My front wheel has gone out of “true” or maybe I should say was bent about three times. Each time was due to a pot hole in the road or a bump I did not get over correctly but never where I could not continue to ride on it. I went to the bike store and they did fix it but said that if it happens again it might be a good idea to get a new wheel because of something called a “hop” in the wheel. Is this true? Should I replace the wheel if it goes out once more? Or are there just so many times a wheel can be readjusted before it has to be replaced?
i would trust your bike shop ,the way to cure the problem is to avoid pot holes ,always watch were you are going
The hop in the wheel is a reference to the wheel being out of round. If the wheel is of decent quality and not damaged beyond repair, a competent shop or wheelbuilder should be able to give it a good radial truing. The fact that your wheel has gone out of true several times leads me to believe that the wheels were machine built (possibly of low quality) and the tension in the spokes is all over the place. Any Bozo can laterally true a wheel, which may be what your shop did. It might be worth having the wheel properly trued (both laterally and radially) and all of the spokes retensioned. This full fix, if done to a quality wheel, isn't super cheap but should almost eliminate further issues,,,if the bike is ridden with reasonable care. If you have doubts about your shop's work, go elsewhere. Or at least ask them why they can't do a radial truing to eliminate the hop.
