Mavic 230 SBP Rims
John Morgan
Parallax XT Hubs , the bike is an Aluminium Marin Indian Fire
Trail , I weigh 13 1/2 stones.
Problem is that I keep trashing the rims every time I don't come
down square after getting good air.
Any solutions ? Aoart from the obvious of losing weight , landing
square and getting new rims.
Can anyone recommend suitable rims ? What about Mavic 231 or 261
?
turtle
mountain biking. they are very light, so when you carry your bike home
from a ride, you won't get as tired. i would recommend switching to
the mavic 217sup rims. they are great. i (185lbs) have not had a problem
with these rims yet.
i flatted going downhill once and was just riding on the rim until i
got to the bottom. there was a small dent from a rock that i smashed,
but the wheel stayed true! straight guage spokes also helped.
the braking surface is great! there is a noticable difference when
using the 217 w/ the machined sidewalls.
if you can afford them, go for it!
-harold
c2...@unb.ca
>From: hch...@emerald.tufts.edu (turtle)
>Subject: Re: Mavic 230 SBP Rims
>Date: 28 Jul 1995 10:52:31 -0400
As I understand it, a "heavy" mountain biker is anyone over about 170lbs. I
use Mavic 230's, I weigh about 185 (I am into bodybuilding first, MTBing
second) and am five-eight and ride my bike pretty hard - I've never done
anything to my rims, even after crashing numerous times into rather large
rocks embedded in the trail, slamming hidden curbs under snowbanks in winter,
etc. I read all these posts about "exploding" Mavic 230's - I might guess
there are a few too many Mavic 230's that weren't exactly laced up right by
whoever built the wheelsets they are used in, or else I am the only person in
the world who got a decent set of 230's with my bike.
-Barry
Dave Blake
The exploding rims are due to the sidewall wearing through, and is a function
of how often you ride and how clean you keep your rims. The more grit you
ride through the faster they'll wear through, and the more often you clean
the rims the faster they'll wear through.
Check your rims before you ride for the telltale crack that will eventually
lead to a rather loud explosion just prior to you having to take the trashed
tire off the rim and ride the rim home.
--
---------------------------
Dave Blake
dbl...@bme.jhu.edu
" The more you drive, the less intelligent you are." - Repo man
Pawel Smolarkiewicz
Try the 261. The 230 is an ultralight rim, probably not made for jumping
<grin>.
Pawel Smolarkiewicz
James M. Reed (AA)
On 28 Jul 1995, John Morgan wrote:
> I have Mavic 230 SBP rims ( 32 Spokes ) front and rear , on
> Parallax XT Hubs , the bike is an Aluminium Marin Indian Fire
> Trail , I weigh 13 1/2 stones.
>
> Problem is that I keep trashing the rims every time I don't come
> down square after getting good air.
>
> Any solutions ? Aoart from the obvious of losing weight , landing
> square and getting new rims.
>
> Can anyone recommend suitable rims ? What about Mavic 231 or 261
> ?
>
>
The Mavic 231s and 261s are excelent rims. as are the WTB Powerbeams
and Speedmasters. Bontrager Blues are nice as well, but that small
mishap at the Weinmann plant (Kabooom!) has reduced their availability.
I am also partial to the Araya 400 Pros, but they are time consuming to
build.
James
Sandhill Bicycle Wheels
Matthew E. O'Toole
<10065...@CompuServe.COM> writes:
>
>I have Mavic 230 SBP rims ( 32 Spokes ) front and rear , on
>Parallax XT Hubs , the bike is an Aluminium Marin Indian Fire
>Trail , I weigh 13 1/2 stones.
>
>Problem is that I keep trashing the rims every time I don't come
>down square after getting good air.
>
>Any solutions ? Aoart from the obvious of losing weight , landing
>square and getting new rims.
>
>Can anyone recommend suitable rims ? What about Mavic 231 or 261
Both of those would probably be stronger, as they're pretty much just
beefed up versions of the same design. I've been riding hard on a set
of 230s for a year now, with no truing necessary. I'm 175#, and
although I ride hard on rocky trails, I don't go for the big air like
you do. The 230s are the lightest rims on the market that are commonly
available. They work really well in their intended use, which I'm sure
is not big jumps and hard landings by 190 pounders.
Matt O.
John Morgan
Mark Hickey
> I have Mavic 230 SBP rims ( 32 Spokes ) front and rear , on
> Parallax XT Hubs , the bike is an Aluminium Marin Indian Fire
> Trail , I weigh 13 1/2 stones.
>
> Problem is that I keep trashing the rims every time I don't come
> down square after getting good air.
>
> Any solutions ? Aoart from the obvious of losing weight , landing
> square and getting new rims.
>
> Can anyone recommend suitable rims ? What about Mavic 231 or 261
> ?
While the 230 might be a little light for your riding style, the
best way to keep them round is to have them built by a *good*
wheelbuilder, and have them tensioned as tight as possible. This
will help prevent the dreaded "taco" syndrome.
But even with stronger rims, landing major air sideways will be
pushing the limits. Bicycle wheels are incredibly strong on-axis,
but notoriously weak laterally (I guess I don't have to tell you
that, huh?). Hey, but don't stop getting the air - *somebody*
has to keep the industry healthy! ;-)
Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
Shaun C. Murray
>use Mavic 230's, I weigh about 185 (I am into bodybuilding first, MTBing
>second) and am five-eight and ride my bike pretty hard - I've never done
>anything to my rims, even after crashing numerous times into rather large
>rocks embedded in the trail, slamming hidden curbs under snowbanks in winter,
>etc. I read all these posts about "exploding" Mavic 230's - I might guess
>there are a few too many Mavic 230's that weren't exactly laced up right by
>whoever built the wheelsets they are used in, or else I am the only person in
>the world who got a decent set of 230's with my bike.
Being the person who started the "exploding 230's" thread I'd like to add that
the second 230 went (the front one) last week. Richard was 4 miles from home at
the time and had to lug it all the way home (snigger).
He won't be buying those rims again. 7 months on the rear rim. 8 on the front
and lateral rim failure accounted for both fails rather than bad spoke
tensioning. Both blew in a 'just riding along' situation rather than getting air
or braking heavily.
He now has a pair of FiR rims on his bike.
Shaun
Pawel Smolarkiewicz
> the second 230 went (the front one) last week. Richard was 4 miles from home at
> the time and had to lug it all the way home (snigger).
>
> He won't be buying those rims again. 7 months on the rear rim. 8 on the front
> and lateral rim failure accounted for both fails rather than bad spoke
> tensioning. Both blew in a 'just riding along' situation rather than getting air
> or braking heavily.
>
> He now has a pair of FiR rims on his bike.
>
> Shaun
What!? Why the hell would a properly built rim explode just riding along.
The 230 ARE light rims but they are plenty durable for most all conditions.
Either you're full of shit or your frind is pushing 400 lbs.. What the
hell is a FiR rim? Hope they work for you or your friend so we don't have
to deal with your BS.
L8,
Pawel Smolarkiewicz
pa...@lanl.gov
Jonathan Lawson/CO
I just bought these through Mail Order @ Price Point.
(800-774-2376). They were 42.95. This was the cheapest anywhere(
unless you work at a shop). I will vouch for their durability. I
beat the hell out of my rear 230 SBP. Get 15 gauge spokes. Don't
screw around with double butted spokes. If you buy spokes through
Price pt. be aware that they measure their spokes for a 3 cross
pattern.
If you keep tweaking your rims. Consider boosting the pressure
50+lbs. This has help my rim expense considerably.
To be a Jedi, you've got to feel the forces.
Jon Lawson
Breckenridge, CO
Shaun C. Murray
says...
>
>
>What!? Why the hell would a properly built rim explode just riding along.
The rim walls were too thin due to brake wear but for me 7-8 months of
not too heavy brake wear is too short a time. I presume Mavic loose a lot of
the weight in 230's by thinning down the walls. I myself always go for larger
brake surfaces. 117 at the back and a new 217 at the front now.
>The 230 ARE light rims but they are plenty durable for most all conditions.
But check them for rim wear regularly as rim life isn't too long it seems.
>Either you're full of shit or your frind is pushing 400 lbs.. What the
Just been thank you and Richard is about 140 lbs.
>hell is a FiR rim? Hope they work for you or your friend so we don't have
>to deal with your BS.
FiR are a rim manufacturer from Italy I believe. They make some very nice
rims too. FiR Polars are pretty nice.
Richard bought the FiR Orange R1 rims. These have nice braking surfaces with
a lip at the bottom to stop your brake pad coming off the rim and slipping
into your spokes.
Shaun
Christopher Lee
breath!! :-)
I've been riding on my 230's on White Tracker hubs for about a year.
Have about 600 miles on them and the rims are still in good condition.
Although I ride in a dry climate and do not 'get good air'. I am
relatively heavy (185lbs) and do brake a lot going down. Not one of
your faster guys going downhill.
I would say, unless you are riding a lot on extreme conditions (mud,
etc), 7-8 months of use should not wear the rims to a point that it
will EXPLODE. I know on mine, there is a little wear shown on the
sidewalls. I even put steel wool to them occasionally to remove the
gunk buildup from that pads & whatever. Still looks good, hope to
have it for at least another 1000+ miles!!
CL
Tim Barnes
: What!? Why the hell would a properly built rim explode just riding along.
Because the sidewalls have worn out, Mavic appear to have lightened
the rims at the expense of sidewall thickness.
: The 230 ARE light rims but they are plenty durable for most all conditions.
I've only put one on the front, and it's picked up a lot more dents than
I'm used to. Even a 120lb friend of mine has managed to dent both her front
and rear 230s, which she'd never done with 231s. The experience of most
people I know is that they're fine if you treat them carefully, but
don't expect them to take everything you hit them with, get some 217s
for that.
: Either you're full of shit or your frind is pushing 400 lbs.. What the
: hell is a FiR rim? Hope they work for you or your friend so we don't have
: to deal with your BS.
Why so aggressive? If you took the time to get an overview of posts re 230s
here I reckon you'd find you're the one talking BS.
cheers, Tim.
Dave Blake
75244...@CompuServe.COM says...
>
>>How much are the 217 SUP's<
>
>I just bought these through Mail Order @ Price Point.
>(800-774-2376). They were 42.95. This was the cheapest anywhere(
Why would anyone ever pay $42 for a rim that did not offer any obvious
advantages over say, a WTB speedmaster rim at $29 or a Campy
Mirox rim at $27. The durability of the rim, except in cases like the
230s, is a non-factor in the rim wear. The well-built wheel's life is
limited by a) the owner not using enough air or b) a really bad crash
that significantly loads the rim laterally. Neither one of these factors
is affected by which rim you buy.
The other obvious factor is braking surface. A good rim can make it easier
to set up your brakes, and provide a surface that brakes fairly well (unlike
hard-anno rims). The WTBs and Campys both
provide plenty of braking surface. The Ceramic rims or ceramic coated
rims stop incredibly well, but they are a whole nuther ballpark in price. My
per peeve about Mavic rims has always been that their sidewalls are rather
short, and I have a difficult time getting my brake pads centered so that I
do not rub the tire or only have half the pad on the rim (the other half below
the rim). My other peeve with Mavic rims is that the 5-6 wheels I have built
with their ATB rims always had flat spots around the weld. I either had
to unevenly tension the wheel to get it round or leave the flat spot in
there.
[rant and rave mode off]
So why pay $40+ for a rim ?
[snip]
>Jon Lawson
>Breckenridge, CO
Kristan Roberge
>
> In <3vabtr$7d1$1...@mhafn.production.compuserve.com> John Morgan
> <10065...@CompuServe.COM> writes:
> >
> >Parallax XT Hubs , the bike is an Aluminium Marin Indian Fire
> >Trail , I weigh 13 1/2 stones.
> >
> >Problem is that I keep trashing the rims every time I don't come
> >down square after getting good air.
>
TO add to the problems with the 230s, a friend of mine, all 110 Ibs
of her, wore out a mavic 230 cataustrphically last night during a race.
The sidewall failed and peeled away from the rim (causing her tube
to push outward and blow). She was ahead of me at the time. Good for
my overall positioning in the race (same age/class but different sex
so it didn't affect how we finished in relation to each other but still.
Annoying. Only mavic M230s and M231s seem to suffer from this. I've
never seen a Wolber, Sun, Ritchey, Arays, or Bontrager rim do this.
Although I have seen my share of pretzled rims from impacts (the largest
number being bontrager BCX Is and BCX-Red label) from all of them EXCEPT
Wolber (which take overbuilt enduro-race to a new meaning).
Michael Giess
>On 28 Jul 1995, John Morgan wrote:
>> I have Mavic 230 SBP rims ( 32 Spokes ) front and rear , on
>> Parallax XT Hubs , the bike is an Aluminium Marin Indian Fire
>> Trail , I weigh 13 1/2 stones.
>>
>> Problem is that I keep trashing the rims every time I don't come
>> down square after getting good air.
>>
>> Any solutions ? Aoart from the obvious of losing weight , landing
>> square and getting new rims.
>>
>> Can anyone recommend suitable rims ? What about Mavic 231 or 261
>Try the 261. The 230 is an ultralight rim, probably not made for jumping
><grin>.
> Pawel Smolarkiewicz
Most of the guys I ride with have had no end of trouble with the 230. A
better choice would be the 217 or 117 (or even 231) which are pretty much
bullet proof. The 261 is, I think, very heavy duty and really only for
downhilling ie. serious hammering. It has a wide profile and is relatively
heavy.
--
Michael Giess
Pawel Smolarkiewicz
> : hell is a FiR rim? Hope they work for you or your friend so we don't have
> : to deal with your BS.
>
> Why so aggressive? If you took the time to get an overview of posts re 230s
> here I reckon you'd find you're the one talking BS.
Unfortunatly I have taken too much time "overviewing" posts about 230's!
I'm just trying to end this issue. I rather have you all yelling at me,
(at least thats interesting) then reading endless posts about how your
friends' lightest-on-the-market rims needed truing after they jumped off
that loading dock! I have had several pairs of 230's, I ride hard often, I
jump, I true from time to time. I don't care what the general-dipshit
consensus is, I know from my own experience that a properly built 230 is a
damn fine wheel and it will survive just about anything you realistically can
expect a wheelto survive -- assuming it is properly built and maintained.
If absolute strength is what you are looking for don't go out and buy the
lightest wheel you can find.
Sorry 'bout the hostility it just seemed to me that the "lighter wheels
are weaker" was a logically obvious point, and the whole band-wagon
phenomena got out of hand! Peace, just go ride; and if you really hate
those damn 230's I can take em off your hands and put 'em to good use!
Pawel Smolarkiewicz
pa...@lanl.gov
Chris Wells (Contract)
>TO add to the problems with the 230s, a friend of mine, all 110 Ibs
>of her, wore out a mavic 230 cataustrphically last night during a race.
>The sidewall failed and peeled away from the rim (causing her tube
>to push outward and blow). She was ahead of me at the time. Good for
>my overall positioning in the race (same age/class but different sex
>so it didn't affect how we finished in relation to each other but still.
>Annoying. Only mavic M230s and M231s seem to suffer from this. I've
>never seen a Wolber, Sun, Ritchey, Arays, or Bontrager rim do this.
>Although I have seen my share of pretzled rims from impacts (the largest
>number being bontrager BCX Is and BCX-Red label) from all of them EXCEPT
>Wolber (which take overbuilt enduro-race to a new meaning).
Several friends have worn though the sides of their Wolber rims. Only one
caused a flat, the rest just required the brakes to be disconected and that
the rider carefully make their way home. These guys have never worn through
the sides of any other type of rim, mainly becuase the PRETZELED every other
rim they tried. My friends are quite disappointed at the current lack of
availability of Wolbers. I understand Wolber was bought up by another company
and which no longer produces the Wolber rims? Any suggestions for narrow super
strong, reasonably priced rims to replace their Wolbers with?
Chris
--
Chris Wells Mail:we...@mprgate.mpr.ca Phone:(604) 293-6142
jim_tonak
> Pawel Smolarkiewicz <pawel@sensor1> writes:
> Most of the guys I ride with have had no end of trouble with the 230. A
> better choice would be the 217 or 117 (or even 231) which are pretty much
> bullet proof. The 261 is, I think, very heavy duty and really only for
> downhilling ie. serious hammering. It has a wide profile and is relatively
> heavy.
I just built up some 217 SUP, TIB's on LX hubs a couple days ago and I love 'em! I haven't had
occaision to really get on them yet but they seem to be very tough.
Jim
jim_tonak
that is machined with little grooves in them that really grab the break pads. The rim is welded together
(not pinned ala WTB rims) and then machined smoothe so you don't get a tick on the truing stand
everytime the caliper passes the joint. It is a very high quality rim. Probably the best I have seen
recently and bulids very easy. I considered the Mirox and the WTB Speedmaster before I bought these
and I am certainly glad I didn't get them now.
Jim
Kristan Roberge
> What!? Why the hell would a properly built rim explode just riding along.
> The 230 ARE light rims but they are plenty durable for most all conditions.
M230s have the thinnest sidewalls for a 23mm width rim (its why they
are an ounce lighter than 231s). A few months of use and the braketacks
crack and the sidewalls fail.
> Either you're full of shit or your frind is pushing 400 lbs.. What the
> hell is a FiR rim? Hope they work for you or your friend so we don't have
> to deal with your BS.
Actually. I'd say you don't know shit about rims. A friend of mine, during
a race, had her M230 rear rim fail, Sidewall ripped away, she weighs
about 110 Ibs. Maybe if that much. Another friend, 2 years ago, had
3 mavic M231 rims fail in two weeks, One of them had a sidewall failure.
Another had 17 eyelets fail simulaneously (riding down a gravel covered
fireroad) - the spokes & nipples pulled the eyelets out of the rim, causing
the spokes to flare and jamming his front wheel. Nice scar tissue he
has from the slide.
FiR is an italian rim manufacturer. Very popular in Europe. Not as
well known in north america except on road bikes. They make some nice
MTB rims though.
The only BS I've seen in the whole M230/M231 rim failures thread is yours.
jim frost
>Maybe if that much. Another friend, 2 years ago, had
>3 mavic M231 rims fail in two weeks, One of them had a sidewall failure.
>Another had 17 eyelets fail simulaneously (riding down a gravel covered
While I agree with you about sidewall failure, particularly in the
230's, it takes a *lot* of force to rip the nipples out. That's not a
common failure of the 231's and I would be inclined to believe that
the spokes were overtensioned and/or inappropriate nipples were used,
particularly since you imply that the rims weren't being stressed all
that hard.
jim frost
ji...@world.std.com
--
http://world.std.com/~jimf