[leveller]

Hi folks, I’m in need of help !

I’ve taken a rear wheel into a reputable LBS to have it trued as it was slightly out. I picked it up after the repair, fitted it to the bike and a couple of days later went for a ride. After 5 miles something clearly wasn’t right so i stopped and checked the bike over. It’s then I discovered that one of the spokes had pulled through the rim causing a cracked lump to appear on the rim where the spoke enters it. It’s now useless and I suspect beyond repair and leaves me with an unrideable bike. It seems like the tension on that spoke was too much and it’s pulled through rather than snapping.

I’ve emailed the store and supplied details and pics of the wheel and I’m currently awaiting their reply. I just wondered what my rights are regarding this issue ? I just need a bit of guidance from anyone in the know as I’m unsure of my next move or what I should expect from them.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice, it will be very much appreciated.

Topic

[3wheelsgood]

I would highly recommend
I would highly recommend learning how to true your own wheels; I have found this skill to be a lifesaver many times when ambushed by Ninja rocks and roots out on the trail or their urban equivalent – dogs and small, inadequately supervised children. The very act of stopping and trueing provides the necessary zen balance to eradicate the stress of the calamity. 🙂

[2 Wheeled Idiot]

I’d just have to go with the
I’d just have to go with the sh*t happens….why not go for a pair of nice lightweight handbuilts….Stans rims with hubs to suit budget and CX ray spokes, strongx light, not ridiculous money and also any bike shop will be able to fully rebuild very quickly and replace spokes as they are all standard components.
Mavics are decent but good luck getting some spares should anything happen, I’ve also heard reports of rims cracking after several thousand km’s (only second hand reports, never seen one break or even buckled tbf)

[leveller]

From what I’ve heard from
From what I’ve heard from others today it sounds like the cheaper Eastons aren’t built to last too long.Still no response from the shop but looks like I’ll be buying myself a new wheelset. Goodbye Easton hello Mavic.

Any issues with the Mavic Ksyrium Elite S wheelsets that we know of ?

Thanks everyone for your replies by the way =D>

[Matt eaton]

It could be that the wheel
It could be that the wheel went out of true in the first place due to deformations (probably more-or-less invisible) at the spoke holes in the rims. In other words, the rim may have already started to fail prior to the truing.

[mikedclapp]

Just had exactly the same
Just had exactly the same thing happen to an Easton EA90RT. Probably had about 3000 hard miles on it. Wheel went out of true – got it sorted. Started rubbing the blocks under power about 2 rides later. Had wheel checked and it had cracks around 4 spokes and one had virtually pulled out. Counted my lucky stars it had not given way completely on my rather rapid descent from ‘The Tumble’ that day. Easton build their wheels with extremely high tension on the drive side spokes. I weigh 85kg and put it down to bad luck/metal fatigue.

[leveller]

Cheers for your responses
Cheers for your responses folks. The wheel in question is an Easton EA 30 or 50, not a top end wheel by any means but no cheap wheel either. Had it from new two and a half years ago, and done just over 5000 dry miles. Lots of life left in the braking surface and the hub is fine too. Looks pretty much as new

The wheel was only slightly out of true when I took it in. It was rolling ok and not even catching on the brake blocks, I’m just a bit picky with my bikes. If something not spot on I get it sorted as was the case with the wheel.

Still no reply from the shop yet…

[mrmo]

Brand new wheel and the
Brand new wheel and the spokes pull through, then you have an issue, a few years old and plenty of use then it is simply a fatigue failure and one of those things.

As you don’t say how old the wheel is….

Also, you say the wheel was taken in because it was out of true, how out of true, it might simply be a case that to get the wheel running straight that a lot of tension was needed on certain spokes to pull it back and this simply overloaded an already fatigued rim.

Next what wheel, some such as Campag do run at high tensions because of the number of spokes.

[adamthekiwi]

I’m with Jack Osbourne snr –
I’m with Jack Osbourne snr – rim failures like this do just happen and, even if you think the most likely reason is that the truing resulted in a spoke being too tight (perhaps they didn’t stress-relieve the wheel properly), how can you tell that failure wasn’t about to happen, or that the rim was slightly damaged (and waiting for a failure in that area) by the event that caused it to go out of true in the first place?

Talk to them *without* the assumption that it’s their fault. Bear in mind that rims, even high-end ones, do fail occasionally for no good reason. I also agree that a wheel build for the cost of a new rim would be a good deal.

I doubt very much that you’ll get them to accept that their repair was the primary cause for all the reasons above – I don’t think I would if I’d built the wheel.

One last thing: learn to true and build wheels yourself – it’s easy and therapeutic and, once you know how to do it, no-one will build wheels for you as carefully as you do for yourself.

[Colin Peyresourde]

Beefy wrote:I think the shop

Beefy wrote:

I think the shop has a responsibility here it would appear spoke too high tension, contact local training standards for advice and put the shops name out there so people are aware of the quality of work they offer, I’m sure others won’t want the same to happen to them.

I think there is an additional aspect which is the age of the wheel. Wear and tear is expected and if the wheel is old and stressed there’s very little to say that the failure is the LBS’s. But if you have a word with them about it you’ll see where you stand.

I must say it does sound like it was over tensioned.

[Beefy]

I think the shop has a
I think the shop has a responsibility here it would appear spoke too high tension, contact local training standards for advice and put the shops name out there so people are aware of the quality of work they offer, I’m sure others won’t want the same to happen to them.

[Jack Osbourne snr]

I’m afraid you are solely at
I’m afraid you are solely at the mercy of the LBS and their customer service policy. It would be very difficult to prove (without hugely expensive costs) that the truing exercise was solely to blame for the rim failure.

Rims fail, and cracking around spoke holes is a common mode of failure.

If you can get them to sell you a new rim, but build the wheel for you for free, you’ll have done okay.

[Author]

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