Why A Brand New Mountain Bike Has Wheels Out Of True?

I recently bought brand a trek 4400. 4400 comes with bontreger camino wheels. so as i was riding i feld something when i wasnt pedal, so a took a look to my wheel i spin it and i saw that both wheel was a little bit out of true and in some points the wheel was rubbing into the brake pads. when i took it to the shop that i bought the bike they told me that this was natural and that you cant make a wheel spin perfectly.Also they told me that if they get it fixed is going to be the same again in 2-3 weeks of riding.So is this realy natural for a brand new mountain bike wheels to be out of true and if i fix the problem it will last only some weeks?

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10 Comments »

Max Cruise said:

I keep the hand built wheels on my road bikes running within .005″. I also keep the factory built wheels on my GT mountain bike (road use only) within .005″
I do not have experience with off road riding to comment on your particular problem.
I will say that what the dealer is telling is kicking in the bullsh@t meter. Sounds if they are not very good at truing and tensioning the wheels. Or the wheels are not up to the task of off road riding.
I suggest getting a truing stand, spoke wrench, and a dial indicator with a magnetic base. I like to see how much the wheel has moved utilizing the dial indicator.
Learning the art of truing wheels will save you time and money.
Good Luck

# 27 February 2010 at 3:09 pm

TREVOR L said:

Most wheels are now built by machine and a tolerance on runout of, I think, 1mm.is allowed, this looks a lot when the wheel is spun, however, a good mechanic will improve this during PDI if necessary.
A good shop will offer a free service after a few weeks use and will correct any minor faults then.
If you want perfect wheels you need to look for hand-built, or at the least, hand finished, but they will be expensive.

# 27 February 2010 at 6:47 pm

intrepid said:

Don’t go back to this bike shop. If they are giving you a run-around about something as simple as truing a wheel, they might also lie to you about something serious that could affect your safety. Drop Trek a line and let them know what kind of bums are tarnishing their brand name in your location.
HTH

# 28 February 2010 at 12:02 am

chuck wheels said:

go to a proper bike shop. New wheels need a bed in period for the spoke tensions to settle. Then once trued they should be bang on, +/- 0.5mm. Your bike shop is either lazy or doesn’t know wwhat their doing. If they wont sort it contact Trek dirrect to let them know what their dealer is doing/saying.

# 28 February 2010 at 12:33 am

Roberto said:

It’s normal that you might need to true your wheels after a few rides, but after that the wheels should stay true. It’s part of the break in period. If your shop says that you will need to constantly true your wheels, go to another shop.

# 28 February 2010 at 6:12 am

Clockguy said:

find a better bike shop or learn to true your own wheels.
try this instructable:http://www.instructables.com/id/Wheel-Tr…

# 28 February 2010 at 6:38 am

Amy said:

no thats b s

# 28 February 2010 at 6:48 am

mtrlbike said:

A well built wheel should be true to a tolerance of less than 1/2 mm. Telling you that your wheels will quickly go out of true is a fabrication. Well built wheels on a mountain bike should be able to take quite a beating and stay straight. Take your bike back where you bought it and insist that they fix the problem, or replace the wheels with something that will stand up to normal use. If they are unable to help you, contact Trek directly, they are able to put a lot of pressure on dealers who don’t give good service. I have built many wheels, and from my experience a good wheel whether built by hand or machine should be better than the ones on your bike

# 28 February 2010 at 10:58 am

answer said:

Most factory bikes wheels are now built by a machine. this machine puts the same amount of tension in every nipple and it usually sets the wheel close to good, but never perfect since wheel building is a game of balance, trial and error, judgment, guessing, and knowledge. the machine has none of these, but can put the same amount of tension on each nipple, whereas we can’t without a gage ($100 +). Most bike shops charge $50 a wheel, and have it close to perfect in a few days. I’ve never had anyone ask me to do their wheel, but I’d want $100 (to buy a gage) and a week to do the wheels, and they would be perfect; like my wheels when I gave it to them. Bike shops usually have a wheel builder who they take wheels to, or who comes in occasionally and builds and trues there at the shop. Some shops try to do it themselves, and do sub-prime work. I’m not a wheel builder. I’ve been reading about it online, and in books for a few years, and I play with wheels on bored sleepless nights, and sober binges. The answer to you’re question is, yes it is normal for a new bike to have machine built wheels, and yes if you mountain bike your wheels will be out of (perfect) true in a few weeks, but should spin well for a year or so if they are hand built. If you are on the road they can hold true for years.

# 28 February 2010 at 11:44 am

Paul RN said:

You have a charlatan for a mechanic. Call Trek at 800.879.8735 That’s the unpublished service number. Bontrager is a division of Trek. I had a problem with a wheel and they replaced it quickly. The shop represents Trek, and Trek does not like their dealers to make them look bad.
The next thing you should do, is get a book on bike mechanics and learn how to do it yourself. Buy the tools one at a time as you need them. By the way, mountain bike wheel are crazy tough. They are made to ride over roots and rocks. My wheels have been through the war and were trued once in 3 or 4 years. They still run true. My road wheels on my professional Trek Madone road bike take more maintenance than my mountain wheels.

# 28 February 2010 at 2:33 pm