When a bicycle wheel looks crooked as it spins, the first step is to identify the movement. A lateral deviation is a side-to-side wobble of the rim; a radial deviation appears as a high or low spot during each revolution. These are distinct truing problems. Spokes pull the rim from both sides of the hub, so changing their tension can improve both straightness and roundness. Yet the aim is more than an attractive spin: the finished wheel must retain sensible, balanced spoke tension.
A wheel with widely uneven spoke tension may soon drift out of true again. Spokes that are too loose or too tight can cause trouble even when the rim briefly appears straight. A thorough check therefore considers tension and whether the rim remains centred over the hub, as well as visible wobble. For an initial inspection, hold the wheel so it can rotate freely and watch it pass a fixed reference near the rim. This reveals where a deviation repeats and whether it moves sideways or up and down.
A strike against a pothole or kerb can permanently bend the rim metal. If spokes on the side that would need more pull are already tight while those opposite are loose, further adjustment may merely create worse tension imbalance. This is no longer a simple wobble to remove with a spoke wrench. A workshop can assess whether the rim must be replaced; if the hub is sound, it can sometimes be reused when a new rim and spokes are built around it.