radical 100 wheels falling apart
Istvan
Today I noticed that one of the wheels on my K2 Radical 100s is
missing a big chunk of the hub, exposing part of the rim (I can put up
a picture if anybody is interested). Several other wheels have cracks,
also on the hub. The wheels are the original ones supplied by K2 (Star
Grips?)
I haven't done anything unusual with these wheels, the worst treatment
they got was rolling off the sidewalk to the street a few times. I
weight about 80 kilograms (or 180lbs). Is it unreasonable to expect
the wheels to survive this?
Has anyone else seen this happening or did I just get a bad batch?
I am trying to figure out what kind of wheels to get next. Other than
this issue the K2 wheels are great. I wonder if real Star Grips would
have the same problem or if I should try the Hyper Neutrons. Any other
alternatives for relatively light 100mms?
--
Istvan
IV
> they got was rolling off the sidewalk to the street a few times. I
> weight about 80 kilograms (or 180lbs). Is it unreasonable to expect
> the wheels to survive this?
For how long (or how many miles, to be more accurate)? Wheels do wear down
and crack. Give us a time (distance) frame for the breakdown of your wheels
and we will tell you if it is unusually fast.
motorblade
sounds a bit like a bad batch
the first super light wheels from RB had problems with wearing too fast
and I have had a set of wheels that chunked and cracked like that
before,seemed like it was usually wheels with bigger cores
write K2 they might just mail you a fresh set...or go to the store you
got them from and see what they can do
Istvan
IV <cul...@cse.ohio-state.edu> writes:
> For how long (or how many miles, to be more accurate)? Wheels do wear down
> and crack. Give us a time (distance) frame for the breakdown of your wheels
> and we will tell you if it is unusually fast.
Sorry that I wasn't clear, it's not the urethane that is cracking and
coming apart but the hard plastic portion, the hub right around the
bearing. I don't think that that's normal regardless of how much you
skate on a set of wheels.
I guess a picture is really worth a thousand words sometimes:
http://static.flickr.com/40/102879788_f3eca3953a_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/35/102879789_91ac107080_o.jpg
(Same wheels on both pics, slightly rotated)
Note the missing portion of the hub on wheel on the right and the
crack on the one on the left. The wheel that is in the worst shape was
at the rear position at the time, I have since moved it to second from
the front in the hope that it might survive there until I get new
wheels but now I am thinking that it's probably not safe and not a
good way to treat the rest of the skate.
To answer your question, how long... less than two months and about
150-200 miles. As you can see on the pics the urethane is not in a bad
shape at all, it would last a lot longer if it wasn't for the busted
hubs.
"motorblade" <motor...@aol.com> writes:
> write K2 they might just mail you a fresh set...or go to the store you
> got them from and see what they can do
Good idea, I will try that, thanks!
--
Istvan
John Doe
http://static.flickr.com/40/102879788_f3eca3953a_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/35/102879789_91ac107080_o.jpg
That's interesting, thanks for the pics.
IV
it more prone to debris/small rocks chipping away at the hub. I will agree,
though, that this seems like something the company should address. I would
recommend changing hub design. Likely that isn't light-weight (read: cool)
enough, so it's unlikely to change. See if you can't get some replacements
from the company. If not, I would suggest getting a more traditionally hubbed
wheel.
Franklin's UsenetSpamTrap
Istvan wrote:
> Sorry that I wasn't clear, it's not the urethane that is cracking and
> coming apart but the hard plastic portion, the hub right around the
> bearing. I don't think that that's normal regardless of how much you
> skate on a set of wheels.
>
> I guess a picture is really worth a thousand words sometimes:
Whohoo, scary!
I would be worried, could be a single wheel though. I thought at first
it looked like a stone being caught and grinding/chipping down, but it
looks like fatigue. Either duff wheel(s) or bad construction.
Like others say, go back to the store or contact K2, send the pics with
too. I am sure mechanical design guys love seeing those kind of pics
(not really!) because it shows so easily what is happening. Usually it's
either hairline crack or catastrophic failure.
Keep us updated, this is interesting.
br Franklin
-would ground aircraft in a former life if I saw that... :-)
Franklin's UsenetSpamTrap
> Whohoo, scary!
>
> I would be worried, could be a single wheel though. I thought at first
> it looked like a stone being caught and grinding/chipping down, but it
> looks like fatigue. Either duff wheel(s) or bad construction.
Mmm, looking at the left wheel it seems it has a crack all the way
through the hub too. How many other wheels are like that? Now I really
wouldn't skate on them.
br Franklin
inlina
Istvan wrote:
> I guess a picture is really worth a thousand words sometimes:
>
> http://static.flickr.com/40/102879788_f3eca3953a_o.jpg
> http://static.flickr.com/35/102879789_91ac107080_o.jpg
>
> (Same wheels on both pics, slightly rotated)
Looks like either a bad batch or bad design. It lloks like the same
fault with both, so there is some kind of stress point inherent in the
design or possibly bad flow through the spoke during moulding. May be a
material problem or any other manufacturing defect.
Get on to K2 as suggested, they may know about the problem and give you
new wheels. At least that way if they don't know about it, they can
root-cause it. If it is a possible problem with all of those wheels or
even just a batch, they may need to recall them to avoid someone
getting hurt and them getting sued.
CG
B Fuhrmann
> Sorry that I wasn't clear, it's not the urethane that is cracking and
> coming apart but the hard plastic portion, the hub right around the
> bearing. I don't think that that's normal regardless of how much you
> skate on a set of wheels.
Have you talked with the company? They should be resource #1 for this.
--
Bill Fuhrmann
Jay Carter
> Today I noticed that one of the wheels on my K2 Radical 100s is
> missing a big chunk of the hub, exposing part of the rim (I can put up
> a picture if anybody is interested). Several other wheels have cracks,
> also on the hub. The wheels are the original ones supplied by K2 (Star
> Grips?)
>
The Radical 100s are rebranded Star Grips and from what Ive seen, Star
Grip's hubs suck. I cracked two myself last year (100mm ones like you)
and one of the rec skaters that skates with us has Radical 90s and the
hub on one of her wheels cracked the first time she skated on them.
If you're looking for a good set of 100mm wheels, try the Matters. The
Red Mundos are very good all around wheels. The Hyper Stripes are also
pretty good. Star Grips are great wheels in a lot of ways.. probably my
favorite wheel but the hubs are way too fragile and the wheels don't
have a very long lifespan unfortunately so I can't recommend them and I
dont use them very often anymore.
Jay
Istvan
the skates was very helpful, agreed that the wheels were defective and
worked with K2 on my behalf to replace them under warranty. Even sent
replacements from their own stock so that I wouldn't have to wait for
K2.
I wasn't sure how long this process would take and I was desperate to
get rolling again so I also got a set of Hyper Mach 2s in the
meanwhile. I have been skating on those since yesterday. They are
noticeably heavier but the difference is not as great as I thought it
would be, still quite enjoyable and there does seems to be a little
extra momentum once they are up to speed. Could be in my head though.
The replacement wheels have finally arrived today. The hubs are grey instead
of the black, I wonder if that will make a difference.
Thanks for all the advice and the wheel recommendations, I will keep
them in mind.
PS: Man, these 100mm wheels are expensive! I wonder how much it costs
to manufacture them. I am starting to think that skating to work might
actually cost more than driving. I should do some total cost of
ownership calculations :)
--
Istvan
Eric Edwards
>PS: Man, these 100mm wheels are expensive! I wonder how much it costs
>to manufacture them. I am starting to think that skating to work might
>actually cost more than driving. I should do some total cost of
>ownership calculations :)
Try Swatskates:
http://www.ntsk8.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NTSS&Product_Code=IW-Tundra&Category_Code=Wheels
http://www.ntsk8.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NTSS&Product_Code=IW-IntzMP&Category_Code=100mW
While $7/wheel won't match the bargain basement deals available on 80's,
I bet it's less then you paid.
--
Photos and travelogues from Africa and Southeast Asia: http://www.exile.org
inlina
Istvan wrote:
> The replacement wheels have finally arrived today. The hubs are grey instead
> of the black, I wonder if that will make a difference.
I think you may have a better wheel now that shouldn't crack.
They may have made a design, material or manufacturing change that was
not apparent by just looking at the wheel. Companies (and not just
skate companies) change colors of things sometimes so they can identify
the design level of the part easily. The manufacturer may have
insituted a physical design or manufacturing change or a material
change to fix the problem, and changed the color of the hub as an easy
way of telling what version the wheel is. That may be why the online
shop was able to turn around new wheels to you so quickly.
Xsadjo did it when they had cracking problems in the Mook frame. The
original Mook was white. The tool design for the injection had and edge
gate or something that was resulting in a bad weld line or mold stress
in the plastic and a weakened frame. They changed the tool design but
the differences would not have been visible to your average person and
a shop would have had to take the frame off to figure out which version
you had. The easiest way for a shop owner to tell which version of the
frame you had when you came in for a warranty claim was by the change
in color to black.
CG
Jay Carter
> Istvan wrote:
>> The replacement wheels have finally arrived today. The hubs are grey instead
>> of the black, I wonder if that will make a difference.
>
> I think you may have a better wheel now that shouldn't crack.
>
Im going to repost this since I think my reply fell out of the threaded
responses. Stupid Thunderbird. Anyway, here's the repost:
"The Radical 100s are rebranded Star Grips and from what Ive seen, Star
Grip's hubs suck. I cracked two myself last year (100mm ones like you)
and one of the rec skaters that skates with us has Radical 90s and the
hub on one of her wheels cracked the first time she skated on them.
If you're looking for a good set of 100mm wheels, try the Matters. The
Red Mundos are very good all around wheels. The Hyper Stripes are also
pretty good. Star Grips are great wheels in a lot of ways.. probably my
favorite wheel but the hubs are way too fragile and the wheels don't
have a very long lifespan unfortunately so I can't recommend them and I
dont use them very often anymore.
Jay"
End Repost :)
That being said, one of the guys I skate with regularly discovered that
5 of his Star Grips had busted hubs over the weekend. I wouldn't expect
the newer ones to be any better as the grey hub is what Star Grip has
been using for a while and what everyone here who skates with me has
cracked.
Good luck!
Jay
inlina
Jay Carter wrote:
> Im going to repost this since I think my reply fell out of the threaded
> responses. Stupid Thunderbird. Anyway, here's the repost:
I don't know that it did. It still shows up in the thread on Google.
> That being said, one of the guys I skate with regularly discovered that
> 5 of his Star Grips had busted hubs over the weekend. I wouldn't expect
> the newer ones to be any better as the grey hub is what Star Grip has
> been using for a while and what everyone here who skates with me has
> cracked.
How long has the grey hub been in service? The Radical 100's aren't
that old a skate, so it sounds like they all have the black hubs
standard. If it is still a problem, then perhaps the CPSC in the USA
needs to be notified (cpsc.gov). If the product is faulty and being
replaced with still faulty products, I would think this is a major
saferty issue. It's only a matter of time before someone gets injured
as a direct result of this apparently poor product.
Is this something the IISA could have helped deal with back in the day?
Put some pressure back on the manufacturers for ensuring skater's
safety...
CG
B Fuhrmann
news:1141460943.9...@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> How long has the grey hub been in service? The Radical 100's aren't
> that old a skate, so it sounds like they all have the black hubs
> standard. If it is still a problem, then perhaps the CPSC in the USA
> needs to be notified (cpsc.gov). If the product is faulty and being
> replaced with still faulty products, I would think this is a major
> saferty issue. It's only a matter of time before someone gets injured
> as a direct result of this apparently poor product.
>
> Is this something the IISA could have helped deal with back in the day?
> Put some pressure back on the manufacturers for ensuring skater's
> safety...
I doubt that the IISA would have even responded to email about this. I
don't know what their charter was but it apparently had nothing to with
responding to individuals or clubs. I tried many times and when I got any
response, it was a brush off.
CPSC ( U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission www.cpsc.gov)
@> The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting
the public
@> from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000
types of
@> consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. is charged with
Their page for complaints of unsafe products is www.cpsc.gov/talk.html .
@> For consumers: report an injury, death, or unsafe product to us:
@> www.cpsc.gov/incident.html .
@> You can also report an incident or unsafe product by calling toll-free at
@> 1-800-638-2772 or by sending an e-mail to in...@cpsc.gov .
I would recommend the online form or at least looking at it to find the
information that they want before using the other two contact methods.
--
Bill Fuhrmann
Jay Carter
>
> How long has the grey hub been in service? The Radical 100's aren't
> that old a skate, so it sounds like they all have the black hubs
> standard. If it is still a problem, then perhaps the CPSC in the USA
> needs to be notified (cpsc.gov). If the product is faulty and being
> replaced with still faulty products, I would think this is a major
> saferty issue. It's only a matter of time before someone gets injured
> as a direct result of this apparently poor product.
>
I dont know how long Star has been using the grey hub. I have a set with
the grey hubs and I also have a set with the TI hubs, which are probably
just the grey ones coats with something shiny to "stiffen" them. I've
cracked the TI hubs and two other skaters here have cracked a 90mm grey
hub on the Radical 90s and 5 grey hubbed 100's.
I dont think it's a matter of the material, I think the hub itself just
won't stand up to the abuse. Star went for a super light hub and I think
in the process they sacrificed some structural integrity.
Jay