[Jared]

Hi , i was going pretty hard last week , trying to maintain a constant speed of about 35km/h. I made the mistake of looking down and the next moment my front wheel hit a HUGE chunk of what seemed like clay. The front end of my bike flew up and my hands left the handlebars for a split sec. Luckily i did not crash but the impact was pretty big and the chunk of clay bounced off the curb and hit my front wheel. Amazingly my wheel is still true and i did not puncture , but now there is a small bump on my rim. I did not notice it till the day after when i pressed the front brake and there was a slight scratching sound. Would the bump be an issue? Can i try to sand it down? It is not causing any problems to me or my brake pad except for the slight sound.Thanks.

 

[Mark McM]

Sand away, oh clay-thumping one!

Yes, As long as the rim isn't bent, you can just smooth out the sidewall with some sandpaper or a file. I've done this several times myself, including once in the middle of a ride, where I didn't have any sandpaper, and simply used an abrasive rock I found on the side of the road.

 

[OscarC]

Also pull the wheel off and check the break pads. Use a small flash light to check of any small metal slivers imbedded in the break pads. Small slivers will cause a scratching sound when breaking. You can use a needle to dig the slivers out.

Hi , i was going pretty hard last week , trying to maintain a constant speed of about 35km/h. I made the mistake of looking down and the next moment my front wheel hit a HUGE chunk of what seemed like clay. The front end of my bike flew up and my hands left the handlebars for a split sec. Luckily i did not crash but the impact was pretty big and the chunk of clay bounced off the curb and hit my front wheel. Amazingly my wheel is still true and i did not puncture , but now there is a small bump on my rim. I did not notice it till the day after when i pressed the front brake and there was a slight scratching sound. Would the bump be an issue? Can i try to sand it down? It is not causing any problems to me or my brake pad except for the slight sound.Thanks.