Mavic Aksium rear wheel broken :(

hostman

Hi,

So I was all suited and booted for a morning ride today, loaded up with some food etc. I get 10 metres down the road before turning round, as the rear wheel seems to have become insanely unbalanced and is catching the brakes / frame.

Upon further investigation, it appears a spoke has disconnected due to one of the slots on the hub cracking and detaching. See pic below:



I assume this is terminal for the wheel itself? A quick Google reveals this is a common(ish) fault with these wheels. I''ve ridden ~1200 miles on them.

The bike is a Boardman Road Team, bought from Halfords September 2012. There is a suggestion Mavic have a two year warranty? So I guess it's worth taking the wheel to Halfords to see if they can replace under warranty.

ugo.santalucia

It is a very common fault in that batch of Aksium, which to me seems pre 2012. There is nothing you can do... you need a new rear wheel.
Mavic has 2 years warranty? On the Aksium? Worth trying the warranty route, but...

sungod

irrespective of what a manufacturer's warranty says, there's a general two-year guarantee protecting consumers eu-wide, as the first step you need to contact the retailer about the problem, not mavic

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/consu ... ces_en.htm

it doesn't even stop at two years, in uk law goods must last for a reasonable length of time, if they don't then there's basis for asking for repair/replacement, either free or discounted based upon having had at least some trouble-free use of the product

as ugo points out, it seems to be a known issue, which strengthens your position

hostman

I'd loath to buy another set of the same wheels, it's alot to fork out for something that evidently doesn't cut the mustard.

Any recommendation for something a step up from Aksium?

ugo.santalucia

hostman wrote:

I'd loath to buy another set of the same wheels, it's alot to fork out for something that evidently doesn't cut the mustard.

Any recommendation for something a step up from Aksium?

You need to change wheel design... the same happened on the Ksyrium Equipe.

hostman

I took the wheel to Halfords this evening, they say they will replace it under warranty. There is definitely a two year standard warranty on Mavic wheels, says so in the handbook that came with the bike. Shouldn't matter the wheels are an entry level set, they should honour it.

So let's hope soon(ish) I get a new wheel back.