important: Nuts and bolts on your bike should always be tightened to the manufacturer's specifications.

How to Replace a Wheel Rim

Learn how to replace a worn out wheel rim (rim transfer).

In this tutorial we will learn how to replace a worn out rim. This repair is often called a rim transfer.

What You’ll Need

For this job you will need an appropriately sized spoke wrench, a wheel truing stand, an optional nipple driver, waterproof grease and a toothpick, linseed oil, rim tape, and some tape or zip ties to fasten the rims together. You’ll also need a replacement rim. The new rim must be the exact same size and spoke count as your old rim.

Grease Spoke Holes

Using a dab of grease on a toothpick, grease all of the spoke holes on the new rim. You’ll only need a tiny bit. This helps the nipples turn easier when you’re tensioning the wheel.

De-tension Old Wheel

Next you’ll need to loosen all of the old spoke nipples. The safest way to do this is to start at the valve hole and loosen all of the spokes by turning clockwise 1/4 turn each. Repeat this step until all of the spokes in the wheel are de-tensioned but still attached.

Attach New Rim

Tape or zip-tie the new rim to the old rim in 2 places directly across from each other. Make sure that the valve hole and placement of the spoke holes in the rims match up exactly.

Transfer Spokes

One at a time, you’ll need to move each spoke from one side of the wheel over to the new rim. Turning counter-clockwise, unthread each nipple from the old rim and place a drop of linseed oil inside the nipple threads. This will keep the nipples tight while still allowing them to be turned in the future. Move the spoke over to the corresponding hole on the new rim. Thread the nipple on most of the way, but leave 2 spoke threads showing.

Once all of the spokes on the first side of the wheel are transferred, repeat the process and transfer the spokes on the other side of the wheel, until all of the spokes have been threaded onto the new rim.

True and Tension Spokes

You can now undo the tape or zip-ties and remove the old rim. Starting at the valve hole, tighten all of the nipples by turning each 1/4 turn counter-clockwise, all the way around the wheel. Repeat this until all of the spokes are fairly tight, and then tension and true the wheel. See the video titled how to true a wheel. In the next video we’ll learn how to properly tension your spokes.

Related Links

Recommended Tools

Categories

Discuss this topic in the Bicycle Repairs and Mechanics Forum

I live 5 km from the ocean (not sure if that's relevant), and I pretty much only mountain bike. After every ride, I hose down and clean my bike. I wipe them down with a cloth. After a few days, the ones not ridden have what looks like surface rust appear on the chain. Do you have any cost-effective remedies to solve this issue?...

Read more

Rear v-brake repair

Latest post 1 week ago

Hi everyone, I'm new here and I've been trying to avoid taking my bike to a mechanic and save some money. I succesfully fixed my front but struggle with the rear, I got new brakes for the rear. I notice i think it might be the housing causing the noodle to be off centered and making the left brake pad to close to the rim. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!! My next project is to attemp...

Read more

Custom Bike part manufacturing

Latest post 4 weeks ago

Hello, Not sure if I should post this in buying advice or repairs, but here we are. I recently bought Schwinn cruiser an old one and I can't find the rear dropout bracket replacement. So I decided to try out a custom bike part manufacturer. Still waiting for my part, so if anyone has tried out a custom on demand manufacturer, please share your experience....

Read more

I have a Gazelle Esprit belt drive bike with hub gears which has a rear puncture. Can someone advise me on how to remove and refit the wheel? I'm aware that it can be quite complicated, but I have no option other than tackling it myself. The photos were taken with the bike upside down.   IMG_20250122_105320.jpg (Size: 77.51 KB / Downloads: 50)   IMG_20250122_105428.jpg (...

Read more

Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying a great start to 2023. I'm curious to hear your go-to method for getting a chain truly clean. I don't mean, just looks shiny or is good enough for a quick clean after a ride. I want to know what you do when you want to get every last morsel of ground-up, link-destroying, roller-eating, tooth-gnashing crud out of your chain. The Best Chain-Cleaning Recipe Ever?...

Read more

What jockey wheel Red 10 Speed

Latest post 2 months ago

Can anyone advise what type of replacement jockey wheel I need for a 10 speed Red rear mech (it's got 11 teeth)? Bonus points if it's a link to a cheap (ish) one! Thanks...

Read more

Grip Shifters

Latest post 2 months ago

Currently renovating a child's bike. It has 24 inch wheels and is a suitable size for a 7-10 year old. Anyway it has grip shifters. it is a six speed with three chain rings on the front derailleur. On the rear derailleur the shifter does not appear to move the gear cable at all when shifting from 6 to 5 and 5 to 4. I am actually holding the cable with my finger and thumb against the cable cas...

Read more

9 speed chain on 8 speed bike

Latest post 3 months ago

All of my bikes are 7 or 8 speed and sometime in the past I bought a 9 speed chain for some unremembered reason. is there any reason not to use it on an 8 speed bike?...

Read more

Operation of Santa Monica Ebike

Latest post 3 months ago

Hello - new owner with an How to Operate the bike question. Hopefully, this is easily answered I Bought this bike a few weeks ago - Tested many bikes and finally landed on this particular Santa Monica. However, got busy with Christmas shopping, Life, and not so great weather days distracted me from riding. I also test drove so many that I forgot how to operate it.... I "thought" I remembered, ...

Read more

Gears and derailleur misalignment

Latest post 3 months ago

  My Trike.jpg (Size: 57.65 KB / Downloads: 50)   Wife Trike.jpg (Size: 60.74 KB / Downloads: 50) Although I have ridden bikes on and off since a kid (75 years old now), I have very little experience with anything other than a single speed bike. I recently purchased a new 7-speed Gospel adult tike, which needed assembly. My wife has the same model trike but older and p...

Read more

I'm curious—how often or after how many miles do people typically check or change their mechanical disc brake pads? I've been bikepacking for a while but never really followed a maintenance schedule. A few weeks ago, I took my bike to a mechanic because I heard some noise. The mechanic did a quick overhaul, and I was sent on my way. However, a few weeks later, while descending steep hills, I s...

Read more

Shifting is almost impossible

Latest post 4 months ago

My wife's road bike has Shimano Sora shifters with a triple front derailleur (stock). The thumb switch on the front shifter is VERY hard to use and she can't do it when she's riding. I did a full adjustment of the front derailleur but it didn't change anything. One thing that I noticed is that the shifter works smoothly when the shifter cable is unattached from the derailleur, suggesting that the ...

Read more

7-speed bicycle with bent rim

Latest post 5 months ago

I recently bought a 7-speed bicycle practically brand new it still has a little rubber nipples on the tires apparently it got backed into in the garage and it bent the rear rim sideways my question is can I go out and buy another just like single speed 20 inch bicycle and put the 7-speed cassette onto that rim?...

Read more

Trek domane tyre

Latest post 5 months ago

Hi I have a trek domane 2.3, and I have changed the rear tyre to 28 (it was 25 originally) The tyre rubs with the brake arm (v brake), I fear it doesn’t seem to be compatible Is there any way to adjust the position of the brake arm? I just need it to ne around 2mm higher Thanks...

Read more

Schwinn meridian rear drive axle

Latest post 6 months ago

Recently bought a slightly used 26" meridian trike. While replacing wider tires on the rear, I noticed an issue with the rear drive side wheel hub. The wheel is held on with a nut and single washer. The hub is not held firmly in a location on the axle and is able to slide back and forth on the axle a good half inch even though the nut is tightened all the way down to its bottom threads on the axle...

Read more