[wtjs]

I only noticed this yesterday on my Vitus gravel bike- must be some rubbish alloy (pictures coming next). I’ve never had this happen before, and I have wheels over 40 years old . Unsurprisingly, there is nothing definitive to indicate the rim manufacturer

Topic

[wtjs]

Never seen an un-crashed

Never seen an un-crashed wheel deform so badly WTJS

Actually, it’s surprisingly undeformed- rim remains pretty straight as I ride on it as part of an experiment. Pressure about 40 psi, but it’s difficult to know the best pressure for damage limitation- higher for better force dissipation via the tyre, or lower for better air suspension over Lancashire’s usual cart track roads.

[mike the bike]

Never seen an un-crashed

Never seen an un-crashed wheel deform so badly WTJS.  Bad luck.

By coincidence one of my Hunt 4-Season rims developed a crack recently, tiny compared to yours, but still a worry.  Hunt have been completely open about the defect, they accepted responsibility immediately and we are in the process of sorting the problem without any cost to me, not even postage.  Brilliant.

[wtjs]

I suppose the point is that I

I suppose the point is that I’ve had many bikes over 60 years of cycling and have never seen this – just about all the spoke holes show the circumferential crack and 2 of them are already pulling through. It’s sold as the Vitus Substance Adventure ‘gravel bike’ and has spent almost all it’s time on ordinary roads around North Lancashire or cycle camping trips towing a trailer- not a very hard life, and the spokes are intact and all original. Cleaning has nothing to do with it, and it’s pretty clean anyway for a bike just back from the Lakes!

Chain Reaction denied all responsibility for the hub failure and referred me to JoyTech who don’t reply and then said ‘buy a new wheel’. The irksome notion that all failures are due to someone else, preferably the cyclist, must be resisted so it’ll be the Small Claims Court procedure. I’ll probably win, as I did 20 years ago against a travel company.

[Shades]

Had this on a DT Swiss rim

Had this on a DT Swiss rim (came with the bike from new); looked them up and they were cheap as chips so just put it down to the bike manufacturer using cheap components (usually it’s things like headsets or BBs).  Potentially factory wheels knocked up on a machine.  Nice excuse to buy some decent hand-built wheels.  Would be my reason to build a new bike up with known (good) components rather than off-the-shelf with some cheap components that last a year.

[kil0ran]

They’re pretty low down the

They’re pretty low down the pecking order I think. Half to a third of the price of a DT Swiss rim. I’ve got a well-used one as a stopgap until my new Hope wheelset arrives, and will be keeping an eye on it as I’m a heavy rider doing most of my riding offroad.

[rdmp2]

Here’s one pic. When I
Here’s one pic. When I inspected the rim over half the spoke holes were failing in this manner. The bike had been used for 4ish years (7k miles) in all weathers and not cleaned particularly regularly

[rdmp2]

Exactly the same happened to
Exactly the same happened to my wtb (i21?) rims (albeit after about 4 years). I can post the pics but the failure is identical. Lbs suggested high spoke tensions and I replaced the wheels.

[ktache]

2 filthy UK winters by any

2 filthy UK winters by any chance?

Not that it’s anywhere as safety critical but some of my silver Nokon beads were turned to dust over a few years, Good Bike too, so not used a huge amount.  Though it was the bike I would fit my spike tyres to, front sus and ceramic braking surface, which helped in ice and snow, but of course, more salty filth.

I’m using a pre and post winter dousing in ACF50 for my new set for full run Rohloff cables, and in black anodised too, which may provide a better surface.

[Hirsute]

I’d expect a few broken

I’d expect a few broken spokes with the load from rider and trailer if the tension was quite over.

[wtjs]

Either defective rims, or

Either defective rims, or massively over-tensioned straight gauge spokes, perhaps?

I checked these off the peg wheels when the bike arrived, and they were surprisingly smooth. I also squeezed the spokes and they seemed normal. Both wheels went a little out of true after a few weeks but I wasn’t surprised at that, and they only needed minimal spoke adjustment. Surprisingly, that rear is still pretty true despite being completely wrecked! The noise from the hub only appeared a couple of months ago. 

[stonojnr]

Yep it was the rear that
Yep it was the rear that collapsed like yours, but assumed that’s just higher weight distribution loads on the rear wheel, means it will fail first like this.

I still replaced both wheels though as the front had alot of aluminium oxide corrosion under the rim tape, but more importantly i had no faith in that wheelset anymore.

[andystow]

Wow. Either defective rims,

Wow. Either defective rims, or massively over-tensioned straight gauge spokes, perhaps?

[wtjs]

Front hub and rim seem fine,
Front hub and rim seem fine, and this bike is almost exclusively used on the roads towing a trailer for camping trips.

[stonojnr]

my last set of gravel bike
my last set of gravel bike wheels went like that, not after 18months, more like several years,but I just assumed combination of metal fatigue, corrosion and one too many unavoidable hard impacts did for them in the end.

[wtjs]

Good point. It does indeed
Good point. It does indeed claim to be i23. I’ll know to avoid WTB in future. The JoyTech hub is rubbish as well- it started making a noise and I found at least 2 too few drive side bearings and a knackered cone. JoyTech doesn’t reply, so you can’t get a spare cone.

[Author]

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