the hub. However that time I was in another country where the operation turned out to be so expensive that buying a whole new wheel was about 1.5 times cheaper. – Grigory Rechistov Jan 23 '18 at 20:54
  • I am about to correct my answer to point out that cheaper wheels are unreasonable to rebuild, while more expensive hubs are economically worth saving. – Grigory Rechistov Jan 23 '18 at 21:00
  • Also remember that your own time is essentially uncharged, so there is no labour cost for assembling your own wheel. Plus you get to learn how to build a wheel. – Criggie Jan 23 '18 at 21:22
  • @Criggie I kinda disagree — your own time is the most precious thing you have. While continuous learning is an essential virtue and value in my own life, I would rather prefer spending my time enjoying riding a bike than sitting being bent over an assortment of stubborn spokes and ever-disappearing nipples and making mistakes. But I am sure that one day I will learn the art of wheelbuilding. – Grigory Rechistov Jan 23 '18 at 21:37
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    @GrigoryRechistov - There is some merit to having built a wheel once or twice, to understand what's involved. But certainly it's not something that everyone is suited for or will care for. – Daniel R Hicks Jan 23 '18 at 22:22
  • @GrigoryRechistov fair point - I meant "there is no monetary cost to using your own time" meaning you're not paying mechanic or wheelbuilder rates of $100/hour or whatever. Building a wheel is really just an extreme case of spoke replacement and truing. – Criggie Jan 23 '18 at 23:36