going to change my own tires got some questions

I finally got around to getting my new tires mounted yesterday - Notice I didn’t say mounted AND balanced … read on below:

I decided just to cough up the $60/ wheel to my local cycle gear to have my tires mounted (and balanced).

I dropped them off at 10am yesterday and they finished at 1:30pm. I waited in the area while the work was completed - the cycle gear was a $7 bridge toll and 15 miles from my house. The total with tire disposal was $129.98.

When I got home I got looked the wheels over as I prepared to reinstall them. They didn’t have a single weight on them. I stripped had all the old weights and cleaned the wheels before I had the tires installed (and installed new bearings).

I called the cycle gear after my discovery and the tech told me he didn’t balance the wheels because he didn’t have the proper size cone. I double checked that my $60 / wheel was for mount AND balance. The tech confirmed it was. I was kind to the kid but let him know that he should have told me that he couldn’t balance the wheels before I paid..
He said that he’d refund my payment for the mount/balance which worked for me.

So my question:
Should I put the wheels on the bike and see how they do? Or should I just find a shop to balance the wheels with the new tires?

 

Unfortunate but just about typical service anymore..."No we didn't do the work, but you still paid so what's the problem?!!"

Check balance yourself. Stick a chunk of rod, rebar, anything that will fit through the bearings, and it doesn't have to be a tight fit. Clamp that in your vice, hang the wheel and see what it does. If the heavy spot takes a while to drop from 3 oclock to 6 oclock (say 5+ seconds) they are fairly close and probably usable.

If you get a rapid drop, you could find another tire guy, or balance them yourself and it isn't hard to do.

 

My balancing arrangement...

 

Just bought some wheel weights for the center rib and a wheel weight hammer.

I’ll give it a shot this weekend

 

Completed yesterday. Hope to ride it on Monday.