I balance my aero (55mm) road wheels on my aero road bike. I have found it to make a big difference at really high speed in terms of limiting the terrifying resonance an aero road bike can get at 50mph. It's fairly common here in Texas where the really high speed descents are often dead straight and on chip seal roads.
Lol if you used tools everyday for a living you'd be calling park tools stuff very reasonably priced. I'm guessing you've never purchased or shopped for snap on, matco, cornwell or Mac tools... You'd be shocked.
@RollinRat I'm just talking about hand tools. I went and compared some of the stuff on park tools web site to tool truck brands and they are no exaggeration 2x to 3x more expensive.
I had a cheap bike many years ago and the vibration from the front tire bothered my hands. I have nerve problems when dealing with vibrations. I balanced the wheels with the tires off and marked the heavy side, then put the tire on without removing the weight and found the heavy part of the tire. I removed the weight and mounted the tire heavy side opposite the heavy side of the wheel and that was good enough. I think the answer to "is wheel balancing worth it" is if there is a problem that it will solve then yes, if there is no problem then no.
Drill holes in the rim then. Couldn't possibly go wrong. I don't ride it... I just spend time in the shed drilling holes in it, and posting lists on Web forums. Lately I have been filling the tires with helium.
Had a slightly imbalanced deep section wheel. Sticked on some lead strips on the inner rim. Only like 3grams Made a huge diffrence on high speed descents. Since it was a carbon rim, the imbalance transferred quite harshly onto the handlebars. Now I have more confidence, more control and less fatigue during higher speeds. It also feels smoother, nicer and more efficient. Cornering usually doesn't happen at these high speeds where grip could be lessened with an imbalanced wheel, but nevertheless it does technically increase grip
Did the exact same to one of my alu wheels. Found myself slowing down quicker then before on a straight. Didn't know what was going on untill I put the bike in a stand. Had quite the wobble. So I bought a new set of wheels. Then ordered some golf club balancing weight stickers and started balancing the wheel. After I was done it felt brand new again.
Exactly similar experience here. Riding downhill outside Boulder moderately fast (85 km/h) got harmonic resonance (speed wobble) so bad was loosing control and going across solid line into path of pickup truck. Barely gathered it in but scared the hell out of me. Learned to balance using the golf club weights. This is not really an issue for MTBers.
I had a terrible speed wobble, descending last season, with my tcr carbon wheels. I am running conti 5k 28, will wheel balance for sure this season for safety.
this series of videos is amazing. really gave me the confidence to go out and buy the tools I need instead of passing it off to some third party to repair
ROAD BIKE: I just bought my first pair of DT Swiss carbon wheels and to my surprise, once mounted on the bike, both wheels bounced so much I was disappointed at first. But then soon added small strips of self-adhesive lead weights (for golf clubs) and managed to reach a very good result! I didn´t even remove the wheels from the bike, took me 10 minutes...
I work as a bike mechamic in Decathlon i’ve learned a lot of bikes in the past 1 year thanks to your youtube channel. I’ m saving up for a roadbike so I can go to work by bike. I ride a bmx and I couldn’t balance my wheels but i think it doesnt affect my riding.
An old boss when I was at the start of my mechanical career indicated that at higher speeds up on a bike stand, you’d always have a bit of resonance somewhere from exaggerated weight increases from torsional forces exacted on things like- tube manufacturing thickness, valve weight, reflector on the wheel. He never presented me with evidence for this, but it’s always been logically sound in my mind. I think it’s definitely a factor! Love the tech vids guys, you’re some pair on screen :)
I use lead tapes to balance my road bike tubeless wheels because the tubeless valves are pretty heavy. I think the improvement in traction and cornering stability is pretty noticeable, and it is a very cheap and easy upgrade.
Used to do it on my motorcycle racing wheels, never on my bicycle wheels. On the motorcycle it made the ride smoother. On my road bicycle, IF I had a "front end wobble" it was always my head set. EXCELLENT EXPLANATION!!
Balanced a wheel because it bothered my OCD, when I was done I still was the slowest in my group ride but my itch was cured and it was a fun experience figuring it out.
I had a speed wobble above 45mph (downhill) which disappeared after I balanced the front wheel on my road bike. Since then I have checked all my wheels and corrected several! Once I’ve determined the required weight and position of the counterweights (with tyres fitted) I use automotive balancing weights which are self adhesive and stick them on the inside surface of the rim. Then I tape over with electrical tape before installing tyre/tube being careful to put the them in exactly the same position on the wheel again. No ugly fishing weights on my spokes!
This! Back when I worked as a car mechanic I'd tell people it a was a waste of time trying to balance an egg, they couldn't understand why I'd recommend a pair or set of tires to correct a vibration.
Yes, I do balance my bikes wheels and recheck ever couple of month for rebalancing if needed. I do use lead tape (golf clubs) instead because it is more versatile. Besides, i do the whole process why inflated and ready to use tire and wheel. This could be more accurate, from my perspective. Please advice if I am right. Please keep posting great vids.
For road racing and bmx racing, balancing is a good idea when you change the tire. For casual riding and mountain biking, close is good enough because the wheels will pick up debris as you ride which will then throw off the balance anyway. Given the time, if I had the tire in a truing stand I would spend the time to make sure the spokes are evenly tensioned before spending time balancing. A broken spoke is worse than an out of balance tire.
I did. Found a difference of calmness at speed that i hadn't noticed b4. I used tungsten gulf weights. Came down to the frame feeling more planted. But my bike was way way out of balance. Like 30 grams off. So maybe it helped keep my hub bearings from wearing out. Hard to say. Did a few other guys bikes. They had similar experience. Added a calmness to the bike.
Yes i Do , I am a roady and I only balance the wheels after I have the Tube, tyre, cassette installed and it is inflated it to the proper pressure . If you do this with a Tubeless Tire then it might not be worth the time . Some companies make bike wieghts to balance wheels but i believe you can do it properly with golf club lead tapes.
i have a motorized bicycle an run inner tube tires. i always balancing them if i have to change a tire or tube. it may be silly to balance them but i feel it helps minimize vibration an wear.
That’s pretty funny, poking fun at balancing wheels. However, it is more important in the road riding world, particularly in the case of deep sections carbon wheels. The deeper the section, the longer and greater the mass of the valve stem or valve extender. This relative imbalance towards the valve side is greater in the case of road wheels, because in general as a package (rim, tubular tape, tire, valve cap even, etc.) they are much lighter than MTB wheel systems. Also, the relative speeds in terms of RPMs of the wheel can be much greater the road, particularly on descents.
I balance every bike by first removing the stupid wheel reflectors, then making sure the tire is evenly seated on the rim. Always works for me. Also making sure that the rim is trued and not flattened out anywhere.
When I first balanced my wheels, with the same tailwind on the road, my best effort average speed in my favourite ~3min strava sector went from 41.6km/h to 46.2km/h. It's like aerodynamics, the faster you go the more wheel balance matters for performance. I've also got the 2nd fastest time in the fastest local sector that requires no downhill skill (~70km/h), it's a very popular bit of road here, I'm not all that strong and I did it with box section 32 spoke wheels... that were perfectly balanced.
In my opinion, I feel it does matter! Wheel balance is important but only to a point. If there is a slight vibration, I would have to say there is really no effect on my riding. I’ve actually ridden a mountain bike with BOTH wheels imbalanced very slightly for quite a while and haven’t noticed any serious problems with handling or suspension. However, once the balance does become slightly noticeable (as demonstrated in this video at certain points) this can slightly alter the handling (depending on what type of bike you ride). In conclusion I believe that it’s not completely necessary, unless you truly notice a disturbance in the ‘force’.
Hi guys I balanced my wheels a year ago and rebalance when I rotate tires from front to back and it has made a world of difference in comfort (less buzz in the toshie), handling at speed (you feel the grip of the road better and cuts sharper) and increased my top speed of 84 km/h to 93.25 on the same circuit (conditions were roughly the same as well as originally top speed test and is consistently faster then before. It’s worth every minute of work, every gram of weight and if your as fussy as I am it’s worth the extra time to put lead golf club weights on the inside of the rim instead. I was able to custom cut them to a perfect 3.4grms and 3.6grms and since they have glued backs they stick to the inside without worry. All I can say is, do it, do it oh and do it!! Oh yes I’m a roadie
I just balanced my wheels the other day with some motorcycle weights. Because I still run inner tubes on my 26” hardtail (Trek 4900) it was pretty straight forward process. To be honest the only time I can feel the difference is when I ride with speeds above 35-40 km/h or when Im jumping. I definitely do like how the bike feels now. Ps: All wheel setups are different and it takes different amounts of weight to balance them. For example I managed to balance my Nukeproof Generator wheels almost perfect with some minor tyre adjustments, while the wheel set on my hardtail took 22 grams in total to balance. Thats why I think there are so many different opinions on that topic.
I think it's important, really helps with handling, descents and stability, specially with deep section wheels, however, manufacturers do a good jobs in the design, so that the wheels are more or less balanced on common setups, that's why you don't notice it and think it's not important, but ask a motorsport person about it and they will tell you about it, the easy way is to do it with speed sensors magnets, one per wheel, adjusting the distance from the hub, no hassle, no weights, no drama 👌
If I spent a lot of time riding as fast as possible over either super bumpy terrain or doing massive jumps I would consider balancing the wheel as that stays consistent. The tires just come off to much for me to consider balancing it with those and the sealant/tube, however if I was riding pro and half a second on a five minute ride means something then I would consider balancing with the tire and just remember the position of it on the rim and make sure the bead is seated on the rim 110% correctly
I got a used bike from someone that had balanced the back wheel with loose copper sheets wrapped around 5 different spokes some had multiple strips and he was very proud of him self for fixing the bike... I haven't touched it and it works ok but if I need to fix anything on that wheel they are all coming off. I think the axle is just bent.
Hilarious, thanks guys! In fact, I replaced the valves on my tubeless carbon road wheels with aluminium Muc-Off valves and saved 4g per valve (original 60mm Mavic valve 9g, Muc-Off 60mm valve 5g, both with o-rings and washers). There's definitely less wobble on the stand. I also feel I can climb easier but that's certainly placebo ;)
If someone rides the bike for speed, balanced tires may be important. I was shocked as some spokes get lose on my 28mph e-bike (250 miles after the bike came fresh from the factory and the DMV for the initial certification; two sheets of paperwork filled to the utmost and nobody checked the tires). If you plan to go over 30mph regularly, it may be a good idea to attend more attention to your ride. For slow riding: no it isn't worth if the bike handling isn't affected, you still may get slower
So I think the question to ask is, is the imbalance due to the wheel being true or to roundness? I believe most imbalance issues in cars are due to the rubber of the tires being imperfect, in any case, the womps should not have a huge effect on watts but might impact your comfort and bearings, maybe suspension as well? If the womps is huge to where it is causing the tire to lose contact then that might be also unsafe 🙂 I can see how you might end up going crazy trying to balance wheels and tires on bike, especially since they change so much
I've played with this idea on my road bike wheels. Only difference is I knew the tire and air would make a difference. Also where the weight was put made a difference on how much of a difference it made. Lighter weight on the outside of the tire was more effective than heavier weight on the spoke. As a compromise in my balancing plan was to place weights inside the rim under the rim tape. How did I do that you ask ? LOL I cut up 2 dimes, yep for 20 cents and a couple of hours (taking tires on and off) on a rainy day I had perfectly balanced wheels that made no difference in anything. Smooth road was still smooth and rough still sucked. Another idea if you really want to try it yourself would be to use tire liners but only use small pieces where you think the weight is needed but remember to start with a fully inflated tire first. This a lot easier with tubes, trying all this tubeless would be a nightmare. Only good thing is on the bike stand at full speed but rear doesn't bounce. 👍
For all the guys at park tool, thank you for all of your video aids. However, I have a few questions about suspension setup for trail bikes,, please cover that topic next. Thank you.
The only time I've ever noticed wheel imbalance while riding was when I was bombing down a steep paved road at 53mph. It was very apparent! But I've also done like 42 on a dirt road in moab and didn't notice anything. I figure for the most part if you're running tubeless sealant it probably balances it the tire when in motion. Just like semi-trucks use plastic pellets in their tires to balance them.
I have balanced car tires for 15 years. You can usually only feel an out of balance around 50+ mph for a car. So for the speed of a bike i would say you cant feel it. Probably not necessary unless it is way out.
cars weigh 1000s of kilos more than a bike and rider so there is much greater damping effect. But even if you can't feel it, it could still be having an adverse effect.
Mavic 700c,it appeared that the rim weld was opposite the valve stem,l screwed a couple of nuts (small) on the presta valve and had smooth rotation,for what it`s worth.
In my professional opinion balancing your wheels is not only more efficient . It's also better for the longevity of the hub bearings. In most cases you just have to counter weight the valve stem.
Awesome video guys. If I was competing at a very high level on a 30mph speed machine I would balance before an important event. But hey, I'm old and slow and just ride to work mostly. A video about the balance impact of sealant in the tires would be fun.
I balanced a road wheel to get rid of annoying resonance that occurred at certain speeds. Didn’t clearly make me faster but removed a distraction above 25 MPH
As a bike tourer I had never bother with balancing my wheels just made sure they were built strong. Now I'm curious about one thing: do pro cyclists do balance their wheels? Thanks to you Park Tool.
I balanced my TT wheels, at high speed yes no wobble. Best thing I can take from this is, i know how to balance wheels now. Golf club lead weights work a treat...
Car tire balancers generally only balance at low speed (15mph) and more for wear than comfort. So unless you balance every ride, and after you have displaced the sealant, you will not get great results if using good quality hubs, rims and tires. If you have more affordable wheels, you may get a smoother ride as the quality control may be a factor. So unless you have very noticeable vibration on the bike stand, not worth the pain, you may increase the vibration by default. Good luck, and bring beer, you will need a drink... Love the content Cheers
The advantage of going tubeless is epic but one tge great things is balance! As you ride the semi liquid E goop will help greatly to self balance the wheels! You will never be able to do this in a static machine! The semi liquid state of the goop will not allow this to happen in a static state wit in motion, it will level itself out automatically, equalizing the "forces" if the wheel, tire and goop to make it all perfectly balanced while in motion!
I suggest you use lead Golf club weights. Not only are they malleable, but also come with an adhesive backing that you can put on/under tire strip so they are ultimately a clean look, absolutely no outside weights on rim or spoke. Works incredibly well on road wheels.
I'm a roady, I've balanced all my wheels, complete with tube and tyre. I used lead weights for golf clubs and then lead tape for the fine adjustment. Both self adhesive. I used to get severe downhill front wheel wobble but the balance has helped but more importantly correct tyre pressures have a greater effect.
I have a cheap hybrid (~USD100) (MACH CITY MUNICH SINGLE SPEED). The wheel was totally not balanced but it wasn't noticeable in the ride. Still my curiosity balanced it years ago. Ride fatigue went down drastically the next day (the wheel was just a little more off than the one in the video without the wrench) Braking power improved somehow. The ride became stable at 40+ KMPH
The sealant itself will balance the wheel as its spinning. 4x4 and semi guys have been doing a similar thing for a long time using either with water, airsoft BB's, or actual balance beads (small plastic BB's) inside the tire, once spinning they will find there way to the light spot thus balancing the wheel. not perfect but close enough to not feel a shake at speed and on a mountain bike that's all id want. on road bike though i'd think it might be more beneficial as higher speeds on smooth roads the imbalance would be more noticable.
It doesn't really change anything. Sure, it can look crazy on the stand, but that's because no other force is affecting it. If we as an example take a standard 28 inch road wheel at 60 kph (a speed I'll never reach), an imbalance of 5 grams will give a centripetal force of around 4N (a bit over 400 grams). Compared to the other forces influencing the system, especially at 60 kph, its vanishingly little.
@@Phaidrus It might, but that is (probably) because you're thinking of the effect of spinning an imbalance of 400 grams up to that speed (which would indeed become a huge force). Instead, it is the maximum force the wheel experiences due to the rotation. At least with my fat ass pushing down with 100+ kg, I won't really be feeling that.
Dennis Krøger As a roadie, this would mean the bar is pushing up by about a pound on every “pulse”. That’s a lot, considering that I probably only put 40-50lbs on the bars at most. I’ve hit 51mph before and I know my bike starts feeling real skittery so I think I’m going to try this.
@@404nobrakes That's 2% of the force. 40 pounds of downward force will vary between 38 and 42 pounds (as well as pushing forwards and backwards, of course). You might feel it, and if it makes you uncomfortable, by all means fix it, but it's probably not going to unsettle the bike enough to have a real effect on stability.
Please give the option of Spanish translation. Your technical explanations are excellent. Disc and caliper well centered, but with 29-inch wheel with spokes and bushing badly centered and badly tensioned, always the disc will rosá to the tablets (oscillation). I have a double-suspension bike (DB RECOIL 29ER) with 29-inch wheels, on the front with 9mm quick release and 10mm on the rear. Does the types of closure influence NO BOOST AND BOOST? I am using text translator. I hope you understand me thank you 👋👋👋
I caught a serious speed wobble straight out of the neutral zone in a state champ road race a few years ago. It only happened that one time & I haven't been able to reproduce it. Headset & wheel bearings had the appropriate preload. My assumption is that the harmonic imbalances in both wheels alined so as to produce the wobble. I can't stand to add weight to my race wheels, so unless it reoccurs I've done nothing about it.
I could see as an issue with a road bike. For my Mt bike if it was really bad I maybe would look into it but I've had no issues up to 45mph with just a slight unbalance. Enduro bike with 2.6, 27.5 tires set up tubeless. Fun video though.
I have a pair Reynolds Blacklabel widetrail 29 carbon rims. Even if they were balanced from factory it was definitely messed up by my tubeless setup by the valve. I noticed the imbalance while riding down the finish straight of a local dh race so I went to a car tire shop and got some adhesive wheel weights to balance the wheel by adding 5gr opposite to the valve. It makes a huge difference while spinning the cranks on a bike stand but I’m not sure it really matters in the real world. Anyhow World Cup mechanics add wheel weights to some riders’ wheels so it can’t be that wrong right?
I balance my car wheels when there is a wobble at the steering wheel at speeds around 100km/h. Balancing the car wheels helps me have a smoother drive so I can focus and enjoy my bike ride.
If you're not fortunate enough to live by a fishing store, there are other products/substances readily availlable that sell by the gram. Strickly for balancing purpose.
I balanced my old tubular 808s for my TT bike with some golf club weights and felt no difference for the speeds I ride for the amount of weight it took. I scrubbed the mission. I am flummoxed, however, as to why wheel makers don’t seem to take into account that tubulars with a valve added will not be very balanced.
I'm less interested on my MTB since it's tubeless and the sealant is sloshing and I am already going over bumps the whole ride anyway. I am interested in it on my race roadie.
I could see balancing reducing wattage used at higher speeds. A setup without sealant might benefit. I know when my cars tires are out of balance I cant go as fast comfortably and my highway mpg drops by a noticeable amount.
Recently acquired some pvc tubes with plastic valve stems, so that should help a lot, haven't installed them yet. Usually use self adhesive golf weights. A smoother ride is better, end of debate.
I have 4 bicks and all wheels were built by hand and I never balance my wheels I just make sure I true them properly all the way around .but thanks for the new info
You should definitely balance the wheels as they're going to be ridden on the road. You mind doesn't know it, because we're not accustomed to thinking about the balance if our wheels. Although as speed goes up the wobble gets worse and less contact patch to the ground every revolution (traction). Along with the loss of traction, your bearings are feeling the wobble and eventually wearing them. Some may say the weight of our body will keep the contact patch, but yet we do it to car tires that are way more heavy and we can feel the difference because of higher speed.
Yes, I balanced my road wheels. I figured at over 50 mph at times in races it sure would not hurt and theoretically could help. How much? I didn't know but why not let that rock stay covered. I did my balancing with my tire on otherwise its is a bit of a waste of time. I figure it helps more that ceramic bearings in your wheel hubs and is a lot cheaper.
I have an electric fat bike that goes 30+ mph. YES, balancing tires is important. I learned this on my escooter with 9" wheels at 35mph. On another subject..... can you guys discuss hybrid ceramic and full ceramic wheel bearings?
a bike wheel it may not make much difference but car wheels you can wear the tire unevenly. not just thickness of extrusion but if you look around the rim you will see a seam where the ends of the extrusion has been put together. inside the seam is 2 pieces of steel wire to splice the ends together. if you was to cut out a 1 inch on each side of the seam then put that 2 inch piece in a vise and pull it apart you will see 2 pieces of wire holding the rim together.
I have a good few wheels with heavy spots which work like your test rig there without fitting special flushed bearings. From watching them pendulum, indeed the heavy spot is the valve. Saw no need to balance the weight of a valve.
On my 2022 Redline Proline Pro XL, I notice a little womp in my rear wheel, but only when I'm off the bike and just spinning the wheel. I have never noticed anything while riding or racing that would make me want to waste my valuable time trying to "fix" this "problem."
Reynolds Sixtysix/FortySix wheelset with Continental Competition tubulars. The weight of the tubes brass vavle makes an unballanced wheel (usualy counterd approx by joint or weld in aluminum rims). It is really noticable and the force of the rotating brass vavle of the rim can be felt like the rear wheel is ’dancing’ at high speeds. Less noticable on front wheel though. HAVE balaced it with a wheel magnet (for cadence / speed sennsor) and correct position on spoke. When i ride w. Vittoria Pave || tubs with vitorias awfull aluminum vavle stem counter weight of magnet is too much... almost unoticable due to the lighter vavle stem if i dont balance. If i do add magnet i also have to add weight on spoke near vavle. Proberbly not an iuuse unless u ride sub 1200g wheelsets. Never noticed on my 1450g 32 spoked Macic Open Pro / Record wheel or 32 spoked alumium tub rims on Record hubs. On the very lightweight Reýnolds carbon tbular wheels: defenatly noticeable.
Yes, rulett of thumbs should be that if any wheel with clean inflated tyre is imbalanced, and it can be drivende at above 40kph, then it should be balanced.
Balancing does remove the wamp helps with rider fatigue on long races. Track racers and long distance road racers do notice an out of balance tire. We used lead tape to balance finished tires and just like balancing a car tire, you balance with tire on, fully inflated ready to ride. Having a tire out of round or not in true probably effects the average rider more the an out of balance tire. But the average rider is most likely never going to notice.
I find the heavy side of my wheel with a dummy stem insatalled, then I find the heavy side of the tire so when mounting it I can put them opposite each other. I store my bike hanging so the heavy side will go down then I rotate it 180 degrees and hold it there with a strap so when the sealent dries, that lighter side gets heavier. This way I am continually balancing my tire between rides.
I have this same problem, except that my disc rotor and cassete wobble too, and the wheel never fits the exact same way it did before so I have to realign stuff. Warped axle???
Trued wheels,0 lash on bearing adjustment (ball and cone), and balanced wheels equal a sweet ride.Oh dont forget to make sure the tires are seated evenly on the rims for a low to no runout.
I want all the weight saved by going from an average off the shelf bike to a super bike, and put it all into the rim. Plus I want the top 3/4 of my tire aero covered, with the bottom half exposed with spokes that are scoop shaped on the front to catch on coming wind, and aero on the back to cut through its back stroke. I want wind that hits the front of the bike to be funneled down into the front tire. Essentially a small duct system that the rider will be able to crunch behind. This will take the head wind and force it down into the front of the spoke catching system at about the 45 degree mark around the rim. Might be more efficient to funny the air toward the rear, since it would be less of a dramatic curve. But this would have to hit the bottom half of the aero spokes. Like a water wheel being pushed by rushing water. Instead of water, its all the air that would otherwise be slowing the rider. The more efficient the transfer of that power, the less air resistance a person will have. Also, wrap the frame with flexible solar cells in order to introduce a small induction turbo fan that will be paralleled and Y connected into the main duct system to act as a vacuum system that will adjust its speed depending on the speed of inflowing air in order to maintain a sucking action on the front end instead of a plowing of air down the duct system Instead of trying to build the slimmest possible rider and system, build with the idea that every inch of the rider will be ducted and all the wind force will be filtered directly onto either the front or rear tire. That winds going to hit you no matter what, might as well funnel it in and use it. Same with aero recumbent bikes, why don't they have systems that allow that head wind to flow through, pressurize, and focus onto a part that would assist instead of impede. This way on large open road, when heavy head winds try and slow you down, they will actually help you coast much greater distances. I believe with all the tech today, you could easily make a bike with this design, for the same weight if not slightly more then an off the shelf walmart bicycle. For cheap as fuck. I want a machine I can live inside. A machine that can store my power needs for a few days worth of gaming, cooking, showering, driving, heat/cooling, water condense from air and air purification, as well as store my composting toilet, inflatable shower, 12volt refrigerator, and storage for misc items. A machine on wheels that can be found no matter how poor the country. Be fixed by only simple means or otherwise simply replaced with very minimum cost while still having a the highest reliability. We've seen the abuse bicycles take these days. I believe, we can build a self driving machine, that can not only power itself, but over flow with power enough to power more then itself. Between solar, thermal, static, kinetic, and wind, there should be more then plenty of cheap ways to easily slap a shit ton of different electrical absorption methods in order to create a machine that can provide: Shelter, Water, Electricity, Transportation, Entertainment, a place to store and cook food, while also have a place to shit and clean yourself. All on bullet proof, indestructible bicycle tires and rims that should already be (but obviously people suck) mass produced items everywhere. When all else fails, you yourself should still have a pedal drive system that you can use and should still be able to move the entire machine the same speed as if you were walking with a shopping cart full of your belongings. Walking speeds. This means when all electrical systems fail, it does not matter. As long as you have government checks to pay for food funding which comes from taxes payed by Robot workers. All you need to do is make sure you have enough water to get you back to either a repair station, or somewhere you can contact us and we can send out a real sized tow truck with enough spare parts to rebuild 30 machines over being so light and compact in comparison to a regular vehicle. Usually when you're not assisting the machine in moving, you're taking unused calories and pumping them through the pedals, into a centrifuge which will then transfer that into your batteries at the most efficient rate possible, all the rider has to do is occasionally bring the weight back up to speed. Would be nice if that weight was a battery itself so its not just dead weight when standing still. It sounds like a complicated system. 90% of it is a two wire system. The other 10% of the most complicated battery and inverter systems will be handled by us for free. Why for free? How for free? If you ensure to us that you will never give reason to be imprisoned, never drive a car, and never sell anything harder then weed, we can supply you with party money, and spare parts for life. Because the money I save by not employing you and employing a robot, plus keeping you out of prison, is more then enough to counter balance the cost of keeping your machine running and you happy with all the drugs and food you could want. If I give you a higher budget, you just get closer to overdosing. So you'll find that medium where you're giving people enough money to have a healthy good time, and eating well, with only pennies left over every month. You pretty much give people enough money to make themselves sick every month, until eventually they learn they don't want to be sick so they cut back on what they're doing, and this will draw that line at what exactly the food and drug budget should be. It really wont be that much different between everyone. The people on the high end will just die quicker which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Instead of people fighting over being rich, you'll come into a life where you get to make a decision: Living rich means dying young. Living poor means living longer. Because the only difference would be the rate in which you consume your food, drugs, and electrical income. Even the elites that built the system will not choose to live outside of it. Why would you? While everyone else is outside not locked down by the boundaries of the cement foundations, you'll be in a massive mansion where it takes you five minutes to walk to any one of the 50 bathrooms. Where you find yourself creating a living room in a the kitchen with the nearest bathroom and end up sleeping on the fold out couch in that living room space just to save your sanity. I want that space, the kitchen, living room, bathroom. Smashed all into on tight aerodynamic package. That produces more then enough power to not only run and maintain its own systems, but also run your systems, and even a system or two plugged into it. I want a portable laptop power station that I can move anywhere under my own power, plug multiple systems into, and recharge as many ways as possible. All in a package I can live inside, and move on bicycle wheels made by fucking nasa. Get, it done, for the love of god, please. It's been almost 20 years.
I balance my aero (55mm) road wheels on my aero road bike. I have found it to make a big difference at really high speed in terms of limiting the terrifying resonance an aero road bike can get at 50mph. It's fairly common here in Texas where the really high speed descents are often dead straight and on chip seal roads.
How do you balance?? What products do you use?
@@gersonFls7 ruclips.net/video/Rgj9Wsncx44/видео.html
Auto weights work and pine car weight as well
My wallet needs balance after I browse Park Tools...
Park is the Harley Davidson of bike tools. I have some tools I bought literally 35 years ago
At least, these are mainly made in the US not rubish tools made in China.
Lol if you used tools everyday for a living you'd be calling park tools stuff very reasonably priced. I'm guessing you've never purchased or shopped for snap on, matco, cornwell or Mac tools... You'd be shocked.
@RollinRat I'm just talking about hand tools. I went and compared some of the stuff on park tools web site to tool truck brands and they are no exaggeration 2x to 3x more expensive.
@RollinRat just got some sk superkrome flare wrenches a few weeks ago. They really are gorgeous.
I had a cheap bike many years ago and the vibration from the front tire bothered my hands. I have nerve problems when dealing with vibrations. I balanced the wheels with the tires off and marked the heavy side, then put the tire on without removing the weight and found the heavy part of the tire. I removed the weight and mounted the tire heavy side opposite the heavy side of the wheel and that was good enough. I think the answer to "is wheel balancing worth it" is if there is a problem that it will solve then yes, if there is no problem then no.
Weight Weenies will faint when they see you added 12gr. to a rim.
Xaver von Treyer
If weight wenie uballanced 12g can be horible in terms of handling at high speeds.
Morten Reippuert Knudsen Weight weenies are usually not very fast and on the fat side. I speak from personal experience...
They will faint because they eat one meal every three days.
Drill holes in the rim then.
Couldn't possibly go wrong.
I don't ride it... I just spend time in the shed drilling holes in it, and posting lists on Web forums.
Lately I have been filling the tires with helium.
Exactly why I scrubbed my efforts to balance mine!
Had a slightly imbalanced deep section wheel. Sticked on some lead strips on the inner rim. Only like 3grams
Made a huge diffrence on high speed descents. Since it was a carbon rim, the imbalance transferred quite harshly onto the handlebars. Now I have more confidence, more control and less fatigue during higher speeds. It also feels smoother, nicer and more efficient. Cornering usually doesn't happen at these high speeds where grip could be lessened with an imbalanced wheel, but nevertheless it does technically increase grip
Did the exact same to one of my alu wheels. Found myself slowing down quicker then before on a straight. Didn't know what was going on untill I put the bike in a stand. Had quite the wobble. So I bought a new set of wheels. Then ordered some golf club balancing weight stickers and started balancing the wheel. After I was done it felt brand new again.
Exactly similar experience here. Riding downhill outside Boulder moderately fast (85 km/h) got harmonic resonance (speed wobble) so bad was loosing control and going across solid line into path of pickup truck. Barely gathered it in but scared the hell out of me. Learned to balance using the golf club weights. This is not really an issue for MTBers.
I was so distracted by the balance while riding my fat bike I got cloths lined by a tree branch. True story.
I had a terrible speed wobble, descending last season, with my tcr carbon wheels. I am running conti 5k 28, will wheel balance for sure this season for safety.
this series of videos is amazing. really gave me the confidence to go out and buy the tools I need instead of passing it off to some third party to repair
I'm bicycle mechanic from Russia. I very like to see your videos. And this video is very funny.: )
does it relate to an alcohol in the spot? )
@@grafspirt Looool
ROAD BIKE: I just bought my first pair of DT Swiss carbon wheels and to my surprise, once mounted on the bike, both wheels bounced so much I was disappointed at first. But then soon added small strips of self-adhesive lead weights (for golf clubs) and managed to reach a very good result! I didn´t even remove the wheels from the bike, took me 10 minutes...
Is Calvin available for life coaching sessions? Asking for a friend.
I work as a bike mechamic in Decathlon i’ve learned a lot of bikes in the past 1 year thanks to your youtube channel. I’ m saving up for a roadbike so I can go to work by bike. I ride a bmx and I couldn’t balance my wheels but i think it doesnt affect my riding.
An old boss when I was at the start of my mechanical career indicated that at higher speeds up on a bike stand, you’d always have a bit of resonance somewhere from exaggerated weight increases from torsional forces exacted on things like- tube manufacturing thickness, valve weight, reflector on the wheel. He never presented me with evidence for this, but it’s always been logically sound in my mind. I think it’s definitely a factor! Love the tech vids guys, you’re some pair on screen :)
I use lead tapes to balance my road bike tubeless wheels because the tubeless valves are pretty heavy. I think the improvement in traction and cornering stability is pretty noticeable, and it is a very cheap and easy upgrade.
I was expecting all the video to see you overlooking the tyre unbalance, but not! you are really great at what you do guys!
Used to do it on my motorcycle racing wheels, never on my bicycle wheels. On the motorcycle it made the ride smoother. On my road bicycle, IF I had a "front end wobble" it was always my head set. EXCELLENT EXPLANATION!!
If you're serious about wheel balancing, it has to be pH balancing all the way.
Guys I trust you, you could have made a 2 second video saying "no" 😂
Balanced a wheel because it bothered my OCD, when I was done I still was the slowest in my group ride but my itch was cured and it was a fun experience figuring it out.
man, my wheels are unbalanced and I'm sure that like you if I do balance them i will still be the slowest in my group lol
CDO, it’s like OCD, but with the letters in the correct order.
I had a speed wobble above 45mph (downhill) which disappeared after I balanced the front wheel on my road bike. Since then I have checked all my wheels and corrected several!
Once I’ve determined the required weight and position of the counterweights (with tyres fitted) I use automotive balancing weights which are self adhesive and stick them on the inside surface of the rim. Then I tape over with electrical tape before installing tyre/tube being careful to put the them in exactly the same position on the wheel again.
No ugly fishing weights on my spokes!
Also worth checking wheel is even circular? Bad spoke tension = egg = inbalance?
Yes, even if the weight is balanced, the wheel can be out of true and that have a more noticeable effect on stability
This! Back when I worked as a car mechanic I'd tell people it a was a waste of time trying to balance an egg, they couldn't understand why I'd recommend a pair or set of tires to correct a vibration.
Imbalance. Sorry, it's a compulsion...
Yes, I do balance my bikes wheels and recheck ever couple of month for rebalancing if needed. I do use lead tape (golf clubs) instead because it is more versatile. Besides, i do the whole process why inflated and ready to use tire and wheel. This could be more accurate, from my perspective. Please advice if I am right. Please keep posting great vids.
For road racing and bmx racing, balancing is a good idea when you change the tire. For casual riding and mountain biking, close is good enough because the wheels will pick up debris as you ride which will then throw off the balance anyway. Given the time, if I had the tire in a truing stand I would spend the time to make sure the spokes are evenly tensioned before spending time balancing. A broken spoke is worse than an out of balance tire.
I did. Found a difference of calmness at speed that i hadn't noticed b4. I used tungsten gulf weights. Came down to the frame feeling more planted. But my bike was way way out of balance. Like 30 grams off. So maybe it helped keep my hub bearings from wearing out. Hard to say.
Did a few other guys bikes. They had similar experience. Added a calmness to the bike.
Yes i Do , I am a roady and I only balance the wheels after I have the Tube, tyre, cassette installed and it is inflated it to the proper pressure .
If you do this with a Tubeless Tire then it might not be worth the time .
Some companies make bike wieghts to balance wheels but i believe you can do it properly with golf club lead tapes.
i have a motorized bicycle an run inner tube tires. i always balancing them if i have to change a tire or tube. it may be silly to balance them but i feel it helps minimize vibration an wear.
That’s pretty funny, poking fun at balancing wheels. However, it is more important in the road riding world, particularly in the case of deep sections carbon wheels.
The deeper the section, the longer and greater the mass of the valve stem or valve extender. This relative imbalance towards the valve side is greater in the case of road wheels, because in general as a package (rim, tubular tape, tire, valve cap even, etc.) they are much lighter than MTB wheel systems.
Also, the relative speeds in terms of RPMs of the wheel can be much greater the road, particularly on descents.
I balance every bike by first removing the stupid wheel reflectors, then making sure the tire is evenly seated on the rim. Always works for me. Also making sure that the rim is trued and not flattened out anywhere.
When I first balanced my wheels, with the same tailwind on the road, my best effort average speed in my favourite ~3min strava sector went from 41.6km/h to 46.2km/h. It's like aerodynamics, the faster you go the more wheel balance matters for performance. I've also got the 2nd fastest time in the fastest local sector that requires no downhill skill (~70km/h), it's a very popular bit of road here, I'm not all that strong and I did it with box section 32 spoke wheels... that were perfectly balanced.
Yes it matters in all vehicles with a wheel , on bikes you feel it when you go fast .
On Hybrid I could really feel it when going downhill at 50mph.
I've been obsessed with this ever since I saw a mechanic balancing my moto wheels after a tire change.
In my opinion, I feel it does matter! Wheel balance is important but only to a point. If there is a slight vibration, I would have to say there is really no effect on my riding. I’ve actually ridden a mountain bike with BOTH wheels imbalanced very slightly for quite a while and haven’t noticed any serious problems with handling or suspension. However, once the balance does become slightly noticeable (as demonstrated in this video at certain points) this can slightly alter the handling (depending on what type of bike you ride). In conclusion I believe that it’s not completely necessary, unless you truly notice a disturbance in the ‘force’.
Great video! I think I'll add "Pro Wheel Balance" to the service menu and charge customers a case of beer per wheel. 🤔
Well with the price of a truing stand, I would charge some real cash lol :=)
I used to balance the propellers of my Radio Control airplanes on a similar way, takes time and is very important on high RPM.
Hi guys
I balanced my wheels a year ago and rebalance when I rotate tires from front to back and it has made a world of difference in comfort (less buzz in the toshie), handling at speed (you feel the grip of the road better and cuts sharper) and increased my top speed of 84 km/h to 93.25 on the same circuit (conditions were roughly the same as well as originally top speed test and is consistently faster then before.
It’s worth every minute of work, every gram of weight and if your as fussy as I am it’s worth the extra time to put lead golf club weights on the inside of the rim instead.
I was able to custom cut them to a perfect 3.4grms and 3.6grms and since they have glued backs they stick to the inside without worry.
All I can say is, do it, do it oh and do it!!
Oh yes I’m a roadie
I just balanced my wheels the other day with some motorcycle weights. Because I still run inner tubes on my 26” hardtail (Trek 4900) it was pretty straight forward process. To be honest the only time I can feel the difference is when I ride with speeds above 35-40 km/h or when Im jumping. I definitely do like how the bike feels now.
Ps: All wheel setups are different and it takes different amounts of weight to balance them. For example I managed to balance my Nukeproof Generator wheels almost perfect with some minor tyre adjustments, while the wheel set on my hardtail took 22 grams in total to balance. Thats why I think there are so many different opinions on that topic.
Just turn your bike upside down on the floor and spin the wheels at a reasonably fast speed. If the bike starts jumping then it needs to be fixed.
unreasonably*
common spelling error
@@anooshsoni2948 The equivalent of riding at 100mph of course
@@albr4 EXACTLY!
Your bike should never be turned upside down unless, of course, you are underneath it.
@@robtk3 I am not doing this out of spite
never ever done it once ever, but now I got a bike I can easily exceed 20mph on, so now I am wanting to think more about this.
Definitely when I ride I feel the imbalances on the sharp corners. I like being grounded.
you 👍 .
I think it's important, really helps with handling, descents and stability, specially with deep section wheels, however, manufacturers do a good jobs in the design, so that the wheels are more or less balanced on common setups, that's why you don't notice it and think it's not important, but ask a motorsport person about it and they will tell you about it, the easy way is to do it with speed sensors magnets, one per wheel, adjusting the distance from the hub, no hassle, no weights, no drama 👌
If I spent a lot of time riding as fast as possible over either super bumpy terrain or doing massive jumps I would consider balancing the wheel as that stays consistent. The tires just come off to much for me to consider balancing it with those and the sealant/tube, however if I was riding pro and half a second on a five minute ride means something then I would consider balancing with the tire and just remember the position of it on the rim and make sure the bead is seated on the rim 110% correctly
I got a used bike from someone that had balanced the back wheel with loose copper sheets wrapped around 5 different spokes some had multiple strips and he was very proud of him self for fixing the bike... I haven't touched it and it works ok but if I need to fix anything on that wheel they are all coming off.
I think the axle is just bent.
Hilarious, thanks guys! In fact, I replaced the valves on my tubeless carbon road wheels with aluminium Muc-Off valves and saved 4g per valve (original 60mm Mavic valve 9g, Muc-Off 60mm valve 5g, both with o-rings and washers). There's definitely less wobble on the stand. I also feel I can climb easier but that's certainly placebo ;)
If someone rides the bike for speed, balanced tires may be important.
I was shocked as some spokes get lose on my 28mph e-bike (250 miles after the bike came fresh from the factory and the DMV for the initial certification;
two sheets of paperwork filled to the utmost and nobody checked the tires).
If you plan to go over 30mph regularly, it may be a good idea to attend more attention to your ride.
For slow riding: no it isn't worth if the bike handling isn't affected, you still may get slower
So I think the question to ask is, is the imbalance due to the wheel being true or to roundness? I believe most imbalance issues in cars are due to the rubber of the tires being imperfect, in any case, the womps should not have a huge effect on watts but might impact your comfort and bearings, maybe suspension as well? If the womps is huge to where it is causing the tire to lose contact then that might be also unsafe 🙂 I can see how you might end up going crazy trying to balance wheels and tires on bike, especially since they change so much
This is playschool for adults, and It's awesome! 😂
I've played with this idea on my road bike wheels. Only difference is I knew the tire and air would make a difference. Also where the weight was put made a difference on how much of a difference it made. Lighter weight on the outside of the tire was more effective than heavier weight on the spoke. As a compromise in my balancing plan was to place weights inside the rim under the rim tape. How did I do that you ask ? LOL I cut up 2 dimes, yep for 20 cents and a couple of hours (taking tires on and off) on a rainy day I had perfectly balanced wheels that made no difference in anything. Smooth road was still smooth and rough still sucked.
Another idea if you really want to try it yourself would be to use tire liners but only use small pieces where you think the weight is needed but remember to start with a fully inflated tire first. This a lot easier with tubes, trying all this tubeless would be a nightmare. Only good thing is on the bike stand at full speed but rear doesn't bounce. 👍
I can’t lie; the part of the video I was waiting the most for was 5:30 - Calvin and Truman finally drink their beers 😄
Root,that is, as in Root beer. Trust us, no drinking on the job.
@@parktool We need a Park Tool After Hours
For all the guys at park tool, thank you for all of your video aids. However, I have a few questions about suspension setup for trail bikes,, please cover that topic next. Thank you.
The only time I've ever noticed wheel imbalance while riding was when I was bombing down a steep paved road at 53mph. It was very apparent! But I've also done like 42 on a dirt road in moab and didn't notice anything. I figure for the most part if you're running tubeless sealant it probably balances it the tire when in motion. Just like semi-trucks use plastic pellets in their tires to balance them.
I have balanced car tires for 15 years. You can usually only feel an out of balance around 50+ mph for a car. So for the speed of a bike i would say you cant feel it. Probably not necessary unless it is way out.
cars weigh 1000s of kilos more than a bike and rider so there is much greater damping effect. But even if you can't feel it, it could still be having an adverse effect.
Also E=mv2... going double the speed (say 40 vs 80) will have more than triple the energy
Mavic 700c,it appeared that the rim weld was opposite the valve stem,l screwed a couple of nuts (small) on the presta valve and had smooth rotation,for what it`s worth.
In my professional opinion balancing your wheels is not only more efficient . It's also better for the longevity of the hub bearings.
In most cases you just have to counter weight the valve stem.
9:20 goosebumps man, goosebumps!!!
Awesome video guys. If I was competing at a very high level on a 30mph speed machine I would balance before an important event. But hey, I'm old and slow and just ride to work mostly. A video about the balance impact of sealant in the tires would be fun.
I balanced a road wheel to get rid of annoying resonance that occurred at certain speeds. Didn’t clearly make me faster but removed a distraction above 25 MPH
Hi, How to check the alignment between the rear and the front wheel?
Do you have any video about it?
Thank you
Stay tuned!
As a bike tourer I had never bother with balancing my wheels just made sure they were built strong. Now I'm curious about one thing: do pro cyclists do balance their wheels? Thanks to you Park Tool.
I balanced my TT wheels, at high speed yes no wobble. Best thing I can take from this is, i know how to balance wheels now. Golf club lead weights work a treat...
A remake of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
Thanks for the memories!
Great video folks! Thanks
Car tire balancers generally only balance at low speed (15mph) and more for wear than comfort. So unless you balance every ride, and after you have displaced the sealant, you will not get great results if using good quality hubs, rims and tires. If you have more affordable wheels, you may get a smoother ride as the quality control may be a factor. So unless you have very noticeable vibration on the bike stand, not worth the pain, you may increase the vibration by default. Good luck, and bring beer, you will need a drink... Love the content Cheers
The advantage of going tubeless is epic but one tge great things is balance! As you ride the semi liquid E goop will help greatly to self balance the wheels! You will never be able to do this in a static machine! The semi liquid state of the goop will not allow this to happen in a static state wit in motion, it will level itself out automatically, equalizing the "forces" if the wheel, tire and goop to make it all perfectly balanced while in motion!
I suggest you use lead Golf club weights. Not only are they malleable, but also come with an adhesive backing that you can put on/under tire strip so they are ultimately a clean look, absolutely no outside weights on rim or spoke. Works incredibly well on road wheels.
I'm a roady, I've balanced all my wheels, complete with tube and tyre. I used lead weights for golf clubs and then lead tape for the fine adjustment. Both self adhesive. I used to get severe downhill front wheel wobble but the balance has helped but more importantly correct tyre pressures have a greater effect.
Static vs. Dynamic balance. I fluid balance with GreenSlime , be sure to remove the big spoke reflectors is the first step.
We do this technique with remote control plane props. Vibration caused damage
About 20 years ago there was a guy who did this locally, small cut up pieces of lead and crazy glue. To each his own
I have a cheap hybrid (~USD100) (MACH CITY MUNICH SINGLE SPEED). The wheel was totally not balanced but it wasn't noticeable in the ride.
Still my curiosity balanced it years ago.
Ride fatigue went down drastically the next day (the wheel was just a little more off than the one in the video without the wrench)
Braking power improved somehow.
The ride became stable at 40+ KMPH
Just balance my life. Great video guys, keep up the great work!
The sealant itself will balance the wheel as its spinning. 4x4 and semi guys have been doing a similar thing for a long time using either with water, airsoft BB's, or actual balance beads (small plastic BB's) inside the tire, once spinning they will find there way to the light spot thus balancing the wheel. not perfect but close enough to not feel a shake at speed and on a mountain bike that's all id want. on road bike though i'd think it might be more beneficial as higher speeds on smooth roads the imbalance would be more noticable.
It doesn't really change anything. Sure, it can look crazy on the stand, but that's because no other force is affecting it.
If we as an example take a standard 28 inch road wheel at 60 kph (a speed I'll never reach), an imbalance of 5 grams will give a centripetal force of around 4N (a bit over 400 grams). Compared to the other forces influencing the system, especially at 60 kph, its vanishingly little.
400g at 60kmh sounds like a lot...
@@Phaidrus It might, but that is (probably) because you're thinking of the effect of spinning an imbalance of 400 grams up to that speed (which would indeed become a huge force). Instead, it is the maximum force the wheel experiences due to the rotation. At least with my fat ass pushing down with 100+ kg, I won't really be feeling that.
Dennis Krøger As a roadie, this would mean the bar is pushing up by about a pound on every “pulse”. That’s a lot, considering that I probably only put 40-50lbs on the bars at most. I’ve hit 51mph before and I know my bike starts feeling real skittery so I think I’m going to try this.
@@404nobrakes That's 2% of the force. 40 pounds of downward force will vary between 38 and 42 pounds (as well as pushing forwards and backwards, of course). You might feel it, and if it makes you uncomfortable, by all means fix it, but it's probably not going to unsettle the bike enough to have a real effect on stability.
Please give the option of Spanish translation.
Your technical explanations are excellent.
Disc and caliper well centered, but with 29-inch wheel with spokes and bushing badly centered and badly tensioned, always the disc will rosá to the tablets (oscillation).
I have a double-suspension bike (DB RECOIL 29ER) with 29-inch wheels, on the front with 9mm quick release and 10mm on the rear.
Does the types of closure influence NO BOOST AND BOOST?
I am using text translator.
I hope you understand me thank you 👋👋👋
I caught a serious speed wobble straight out of the neutral zone in a state champ road race a few years ago. It only happened that one time & I haven't been able to reproduce it. Headset & wheel bearings had the appropriate preload. My assumption is that the harmonic imbalances in both wheels alined so as to produce the wobble. I can't stand to add weight to my race wheels, so unless it reoccurs I've done nothing about it.
I could see as an issue with a road bike. For my Mt bike if it was really bad I maybe would look into it but I've had no issues up to 45mph with just a slight unbalance. Enduro bike with 2.6, 27.5 tires set up tubeless. Fun video though.
I have a pair Reynolds Blacklabel widetrail 29 carbon rims. Even if they were balanced from factory it was definitely messed up by my tubeless setup by the valve. I noticed the imbalance while riding down the finish straight of a local dh race so I went to a car tire shop and got some adhesive wheel weights to balance the wheel by adding 5gr opposite to the valve. It makes a huge difference while spinning the cranks on a bike stand but I’m not sure it really matters in the real world. Anyhow World Cup mechanics add wheel weights to some riders’ wheels so it can’t be that wrong right?
I balance my car wheels when there is a wobble at the steering wheel at speeds around 100km/h. Balancing the car wheels helps me have a smoother drive so I can focus and enjoy my bike ride.
If you're not fortunate enough to live by a fishing store, there are other products/substances readily availlable that sell by the gram. Strickly for balancing purpose.
How can you check the speed balance without the tire, tube, and stem on the wheel?
I balanced my old tubular 808s for my TT bike with some golf club weights and felt no difference for the speeds I ride for the amount of weight it took. I scrubbed the mission. I am flummoxed, however, as to why wheel makers don’t seem to take into account that tubulars with a valve added will not be very balanced.
I'm less interested on my MTB since it's tubeless and the sealant is sloshing and I am already going over bumps the whole ride anyway. I am interested in it on my race roadie.
Would the sealant balance the tires? I know they have ceramic balance beads they put in truck tires that automatically balance the tire.
I could see balancing reducing wattage used at higher speeds. A setup without sealant might benefit. I know when my cars tires are out of balance I cant go as fast comfortably and my highway mpg drops by a noticeable amount.
Recently acquired some pvc tubes with plastic valve stems, so that should help a lot, haven't installed them yet. Usually use self adhesive golf weights. A smoother ride is better, end of debate.
I have 4 bicks and all wheels were built by hand and I never balance my wheels I just make sure I true them properly all the way around .but thanks for the new info
You should definitely balance the wheels as they're going to be ridden on the road. You mind doesn't know it, because we're not accustomed to thinking about the balance if our wheels. Although as speed goes up the wobble gets worse and less contact patch to the ground every revolution (traction). Along with the loss of traction, your bearings are feeling the wobble and eventually wearing them. Some may say the weight of our body will keep the contact patch, but yet we do it to car tires that are way more heavy and we can feel the difference because of higher speed.
Yes, I balanced my road wheels. I figured at over 50 mph at times in races it sure would not hurt and theoretically could help. How much? I didn't know but why not let that rock stay covered. I did my balancing with my tire on otherwise its is a bit of a waste of time. I figure it helps more that ceramic bearings in your wheel hubs and is a lot cheaper.
I have an electric fat bike that goes 30+ mph. YES, balancing tires is important. I learned this on my escooter with 9" wheels at 35mph. On another subject..... can you guys discuss hybrid ceramic and full ceramic wheel bearings?
I don't care what you're talking about, but it's always awesome.
a bike wheel it may not make much difference but car wheels you can wear the tire unevenly.
not just thickness of extrusion but if you look around the rim you will see a seam where the ends of the extrusion has been put together.
inside the seam is 2 pieces of steel wire to splice the ends together.
if you was to cut out a 1 inch on each side of the seam then put that 2 inch piece in a vise and pull it apart you will see 2 pieces of wire holding the rim together.
2:05, do they always pry off twist caps?
Get your tire mounted then ride it in a little. This will let the tire get seated and situated where it belongs. Then check it for balance.
I have a good few wheels with heavy spots which work like your test rig there without fitting special flushed bearings.
From watching them pendulum, indeed the heavy spot is the valve. Saw no need to balance the weight of a valve.
On my 2022 Redline Proline Pro XL, I notice a little womp in my rear wheel, but only when I'm off the bike and just spinning the wheel. I have never noticed anything while riding or racing that would make me want to waste my valuable time trying to "fix" this "problem."
Reynolds Sixtysix/FortySix wheelset with Continental Competition tubulars.
The weight of the tubes brass vavle makes an unballanced wheel (usualy counterd approx by joint or weld in aluminum rims). It is really noticable and the force of the rotating brass vavle of the rim can be felt like the rear wheel is ’dancing’ at high speeds. Less noticable on front wheel though.
HAVE balaced it with a wheel magnet (for cadence / speed sennsor) and correct position on spoke.
When i ride w. Vittoria Pave || tubs with vitorias awfull aluminum vavle stem counter weight of magnet is too much... almost unoticable due to the lighter vavle stem if i dont balance. If i do add magnet i also have to add weight on spoke near vavle.
Proberbly not an iuuse unless u ride sub 1200g wheelsets. Never noticed on my 1450g 32 spoked Macic Open Pro / Record wheel or 32 spoked alumium tub rims on Record hubs.
On the very lightweight Reýnolds carbon tbular wheels: defenatly noticeable.
Yes, rulett of thumbs should be that if any wheel with clean inflated tyre is imbalanced, and it can be drivende at above 40kph, then it should be balanced.
Balancing does remove the wamp helps with rider fatigue on long races. Track racers and long distance road racers do notice an out of balance tire. We used lead tape to balance finished tires and just like balancing a car tire, you balance with tire on, fully inflated ready to ride. Having a tire out of round or not in true probably effects the average rider more the an out of balance tire. But the average rider is most likely never going to notice.
I find the heavy side of my wheel with a dummy stem insatalled, then I find the heavy side of the tire so when mounting it I can put them opposite each other. I store my bike hanging so the heavy side will go down then I rotate it 180 degrees and hold it there with a strap so when the sealent dries, that lighter side gets heavier. This way I am continually balancing my tire between rides.
The CPSC was on to something with mandated reflectors. They are perfectly calibrated to balance any wheel ;)
I have this same problem, except that my disc rotor and cassete wobble too, and the wheel never fits the exact same way it did before so I have to realign stuff. Warped axle???
Fun video! Thanks for the lesson.
Trued wheels,0 lash on bearing adjustment (ball and cone), and balanced wheels equal a sweet ride.Oh dont forget to make sure the tires are seated evenly on the rims for a low to no runout.
I want all the weight saved by going from an average off the shelf bike to a super bike, and put it all into the rim.
Plus I want the top 3/4 of my tire aero covered, with the bottom half exposed with spokes that are scoop shaped on the front to catch on coming wind, and aero on the back to cut through its back stroke.
I want wind that hits the front of the bike to be funneled down into the front tire.
Essentially a small duct system that the rider will be able to crunch behind.
This will take the head wind and force it down into the front of the spoke catching system at about the 45 degree mark around the rim.
Might be more efficient to funny the air toward the rear, since it would be less of a dramatic curve.
But this would have to hit the bottom half of the aero spokes.
Like a water wheel being pushed by rushing water.
Instead of water, its all the air that would otherwise be slowing the rider.
The more efficient the transfer of that power, the less air resistance a person will have.
Also, wrap the frame with flexible solar cells in order to introduce a small induction turbo fan that will be paralleled and Y connected into the main duct system to act as a vacuum system that will adjust its speed depending on the speed of inflowing air in order to maintain a sucking action on the front end instead of a plowing of air down the duct system
Instead of trying to build the slimmest possible rider and system, build with the idea that every inch of the rider will be ducted and all the wind force will be filtered directly onto either the front or rear tire.
That winds going to hit you no matter what, might as well funnel it in and use it.
Same with aero recumbent bikes, why don't they have systems that allow that head wind to flow through, pressurize, and focus onto a part that would assist instead of impede.
This way on large open road, when heavy head winds try and slow you down, they will actually help you coast much greater distances.
I believe with all the tech today, you could easily make a bike with this design, for the same weight if not slightly more then an off the shelf walmart bicycle.
For cheap as fuck.
I want a machine I can live inside.
A machine that can store my power needs for a few days worth of gaming, cooking, showering, driving, heat/cooling, water condense from air and air purification, as well as store my composting toilet, inflatable shower, 12volt refrigerator, and storage for misc items.
A machine on wheels that can be found no matter how poor the country.
Be fixed by only simple means or otherwise simply replaced with very minimum cost while still having a the highest reliability.
We've seen the abuse bicycles take these days.
I believe, we can build a self driving machine, that can not only power itself, but over flow with power enough to power more then itself.
Between solar, thermal, static, kinetic, and wind, there should be more then plenty of cheap ways to easily slap a shit ton of different electrical absorption methods in order to create a machine that can provide:
Shelter, Water, Electricity, Transportation, Entertainment, a place to store and cook food, while also have a place to shit and clean yourself.
All on bullet proof, indestructible bicycle tires and rims that should already be (but obviously people suck) mass produced items everywhere.
When all else fails, you yourself should still have a pedal drive system that you can use and should still be able to move the entire machine the same speed as if you were walking with a shopping cart full of your belongings.
Walking speeds.
This means when all electrical systems fail, it does not matter.
As long as you have government checks to pay for food funding which comes from taxes payed by Robot workers.
All you need to do is make sure you have enough water to get you back to either a repair station, or somewhere you can contact us and we can send out a real sized tow truck with enough spare parts to rebuild 30 machines over being so light and compact in comparison to a regular vehicle.
Usually when you're not assisting the machine in moving, you're taking unused calories and pumping them through the pedals, into a centrifuge which will then transfer that into your batteries at the most efficient rate possible, all the rider has to do is occasionally bring the weight back up to speed.
Would be nice if that weight was a battery itself so its not just dead weight when standing still.
It sounds like a complicated system.
90% of it is a two wire system.
The other 10% of the most complicated battery and inverter systems will be handled by us for free.
Why for free? How for free?
If you ensure to us that you will never give reason to be imprisoned, never drive a car, and never sell anything harder then weed, we can supply you with party money, and spare parts for life.
Because the money I save by not employing you and employing a robot, plus keeping you out of prison, is more then enough to counter balance the cost of keeping your machine running and you happy with all the drugs and food you could want.
If I give you a higher budget, you just get closer to overdosing.
So you'll find that medium where you're giving people enough money to have a healthy good time, and eating well, with only pennies left over every month.
You pretty much give people enough money to make themselves sick every month, until eventually they learn they don't want to be sick so they cut back on what they're doing, and this will draw that line at what exactly the food and drug budget should be.
It really wont be that much different between everyone.
The people on the high end will just die quicker which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Instead of people fighting over being rich, you'll come into a life where you get to make a decision:
Living rich means dying young.
Living poor means living longer.
Because the only difference would be the rate in which you consume your food, drugs, and electrical income.
Even the elites that built the system will not choose to live outside of it.
Why would you?
While everyone else is outside not locked down by the boundaries of the cement foundations, you'll be in a massive mansion where it takes you five minutes to walk to any one of the 50 bathrooms.
Where you find yourself creating a living room in a the kitchen with the nearest bathroom and end up sleeping on the fold out couch in that living room space just to save your sanity.
I want that space, the kitchen, living room, bathroom.
Smashed all into on tight aerodynamic package.
That produces more then enough power to not only run and maintain its own systems, but also run your systems, and even a system or two plugged into it.
I want a portable laptop power station that I can move anywhere under my own power, plug multiple systems into, and recharge as many ways as possible.
All in a package I can live inside, and move on bicycle wheels made by fucking nasa.
Get, it done, for the love of god, please.
It's been almost 20 years.