nimbus 24" wheel alignment?

[capecoduni]

Hey, I'm new here on unicyclist.com so hello to everyone!

As stated above I have a nimbus 24" muni (orange FTW ) I actually just got it in the mail today, once I had put everything together and rode it around a tiny bit I braced myself on my car while sitting on the uni and took a quick look at it (admiring my newly acquired very shiny toy) and I noticed that the wheel is about a 1/8 of an inch off to one side (0.3cm)

its a very tiny amount but its both bothering me and worrying me

what would this be caused from? and how can I fix it? I was looking around the site a little bit and found a thread where it said it might be the crank bolts?

[AustinLee]

My wheel on the exact same unicycle has the exact same problem! It is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch off to one side, but is not out of true otherwise.

I've had my muni for over a year now, and it hasn't caused me any problems, but the look just bothers me.

I'm thinking about taking it to my local bike shop soon to see if they can true it, but I don't think its a big deal.

[Tirving]

It might mean the frame is a bit off and the wheel wasn't built in that frame. A wheel builder would be able to fix it no problem. You could also try to spin the wheel around the other way to see if it's off that way too, if so, it's the frame, if not.... It could still be the frame but may also be the wheel.

[johnfoss]

Most likely it's a machine-built wheel, which means it was built by a machine with no eyes. Being machine-built brings the price down considerably, but is generally not as good as a human-built wheel (you get what you pay for). That's why most bike shops do a free tune-up on new bikes after a month or so; it can check wheel trueness as well as the many other adjustments bikes need. A bike shop can straighten out the wheel, or you can learn to do it yourself.

Or you can just ignore it, and it probably won't ever be a problem. Just make sure your spokes don't get real loose (same as for any wheel). If you ride with loose spokes, it can lead to massive failure. Check them from time to time.

[munirocks]

If you have a fitting spoke key you can carefully release spoke tension by 1/8 or 1/4 of a turn while tightening the other side by the same amount. Repeat until it is centered. That way it should not go out of true and you get the problem solved. I used to have major sideways balance issues on one of my unis that had the same problem. But it depends on the tire and rim too, how bothering it is while riding.

[stingingkneeben]

what you can do is get a coke can and cut some shims out of it hen put then in the bearing holder on the oppsite side to the wheel "lean" that will straighten it out
somtimes the fork lenghs on either side can be very slightly out, due to welding torrlances causing the wheel to look like its leaning over
trust me try that first far eaiser solution