Carbon wheel loose threads...like a t shirt unravelling

paddy_pumpkin
paddy_pumpkin Posts: 33
edited October 2019 in Workshop
I have some DT Swiss ERC1400. My first carbon wheels they are 2 months and 4000km old.

I am regularly finding very thin loose threads of carbon. I can cut them no problem. If I pull them it is like pulling a loose thread on a shirt...could pull for ever I think. They all seem to have the source of the loose thread beneath the tyre and on the exposed surface all seems fine.

Is this normal? Or are the wheels faulty?

Comments

  • sandyballs
    sandyballs Posts: 577
    So carbon unraveling is not a good thing and with limited knowledge I would say is near impossible if the wheels are made correctly. Are you sure it’s not the tyre threads which is a lot more common?

    Additionally you say 2 months and 4000km, that’s a daily average of 66km, chapeau if that’s correct!
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    The tyres aren’t Conti GP4000Sii by any chance are they?

    PP
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    Whip the tyres off and see the cause. Then youll know.
  • Wayne Plunger
    Wayne Plunger Posts: 444
    Pilot Pete wrote:
    The tyres aren’t Conti GP4000Sii by any chance are they?

    PP

    Yes, had the same with them myself.
  • paddy_pumpkin
    paddy_pumpkin Posts: 33
    So yes it was the tyres. Continental GP 5000 TL. Contacted Continental and they told me it was normal. I asked them is it normal that I have to trim it every ride? Is it normal that they are so long they are touching the derailleur?

    Their reply...send the tyres back to Germany for analysis
    My reply...send me some tyres so I can keep riding and a cheque for the postage
    Their reply.....still waiting for a reply
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,815
    Just think... every time you cut one of those threads off you are making your bike lighter!
  • photonic69
    photonic69 Posts: 2,794
    Don't cut the threads, use a lighter to singe them off. It kinda melts them and seals them down. I have this problem with my 4 Seasons but less so when I use a lighter.


    Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,692
    Not sure I’d recommend waving a lighter around near my carbon/resin rims tbh.
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • jollygiant
    jollygiant Posts: 117
    Wheelspinner said:

    Not sure I’d recommend waving a lighter around near my carbon/resin rims tbh.

    Unless your lighter can get up to about 1000˚c and you can hold it there for 2 mins or more at that temperature you'll be fine!
  • photonic69
    photonic69 Posts: 2,794
    Wheelspinner said:

    Not sure I’d recommend waving a lighter around near my carbon/resin rims tbh.

    Just think of using the flame to singe the hairs off your arm - won't burn the skin, just the hairs.


    Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

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