I’m planning on getting a nice pair of wheels, namely, some Miche Pistards. However, these have non-machined sidewalls. I’d like to use a brake without squealing and a circular line of crud around my rims. And I know Miche offer X-Press Pista/Stradas, but I have my heart set on Pistards.
So how do I machine a sidewall? Do I use a hammer and a chisel, or do I pour acid all over my rims? Alternatively, does anyone know if there are any people out there who offer the service, and if so, how much? I’m in Melbourne, wheels are clinchers.
Oh, and if you’re reading this and you have some beater wheelsets going for dirt cheap, drop me a line
When I’ve done mine in the past I usually soften the rim with a gentle acid wash, usually hydrochloric works fine, and then with a rubber mallet I carefully work my way around each side of the rim, heavily tapping it against a solid straight edge to flatten it out.
Looks pretty much as good as a professionally done job.
I used a brake on some NMSW velocities and it worked fine. No squealing. After the first wet ride it wore through the powdercoat and now it looks like a normal machined sidewall.
yep, hammer and chisel, then the acid. use the biggest hammer you can find.
if you want a rim with a machined sidewall, buy a rim with a machined sidewall.
in the 2 minutes of research i’ve just done i’ve learned that the pistards are a tubular rim, not clincher.
get the x-press ones,they’re gonna look exactly the same as a pistard with machined sidewalls…
shit
Are you guys serious? Hammer and acid is actually how you machine a sidewall? I don’t want to bust up a wheelset because I wasn’t able to see the irony in an internet post haha. This machine you speak of, what is it?
Oh, and you can get the Miche Pistard in clincher form, you just have to look around a bit. Might consider getting the X-Press if the only way to machine my sidewalls is with acid
Well, obviously when they are correctly done from the factory they don’t use acid and a mallet. But that is one DIY option if you can’t get the rims you want.
The good thing about using hydrochloric acid is that you don’t have to use gloves for that one and it doesn’t matter if you swallow a little.
Seems like I’d need a huge CNC machine and a rim factory in Brisbane. Maaaaaaybe not.
Guess I’ll just leave my wheelset in a vat of acid for 2-3 hours, preferably hydrochloric so I can swallow some safely, then beat it with a mallet til it’s 5mm thick, so that the rim is more aerodynamic and ‘unique’. I can then also run 700x5c tyres, which will further reduce weight.
Step 1) Take some Acid
Step 2) get into a Machine, possibly a car
Step 3) go for a drive and hit the side wall of your house while getting out the drive
Step 4) go buy some machined rims
