Hi mate,

Wheel balancing will prolong the life of yout tyres with doubt, in extreme case it can send a tyre out of round think egg shape. I had this happen on a front Michelin Desert whilst on the road in West Africa. By the time I noticed it was too far gone to do anything with. The rear can tolerate a bit out of balance without too many problems.

When on the road and repairing a puncture providing your re using the original tyre i.e. repairing or replacing an inner tube you should mark the tyre in relation to its position on the rim and attempt to replace it back to the same spot. Its usually a heavy spot on the tyre that causes the imbalance. Many tyres used to come with a yellow ring/ spot on the side wall that should be lined up with the valve, the yellow spot being the lightest spot on the tyre thus using the valve to counterbalance the opposing heavy spot.

If you are really concerned you can crudly balance the wheel by sliding the axle through the hub and supporting it on something solid i.e. foot rest of your bike, at one end whilst holding the other with your hand ensuring the axle is kept level. Spin the wheel with just enough force for it to rotate a couple of turns and mark the heavies part the heaviest part being the bit that rests at the bottom when it stops rotating naturally. Add some weights opposite the heavy bit and continue till the wheel will come to rest at no particular point. The heavy point will always be the rim lock where you are running them and as they are quite heavy then you might have to use a healthy weight. Its a good idea to invest in some better qaulity rimlocks i.e. from Talon engineering as they weigh a lot less. I find the balance weights that crimp onto the spokes to the most useful for overland bikes as you can undo them and use them many times. Its probably a good isea to carry o few spres with you.

Clear as mud!

Cheers Sam.