De Ja Vu - my buckling rim....

sirlylos

Hi guys,

I was at Dalby yesterday and had almost completed the circuit when I was going on a downhill area with burms and suddenly my tire slipped from underneath me and I came crashing to the groud, I wouldn't care but I did nothing wrong and this is now the second time it's happened. The previous time was exactly the same!




That's the damage above. This shouldn't happen, has anyone else had this problem or any idea why it keeps happening? I'm losing all faith in the bike...

Andy B

What are the wheel components & where was it built?

Northwind

Is it the same rim as last time? If so, it might just be that it's knackered, you can generally straighten a rim but that doesn't mean it's going to stay straight sometimes.

sirlylos

These are the rims:

DT Custom for Specialized X430, 24mm w/eyelets, 32h

They are built at my local bikeshop 'BikeScene' who are a decent shop. It's a brand new rim from the last time it happened, so it isn't that it's weak...

lock1981

one of friends rims done this on the weekend in guisborough

dunno what rims they are, but its the second time its happened too!

ill ask him where he got them,

sirlylos

Thanks lock1981, I'd appreciate it if you can find out where he got em.

Any know why a rim would be so weak?

Andy B

usual down to a bad build, rather than the components (unless the components are used outside of their recommended usage)

supersonic

Yes, I agree, a bad build or too many sideways landings ;-)

Also the X430 rims are XC rims.

sirlylos

the thing is the same bike shop built my last bike, including the rims and I never had a problem the 5 years I had it...I've read a bit about the DT rims being very lightweight and therefore weak, could this be a possibility? I'm 16 stone so I'm wondering if I'm too heavy and need get stronger rims.

What do you think?

Andy B

Sounds like you need stronger rims

supersonic

What bike is it on, on what terrain do you ride? But I agree with Andy again, sound too light for you.

sirlylos

right, could be getting somewhere here..

It's on my Specialized Epic Comp 2007

supersonic

Is the bike maybe a bit too xc/lightweight for what you are doing to it?

sirlylos

supersonic wrote:

Is the bike maybe a bit too xc/lightweight for what you are doing to it?

I honestly don't know...When I bought the bike they knew what I'd had and the type of riding I did so I was taking their word for it that it was the right choice. How would I know it was too light for what I'm doing?

supersonic

Are you dong jumps, larger drops, smashing through boulder fields?

sirlylos

supersonic wrote:

Are you dong jumps, larger drops, smashing through boulder fields?

pretty much yeah, I go to Dalby forest so it's all that kind of stuff. Why wouldn't my Epic be able to cope with that though?

Andy B

The Epic is more of a wheels on the ground lightweight competitive xc bike, it won't like jumps at all

supersonic

Aye, I think you need a burlier bike. As aAndy says, the Epic is very much a race XC/marathon type of bike and just not built for harder riding.

sirlylos

mmm, anyone want an Epic Comp 2007...!?

What kind of thing from the Specialized range would be right for what I'm doing?

supersonic

To be on the safe side, the Pitch or Enduro FSR.

snotty badger

Yup a Pitch would suit you- its makes up for my clumsy riding style!

sirlylos

mmm, I have a dilema now then - what am I going to do with the Epic?

My mate got a CUBE bike which he's loving and it's a hardtail so I wouldn't necessarily go down the full sus route again, although I do like Specialized bikes.

supersonic

I would get some more opinions first, and consider the heavier duty wheelset. Why not test ride one of the Enduros? You might find the geometry suits your riding better too.

Dalby isn't a hard place to ride, it is a long XC course. But there are places that are difficult if you choose to ride them. The Epic suits so much of what is there - but maybe a more all round ride would just be better.

SPIRO

sirlylos wrote:

mmm, anyone want an Epic Comp 2007...!?

What kind of thing from the Specialized range would be right for what I'm doing?

I can vouch for the enduro. I have a 2009 model, am about same size as you weight wise and it handles drops/jumps with no issues.

You might get a 2009 model cheap since 2010 range has just been released

.

junglist_matty

Get some spank stiffy rims, you won't break them in a hurry, I managed to ride (i say ride; more crash) straight into a tree front wheel hit it dead on and just laughed at the tree!!! They are some of the strongest rims you can buy... but they're not small or particularly lightweight being 40mm wide!

tompug

Did you check the spoke tension after bedding in the new wheels, as almost all my wheel builds loosen up after the first week and need tightening up again. I don't think much of your LBS if they haven't told you this.

sirlylos

tompug wrote:

Did you check the spoke tension after bedding in the new wheels, as almost all my wheel builds loosen up after the first week and need tightening up again. I don't think much of your LBS if they haven't told you this.

No they didn't tell me to check the tension, how do you actually go about doing that? My LBS have a pretty good reputation so I'm reluctant to start dissing them too much.

I'd seriously go with stronger rims if it meant I didn't keep crashing out, I'm in pain today

ride_whenever

they should loosen off if they've been pre-tensioned properly unless you're hitting them really really really hard (which i guess you are) Might be worth getting a stand and tensionmeter and learning to do your own, it'll get expensive leaving them at the bike shop all the time!

Stuey01

You could look at a stumpjumper. A mate is your weight (a bit heavier) and uses one for all the stuff you are doing.

He has bent two of those wheels though, they're a bit on the light/xc/weedy side. Upgraded to dt5.1s on hope pro 2's now for a bit more burliness.

supersonic

A properly built wheel will not lose tension when used for its intended purpose.

sirlylos

Well I put the Epic in to the LBS today and they suggested trying out a different, stronger rim and if that fails on me then maybe look at a new bike. It's gonna cost me about £130 with the rim and the spokes (can't remember the type their replacing it for) which I'm a bit gutted about. I did ask if Specialized would cover it but they assured me they will not put any warranty on rims....

Gonna hopefully have it for the weekend so I'll take it out and rag it about a bit and see what happens, if it buckles again I'm going to be very sad