Any tyre fitters here?
 

I've a question for a tyre fitter. How easy and how common is it to damage the rim of a bike wheel when changing the tyre?

Yes it is a loaded question!

Cheers.

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

depends on what monkey is doing it.

scraping the paint/rim = very common even the best of them can do it.

denting a rim = not common but can be done.

bending a rim = very uncommon.

who ever is changing the tyre should be using rim protectors, if they don't then go elsewhere.

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

i wrecked my rear paint when i had to do a quick boge at collage

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

Ur Tyre is going well still though :D

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

^ haha :D glad it is, i did do a propper job at repairing it

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

Cheers,
A few bits of history came back today.

I had a minor off a couple years ago and got everyhting fixed at the shop I bought the bike from. An expensive exercise. I also decided to get a new rear tyre while I was at it. Then I got the, "did you know your rims damaged" comment. I sure as hell didn't notice it when making a list of things that needed repaired, and neither did the parts guy who went over it all with me the day I dropped the bike off. The dent was also on the wrong side to have been caused by the off...

I eventually got it repaired by a mob down south, who sent it back to me looking like new. Today, a different garage, the same "did you know your rims damaged". This time, it's the exact same place in the wheel, and the exact same "shape" where the rim is damaged. A wee bit too co-incedental. This time I think the tyre changing machine has caused the damage by trying to grip the rim where it is now weak. I can kind of accept that. Not that anyone admitted this. But it does point back to the original garage making an **** of it... Any thoughts? Is there a standard orientation of the wheel in these machines?

P.S. I' asking this is for my own sanity as I've no way of proving the wheel was good before hand, it would be my word against theirs. I'm more ****ed at the original f**k up, I can accept the wheel rim may have lost it's strength after the repair.

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

I'm a car mechanic so fitted my own Tyres and was a bit worried at marking the wheels so the simple thing to do is open the tyre machine fully and grab the outside of the rim instead of inside job done no damage, and to bend a wheel on the machine I find it hard to believe more than likely pot hole damage, :(

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

yeh cant see how the machine could bend a wheel, even if ure been a tw&t with it

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

Very bloody hard to put a dent in a rim changing tyres, rims are tough beasts even when I do my own tyres and im the most cack handed person ever...hence why I usually leave the mechanics to Steve LOL.

Potholes are common cause and we see alot of that now. If we are changing tyres on a customers bike and notice damage, we stop and inform the customer before doing the job just so they know it wasnt us!

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

yep looked fine to me, same type id use.

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

Agree with all of this and we do the same when changing tyres at work.

There is no set orientation when putting a wheel on a tyre changing machine, and as you rarely see the same type of machine in any two workshops it'd be impossible to know where it was being placed in others. Tyre changers don't clamp the rim that hard that they could dent - as others have said, more than likely to be pothole damage, which is something I'm seeing more and more of on customers bikes and others I've been offered for sale in the last ten years. It's come to a point where I'm spinning up front wheels when I look them over with a view to buying. I think it's a combination of poor roads and the quest for ever lighter wheels that make this happen.

Just thank your lucky stars you don't own a 1990s Ducati with a 3-spoke Brembo front wheel. I haven't seen a straight one of those in years. It seems they buckle and dent the front rims if you ride over a credit card.

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

The bike has been out my garage about 7 or 8 times since the wheel was repaired, and only to work and back. Been away alot with work the last couple years and haven't had the time. In fact it's only been out the garage 3 times since it's last MOT which highlighted the fact I needed new tyres. No bumps, incidents, or potholes...

The thing that really fires my suspision is that the dent is a carbon copy of the first one. I know that may sound like a random cliche, but it is 100% identical. Incuding the actual location on the wheel rim. I found it hard to work out how it may have happened the first time round. This time i'm confident the wheel was good. If it was a pot hole or the like, why would the damage only be on one side, and not so much as a scrape on the other side? To that end, the paint at the dent is fine. No evidence of smacking into an abrassive road surface/pothole.

Re: Any tyre fitters here?
 

Got a new wheel ordered up anyway. The garage I changed my tyres at offered me the labour free of charge if I put a deposit down. Which was nice!