HELP!! Crack in rim

Jamey
Jamey Posts: 2,152
edited June 2008 in Workshop
I'm guessing this means I shouldn't ride the bike to work tomorrow morning, does it?

rimcrackdt6.jpg

The rear wheel (Mavic A319 with some sort of Deore hub) was ftted less than a year ago. Do I have any chance of getting the shop to replace it or does that photo look like it's my own stupid fault? I've no idea what that thing lodged in the rim is, by the way.

I only noticed tonight after fitting new brake pads and finding them difficult to centre properly, so I felt the rim as it spun and there was a bulge where that crack is.

And there was me thinking that a new rear tyre was gonna be a nuisance.
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Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    looks like it is just worn out.

    I would be tempted not to use it as i have seen rim side wall explode not fun.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • System_1
    System_1 Posts: 513
    I wouldn't ride that to the kitchen, never mind to work.

    Like nicklouse says, it's simply worn through. Looks like there's been something stuck in the brake pads that's caused that gouge either side of the crack and prematurely worn down the rim surface. It's always worth checking for bits of metal in the pad once in a while.



    That's quite a nice pointy arrow by the way. :)
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Thanks guys.

    I'm guessing rims shouldn't normally wear out in under a year and this one only wore out so quickly because I failed to check the break pads for debris, yes?
    My photography // My helmet cam videos // My bike
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    but as you say you were having problems with the centering the pads. you could have caught the rim on a pot hole/kerb etc and bent the side wall out a bit causing excessive wear in one point. (or a not quite true wheel).

    For wear without rim damage i would have expected a longer crack (and it would have given no warning and just failed.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Just dropped the bike off at the shop and they've only got the model up (A719 rim with Deore XT hub) which is an extra £30.. I asked them how long it would take to order in a direct replacement but he said it'd be Monday/Tuesday nex week before it arrived and the train fares to work between now and then would pretty much cover the extra £30 so I just agreed to letting them use the better wheel.

    Seems such a waste to just throw away the old hub and spokes when they're perfectly fine but I don't know how to build a wheel and shops charge a small fortune to do it and the price would probably work out pretty much the same, so I might as well get a whole new wheel for the money, I guess. Still seems a waste to think that perfectly good components are just gonna sit in a landfill for the next few thousand years though. Ho hum.

    The chap in the shop agreed with you two - he also thought the rim was simply worn down. I said I do about 130 miles per week on the bike and he said "ah well, that's wear and tear then."

    Am I really going to have to buy a new rear wheel every eight months though?

    Now that I know to check the brake pads more often maybe the next one will last longer, but the strange thing I noticed was that the front rim is still ok and I use the front brake much more often, plus it's been on there well over double the length of time compared to the back wheel (over two years). I pointed this out to the guy and he said that because it's a cheaper wheel (stock one that came with the bike) it's probably heavier and made of thicker stuff.

    But that made me think that perhaps I should have gone for a cheap wheel on the back to maximise the length of time before the rims wear out again?
    My photography // My helmet cam videos // My bike
  • System_1
    System_1 Posts: 513
    Jamey wrote:
    Seems such a waste to just throw away the old hub and spokes when they're perfectly fine but I don't know how to build a wheel and shops charge a small fortune to do it and the price would probably work out pretty much the same, so I might as well get a whole new wheel for the money, I guess. Still seems a waste to think that perfectly good components are just gonna sit in a landfill for the next few thousand years though. Ho hum.

    My LBS will build a wheel for about 10-15 quid. But you could always just take the wrecked wheel home and use it to practice building yourself. I've always fancied learning but I don't have the cash to splash out on new hubs/spokes/rims. You have the perfect opportunity to learn for free.
    Jamey wrote:
    Now that I know to check the brake pads more often maybe the next one will last longer, but the strange thing I noticed was that the front rim is still ok and I use the front brake much more often, plus it's been on there well over double the length of time compared to the back wheel (over two years). I pointed this out to the guy and he said that because it's a cheaper wheel (stock one that came with the bike) it's probably heavier and made of thicker stuff.

    The back brake on my bike always picks up more debris than the front. I guess more oily crappy stuff gets thrown up off the road at the back and using the front more often keeps the rim cleaner so it's less likely to pick up debris in the first place.
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    System wrote:
    My LBS will build a wheel for about 10-15 quid. But you could always just take the wrecked wheel home and use it to practice building yourself. I've always fancied learning but I don't have the cash to splash out on new hubs/spokes/rims. You have the perfect opportunity to learn for free.

    See, that would have been a good idea if I'd thought of it. I expect they've binned the old wheel now though. Will check when I pick the bike up later.

    If they do still have it, do I need to be careful of anything when I disassemble it for the first time? Like, the tension on the spokes isn't going to cause one of them to whip out and lacerate my face or anything like that, is it?
    My photography // My helmet cam videos // My bike
  • System_1
    System_1 Posts: 513
    Just go round the wheel loosening each spoke half a turn or so until they are all loose. Once there is no tension in them there's no chance of injury. I'm guessing it's a 2 or 3 cross wheel as well so even if one was to snap it would be crossed by a spoke still in tension which would prevent it from flying about.
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Hmmm... I've just read Sheldon Brown's article on wheel building and I think I might just leave it to other people tbh. Even if I was really good at it, it would still eat up more time than I really want to spend on doing something that I can get someone else to do for £30.
    My photography // My helmet cam videos // My bike
  • onceboy
    onceboy Posts: 30
    just looked at that photo of that rim. my rear wheel ended up the same way yesterday(mavicD521) rode to work fine. decided to pump the rear tyre up before return journey,only put 50psi in .got 50 yards down the road that was it . Can only think that the extra pressue in the tyre forced the rim to split. Same happend to the front rim 3 months ago :cry:
  • andrewgturnbull
    andrewgturnbull Posts: 3,861
    Jamey wrote:
    Hmmm... I've just read Sheldon Brown's article on wheel building and I think I might just leave it to other people tbh. Even if I was really good at it, it would still eat up more time than I really want to spend on doing something that I can get someone else to do for £30.

    Hi there.

    Changing a rim really isn't that complicated - here's my 3 step guide:

    1) Buy a new rim identical to the original one
    2) Line it up the right way round next to the old and selotape them together
    3) Transfer each spoke one at a time, the true it up.

    See, easy isn't it?

    Cheers, Andy

    ps I forget step 4, unpealing the selotape, but I figured you'd work that one out...
    http://www.andyturnbull.co.uk
    http://www.stirlingtri.co.uk
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    You need to find a bike shop that does not bin perfectly good hubs without pointing out to you that they are about to bin a perfectly good hub.

    You could also probably find a new bike shop that wasn't quite so opportunistic when it came to selling replacements for perfectly good hubs. It really should be cheaper to buy a new rim and have it laced to an existing hub than to buy a new wheel.

    What sort of bike shop is it? Are all of the staff young and wearing matching t-shirts? Are there expensive carbon bikes hung up everywhere, and racks upon racks of assos clothing?

    Or is it smaller with the workshop behind the till, filled with well used bikes being tuned up for customers, insufficient room to swing a cat, and the occasional well worn carbon tub hung up awaiting collection?
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    Jamey wrote:
    I'm guessing this means I shouldn't ride the bike to work tomorrow morning, does it?
    As a child I had a mate whose front wheel developed a similar crack. We both thought that it would be okay to go for our planned ride so off we went. About 50 yards down the road (fortunately only doing about 10 mph and not in heavy traffic) there was a loud bang as the rim disintegrated and the tube exploded :shock: !. My mate went down fast and hard and was lucky to get away with just road rash & heavy bruising.

    So... if that was my wheel, I'd never ride it again!
  • Smokin Joe
    Smokin Joe Posts: 2,706
    What a bunch of faggots.

    That rim's got plenty of wear left in it, it's only a small crack. :twisted:
  • northpole
    northpole Posts: 1,499
    Am I really going to have to buy a new rear wheel every eight months though?

    I would hope not! I had a set of Mavic Open Pro rims which lasted nigh on 10 years commuting into central London.

    You have just been unlucky with your rims and dealer choice!

    Peter

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