rosszx9r Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Hi all,i've been reading a few emails here today about vibration and wheel balance and it got me wondering....do you need to balance a bike wheel?i never have and i've never had any issues with vibration.i can understand why car wheels need balancing as they are much larger and mass produced so likely to have greater manufacturing differences. bike tyres require higher quality moulding due to the importance of the profile for grip.i just bought a new BT016 for my bike and i wasn't even asked if i wanted it balanced. i've never seen a bike with the lead wieghts on the wheels! it's a right little earner for car tyre fitters so i would of thought if it were needed for bikes, all the dealers would be offering it...i'd be interested to know everyone elses experience and thoughts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 most places wont balance a tyre without you saying so as it costs extra or they should atleast ask first i dont always balance them but have had the front end wobble due to a un balanced wheel im a big believer in that the rear is a waste of time due to the fact that as soon as you put that huge lump on the side called chain and sprockets its out of balance again i have seen wheels way out of balance and have to have a fair amount of weight on Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony-1977 Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Looking at my Bandit, the front and rear have little weights on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Speaking as an ex tyre fitter.... Yes they need balancing.Tyres now are much better manufactured and tend to need far less weight on them. Few years back they banned lead as balance weights, this nearly quadruples the price of balancing, so if they can get away with not doing it... they won't.Generally speaking, a new tyre should have a wee coloured dot on the sidewall somewhere (not all of them) a good fitter will align this with the valve because this dot shows its optimum balance point on a wheel.I agree that the rear is of less importance, balance wise, but I would insist on it being done. If a job is worth doing its bloody worth doing right. Ultimately an out of balance wheel can cause extra wear on all moving components, even if you can't feel it is out. You wouldn't leave a chain un-lubed purely cos it still looked greasy would you?Incidentally, I took my bike for tyres last month, and they didn't ask if I wanted them balancing, they just did it, and it was included in the price.Stu, chain and sprockets would not make a huge difference because they are so much closer to the centre of the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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