Yesterday someone posted on IMJ about balancing wheels, and I responded with a suitable put down… however the original poster did put up this youtube clip from GP Lama
I still think that it is a load of bollox, I don’t recall ever feeling any issue with unbalanced wheels, even this morning, at 75kph I couldn’t detect any balance issue or vibration. Yes cars and motorbikes do have their wheels balanced, however, their wheels ar much heavier, whereas the rotating mass of a bike wheel is so small that any balance issues will be negligable. However, maybe I am just blinkered.
Anyone else have any views on balancing bike wheels, any point?
I’ve never felt any imbalance or thought a balance would be beneficial. I think there’s a correct place to locate the tyre relative to the valve but I don’t know what it is or do it either.
I’m sure some rims place extra material opposite the valve to get some of the way there. I guess if you are noticing a wobble or shaking it’s an inexpensive fix for a few grams of weight, so why not. If you don’t notice any issue then ride on.
I come from a moto racing background, so it seems logical to me, especially with long stems/extenders. I’d probably do it without thinking as it seems a natural thing to do (but I haven’t done it).
Shane Miller is faster than 90% of the riders on here, so it’s not like it’s Hambini or anything.
I could see the merit on paper, and once it’s done, it’s done. It’s not a new concept at all, they were doing it on box rims years ago with a little bit of pole fishing putty. I saw then doing it in Belgium in the Departe area of a road race.
You’d have to question how much inertia is actually going through a bike wheel to cause enough resonance to affect handling though?
As much as this was dismissed by most, I am wondering if it’s something to look into. Having used the rollers I acquired recently, there is a significant “pulsing” type sound from the rear wheel once you get up to any reasonable speed. I can only think it might be something to do with this. It makes sense to me that unlike outside, on some rollers, any non-perfect smooth rotation of the wheels would cause a sensation like this. It makes them really rather loud and intrusive.
I’m talking about my new Canyon bike here, with new DT Swiss rims, but as GPLama says in the video, expensive wheels are no indication they are appropriately balanced. I just don’t know how to test … I don’t have a fork holder like he uses in the video
I think most agreed that it would probably do something and if you notice it and want to fix it, then go ahead. If you don’t notice it when riding then there’s very little point to balancing your wheels.
Stick your bike upside down and spin the wheel (no chain), no need for a fancy fork holder.
I thought that, but isn’t a bike frame that is stiff and is relatively “fixed” to the ground (when upside down on multiple points of contact) too sturdy to allow the pulsing to happen? The stays are going to hold the hub relatively rigid from a couple of different planes of motion. I have tried it that way already, although not without the chain.
My take from the GPLama video was that having something fairly minimal in terms of sturdiness was what allowed you to feel the effects.
I probably need to try another bike, and see whether or not it’s actually something with the roller drum (although I can’t observe or feel anything that would suggest any of those have issues)
That is to show/feel the pulsing. I thought he just let the wheel settle and balanced out the opposing point so just needing the wheel freely spinning.
I think the point of a fancy fork holder is the abec 3 or similar bearings that has small contact points on the centre axle so there is very little friction to prevent the wheel settling to the heavy end.
