Cracked Rim - is this terminal?

markshaw77

Hi all

I was cleaning my bike this evening and when i cleaned the rims of all the accumulated rubbish, I found several spots on the rear rim where it looks like the rim is cracked around the spoke - almost as if the spoke is "pulling through" the rim.

I can't get the images to display properly (it's too late for my little brain!!) so I have posted them at: http://gallery.me.com/markshaw77#100024

Are these cracks the end of this rim?

If yes:
- Are they safe to ride until I get some new ones?
- Would it still be ok to use the wheel as a spare for my turbo (less weight bearing?)?
- Any tips for new wheels?
[I have a new Scott CR1 on order which will come with Aksiums, so if I am quick I may be able to see if I can get a good upgrade price for some more bling wheels and put the Aksiums on my commuter!!]

If no:
- what, if anything, can i do to stop them getting worse?
- how much longer are they likely to last before causing serious issues?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice

greg66_tri_v2.0

markshaw77 wrote:

Are these cracks the end of this rim?

If yes:
- Are they safe to ride until I get some new ones?
- Would it still be ok to use the wheel as a spare for my turbo (less weight bearing?)?
- Any tips for new wheels?
[I have a new Scott CR1 on order which will come with Aksiums, so if I am quick I may be able to see if I can get a good upgrade price for some more bling wheels and put the Aksiums on my commuter!!]

I'd say

- not really, but then, chances are that you've been riding on them like this for a while, so they must be able to survive a bit of riding in this state. I wouldn't chance it meself.
- possibly, assuming the turbo supports the bike by the rear QR. Possibly. Never heard of anyone trying this, though.
- budget?

nicklouse

terminal, dont wait to long.

roger_merriman

like others I'd not trust that wheel.

scottgeniusltd2005

terminal. i had a similar thing when my bike was in the turbo trainer for a year. lbs said they had never seen anything like it. now i've seen it twice. it is only cheap for a rim replacement, if you do it yourself that is.

BentMikey

New wheel required. Don't ride on it. I'd change the front too, I'd have no faith in that either.

amnezia

The Alex Rims i had were truley awful.

I wouldn't ride on those.

markshaw77

Thanks for the replies - that's pretty much what I thought too!! They are just the stock wheels that came with the bike, so I suppose they have done pretty well to last the 5k miles they have done on London's shoddy roads in the last year!

Any ideas what might have caused it? Pothholes/impact or something else?

As for replacements/upgrades, I am definitely leaning towards upgrading the wheels on the new bike and putting the Aksiums onto the commuter - I was thinking of doing that in the longer term anyway, so I guess this has just made the decision for me!!

So, budget would be probably £250-£350, so I guess that covers things like Fulcrum Racing 5's, Easton EA50/EA70, Mavic Ksyrium Equipe, Mavic Cosmic Elite - any thoughts/recommendations?

I will give the guys at Epic a call and see what deals they can do...

cougie

Definitley on the way out - but I have a rim thats got a 5mm crack in it on my hack bike and its been there for a couple of years at least. I check it after every ride to make sure its not got worse and its on the list of 'things to do'.....

spen666

BentMikey wrote:

New wheel required. Don't ride on it. I'd change the front too, I'd have no faith in that either.

Surely new rim is all that is neded.

There is nothing to suggest hub is knackered, so a new rim and possibly new spokes

beverick

spen666 wrote:

BentMikey wrote:

New wheel required. Don't ride on it. I'd change the front too, I'd have no faith in that either.

Surely new rim is all that is neded.

There is nothing to suggest hub is knackered, so a new rim and possibly new spokes

Why would you use old spokes with a new rim?

Bob

always_tyred

BentMikey wrote:

New wheel required. Don't ride on it. I'd change the front too, I'd have no faith in that either.

A rear wheel takes more punishment and has to withstand uneven spoke tension. The front is worth keeping an eye on but may not need replacing.

I've had this happen on Mavic rims too - nothing sinister about Alex rims per se.

spen666

beverick wrote:

spen666 wrote:

BentMikey wrote:

New wheel required. Don't ride on it. I'd change the front too, I'd have no faith in that either.

Surely new rim is all that is neded.

There is nothing to suggest hub is knackered, so a new rim and possibly new spokes

Why would you use old spokes with a new rim?

Bob

If the spokes are ok, then why replace them, that is a waste of money and resources

always_tyred

spen666 wrote:

beverick wrote:

spen666 wrote:

BentMikey wrote:

New wheel required. Don't ride on it. I'd change the front too, I'd have no faith in that either.

Surely new rim is all that is neded.

There is nothing to suggest hub is knackered, so a new rim and possibly new spokes

Why would you use old spokes with a new rim?

Bob

If the spokes are ok, then why replace them, that is a waste of money and resources

No bike shop will relace a wheel with old spokes. There seems to be an understanding that unleading a spoke and then re-tensioning it can cause it to fail, even through this happens once per revolution during normal use.

If you want to re-use a spoke (which I've never had a problem doing) you have to do it yourself.