Went to the dealer to get a new front tire put on. As the mechanic wheeled my bike onto the lift, he said it looked like the front rim was bent. It looked like there was a sort of wave in one spot, but nothing that looked unusual. After the new tire was put on and balanced and back on the front end, he called me over and showed me that a few spokes were loose too.

The mechanic tightened the loose spokes up and said that I need to either replace the rim or the whole wheel. He said with the bent rim the front end could wobble and possibly collapse on me while driving. He said I should limit my driving to only in the city and no highway driving. Funny thing is I have a 3 day, 800 mile trip coming up in a week.

Not sure if this is true or just a scare tactic by the mechanic to get business?

The roads here in SE Wisconsin are not in the best of shape so I'm sure I could have hit a pot hole or something. I've never had wobbles on the bike and I just got back from a 800 mile trip 2 weeks ago and the bike was fine.

Any advice you guys can give me? Should I back out of my trip this weekend and get it fixed immediately or is it something I can let go?

 

I wouldn't let it go.
If I were in your shoes I'd get a new wheel, cast no spokes. I've had 4 bike's with spoke rims and never had a problem.

 

I don't like giving advice on things like this without erring on the side of caution. I can't see how bad it's really bent. So the safe answer is to have the hoop (rim) straightened or replaced. There should be no reason to replace the whole wheel.

I'd start calling around to some local indy shops and see if you can't find someone that can true your existing wheel or re-hoop it.

 

Just put the bike on the jack to spin the front wheel. The right side of the rim is fine and the left is where you can see just a slight wave. If it wasn't for the mechanic bringing this up, I never would have known. No wobbles and just looking at the wheel without spinning it I could not even see a dent.

 

If that's the case, the tire itself doesn't wobble side to side, I'd ride it.

 

Yep. It's not like the thing is going to collapse right under you. I'd just keep a close eye on it during your breaks/stops.

 

Thanks for the input guys. The bike felt fine riding home from the dealer. Talk about bad timing with my weekend trip coming up in a few days.