phaeton

Well no problem. I try to be a straight-shooter and give credit (good
or bad) whenever due.


Both are true. That kid should probably go to work at a real tire
shop. Maybe he'd get paid a real wage for his efforts.

Sure. It sounds reasonable. However, in almost 100K miles of the
previous tires, with regular rotations i felt no wobbling. They were
smooth as glass. The very day I had the new tires put on it shook
horribly. I agree that a tire machine *shouldn't* bend rims, but I
know it's very possible, especially if the operator is complacent or
inexperienced. My first days using a tire machine many years won me a
couple of prizes- one being a bent steel rim and the other being a
cracked magnesium wheel, both of which took me almost six months to pay
for (not to mention two weeks to find a matching mag wheel from the
early 1970s).

I watched these guys work while the kid was spinning my tires (you can
see them wobble from 20 feet away, btw). One of the other guys over at
the tire machine put his foot on the air valve that ran the bead
separator and turned to talk to his buddy. Didn't really watch the
progress of the machine, just let it go till it bottomed out. Was it
enough to damage the rim he had on it? Hard to say. The two rims of
mine that the kid showed me had a definate scuff on the edge of the
bead where they were bent, both of them on the inside flange. With
brake dust and all, it's hard to tell how long ago they got bent, but I
guess I'll never know, and I suppose it doesn't really matter.

The only thing to do is buy new wheels.

-phaeton