Are they cracks on the rim?

alex.d.huynh

Hi all,

I just bought a 2nd hand bike through a buyer interstate and realised the rear wheels (Hunt wheels) that came with it had some defects. The seller told me he only used the wheels for 3 or 4 times ad around 500km. I am not sure if they are cracks or just cosmetic defects. I have emailed Hunt but still want your opinions. Thanks for your help!

ugo.santalucia

almost certainly cracks

timothyw

Assuming you have made a good effort to clean them off (sometimes dirt can accumulate trailing off from the spoke holes in this sort of pattern) then yeah, look a lot like cracks to me.

fenix

I've had a very small crack on my fixed wheel bike for a while but it's alloy and I check it each time. It's nowhere near as bad as yours. I'd ask for a refund.

edward.s

If not dirt, then that rim is toast. Return it. For sure don't ride it.

thecycleclinic

Cracked probably.

navrig2

I looked at this thread a couple of days ago but there was no photo for me to see. Still no photo.

Is it a link or is it attached to the post?

redvision

navrig2 said:

I looked at this thread a couple of days ago but there was no photo for me to see. Still no photo.

Is it a link or is it attached to the post?

Photos working fine for me - they are embedded in the post.

OP they look very much like cracks to me.

cruff

Cracks. 100% do not ride. If there's only a few rides on them they should still be under warranty - ask the seller for a receipt.

alex.d.huynh

I have emailed Hunt, the manufacturer of the wheels and they confirmed I should not ride the bike. They asked me to pay £275 pounds for as a “special crashed replacement rate” to replace the defective wheel because I am not the original owner, although the original owner has been supportive proving to Hunt all the documents when he purchased it 10 months ago and he said he only used the wheels for a couple of rides and for less than 500km. I don’t think the seller lied to me because he didn’t want to sell the wheels with the bike to me at first and I insisted to buy them researching Hunt brand. Looking at Hunt website, I thought Hunt is decent brand and I would trust to have their support if there is anything wrong with the wheels. Maybe I am wrong. I paid A$1700 for the wheels and now might have to pay another A$500 to get the rear wheel replaced when it is clearly a manufacturing defects with wheel. I have not even ridden a single second on it. What should I do in this case?

webboo

How do you know it’s a manufacturing defect, the original owner may not have ridden them a lot. But if they were hitting lots of potholes that sort of damage could occur.
Also given he says he only rode them a couple of times but might have done 500k on them. That doesn’t quite ring true.

cruff

alex.d.huynh said:

I have emailed Hunt, the manufacturer of the wheels and they confirmed I should not ride the bike. They asked me to pay £275 pounds for as a “special crashed replacement rate” to replace the defective wheel because I am not the original owner, although the original owner has been supportive proving to Hunt all the documents when he purchased it 10 months ago and he said he only used the wheels for a couple of rides and for less than 500km. I don’t think the seller lied to me because he didn’t want to sell the wheels with the bike to me at first and I insisted to buy them researching Hunt brand. Looking at Hunt website, I thought Hunt is decent brand and I would trust to have their support if there is anything wrong with the wheels. Maybe I am wrong. I paid A$1700 for the wheels and now might have to pay another A$500 to get the rear wheel replaced when it is clearly a manufacturing defects with wheel. I have not even ridden a single second on it. What should I do in this case?

Suck it up. You should have checked the wheels when you bought the bike. Unless you can come to an arrangement with the bloke you bought it from (half and half) - though legally you don't have a leg to stand on. Seriously doubt that's a manufacturing defect - Ugo or someone experienced in wheelbuilding might be able to tell for sure but looks to me like those are abuse cracks from being ridden on shitty roads

alex.d.huynh

cruff said:

alex.d.huynh said:

I have emailed Hunt, the manufacturer of the wheels and they confirmed I should not ride the bike. They asked me to pay £275 pounds for as a “special crashed replacement rate” to replace the defective wheel because I am not the original owner, although the original owner has been supportive proving to Hunt all the documents when he purchased it 10 months ago and he said he only used the wheels for a couple of rides and for less than 500km. I don’t think the seller lied to me because he didn’t want to sell the wheels with the bike to me at first and I insisted to buy them researching Hunt brand. Looking at Hunt website, I thought Hunt is decent brand and I would trust to have their support if there is anything wrong with the wheels. Maybe I am wrong. I paid A$1700 for the wheels and now might have to pay another A$500 to get the rear wheel replaced when it is clearly a manufacturing defects with wheel. I have not even ridden a single second on it. What should I do in this case?

Suck it up. You should have checked the wheels when you bought the bike. Unless you can come to an arrangement with the bloke you bought it from (half and half) - though legally you don't have a leg to stand on. Seriously doubt that's a manufacturing defect - Ugo or someone experienced in wheelbuilding might be able to tell for sure but looks to me like those are abuse cracks from being ridden on shitty roads

How do you know it’s not the manufacturing defect and someone abused the wheels from looking at the crack? I am genuinely curious because I have never had experienced anything like this before.

I bought the wheels interstate so could not check it before and that’s the risk I have to pay now. I’m not sure if the wheels have been seriously abused by the previous owner but from dealing with him, I trust him that he has been careful with the wheels. The bike is a Canyon Aero road and the condition is spot on when I receive it including the wheels. I only found out about these cracks when I took it to the mechanic to service. I don’t know for sure if that’s manufacturing defect or not and I am happy to send it back to Hunt to check. I have bought cheap Chinese carbon wheels (Super Team, Farsports etc...) before and ridden them in Vietnam where the roads are 10 times worse than any developed countries and these wheels still stand true after a few years. So I’m surprised about these Hunt Wheels.

ugo.santalucia

Rims fail because the load is inappropriate for the construction. So that could be too much tension on the spokes, too few spokes, too much power of the rider or too much weight of the rider or a combination of the above. of course that can also be the rim was poorly manufactured

davebradswmb

I would have thought that Hunt would be able to tell if it was a manufacturing fault, and I would hope that they would be honest enough to hold their hands up if that was the case. I don't think that you have any option anyway, unless you go down the route of having them independently inspected and playing hard ball with Hunt, but that will cost more than the wheels are worth, and the report might still say that they have been abused.

ugo.santalucia

davebradswmb said:

unless you go down the route of having them independently inspected

It's not a 737 Max... there is no such thing as a foolproof and conclusive "roadworthiness test" for rims.
The crash replacement scheme is a reasonable compromise from Hunt and £ 275 is a good price for a new set of carbon wheels.. There is no evidence that they have been ridden for only 500 km and we know nothing about the original buyer (or the OP for what that matters). For what we know he might have weighed 150 kg and whilst the manufacturer takes a punt on the honesty of the buyer when offering warranty, this is typically not extended to a second hand purchase