[uponone]

i bought a rim from a guy that said he had a wobble in the wheel. was wondering how to tell if bad bearings or just off balance. any ideas....?

[Sime]

The bearings are a sealed type. You can do two things to see if they are ok:

1. Put your finger in the bearing, can you move the inner race of the bearing in and out or does it seem in line with the outer race and not willing to budge? If there's no lateral movement, that's a good thing.

2. Does the bearing turn freely without making any noise or feeling gritty? Clean and quiet is good.

If any of the above are suspect, just replace them. Motorcycle service departments charge about $30-40 to replace the bearings (plus the bearing cost). You can supply your own. I got my 'All Ballz' bearings off Ebay for about $18 the pair.

HTH.