Wolber Rim Failure

[sms]

I borrowed someone's freewheel removal tool to remove a threaded on
freewheel from a wheel with a cracked rim. I thought I had the proper
tool but I could not find it.

I said that I thought it had been improperly trued which caused the
crack around one of the spoke holes. He looked at the label on the rim,
Wolber with Wheelsmith spokes, and said that these rims had a design
problem and because of the single eyelets that they often cracked at the
spoke holes and that it had not been an over-tightened spoke that caused
the crack. He had owned a bicycle shop in the past and worked for one of
the larger bicycle manufacturers in the U.S. (well technically an
importer now since they don't actually build anything). I think that
they are the Wolber GTX rim.

I did a Usenet search, and sure enough, a lot of people were having
those rims fail and getting them replaced for free
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.bicycles.tech/klhEg8HDmWM/ah1sbgbCcjgJ>.
They were probably harder on their equipment than me so they were lucky
enough to have a failure within the warranty period. My wheel lasted
longer so it's out of warranty now. I already ordered a new wheel so it
probably doesn't matter anymore, but shouldn't the manufacturer replace
the wheel for free? The broken wheel is only about 25 years old.

I can't go back to the dealer that sold me the bicycle as they are long
gone, but it seems like the manufacturer should have done some sort of
recall when this problem was first discovered. This was not a terribly
cheap bicycle; at the time I purchased it it was a mid-range model.

I was down at the manufacturer's headquarters (the bicycle manufacturer
not the wheel manufacturer) a few months ago for a meeting and if had
cracked just a little sooner they probably would have found me a
replacement for free. Very nice people.

BTW, I am just kidding, I don't expect a free wheel replacement after 25
years.

[current...@veloemail.com]

You didn't give the model of the rim however anodized rims fail at a much higher rate than non anodized ones. You can see the ones I photographed in the flicker group https://www.flickr.com/groups/bicyclefailures/ several bicycle shops have stated on their websites they will not sell Mavic rims because of the high failure rates.

[Joerg]

Maybe they were better in the old days? The Mavic rims on my 1980's road
bike are still good and that probably has 50k miles on it, including
some offroad travel (mountain bikes didn't exist in Europe back then).

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

[avag...@gmail.com]

http://t.dell13.us.msn.com/?pc=MDDCJS&ocid=DELLDHP

running Mavic into the ground is a cyclical internet phenomena

[sms]

On 8/15/2014 6:46 PM, current...@veloemail.com wrote:
> You didn't give the model of the rim however anodized rims fail at a much higher rate than non anodized ones. You can see the ones I photographed in the flicker group https://www.flickr.com/groups/bicyclefailures/ several bicycle shops have stated on their websites they will not sell Mavic rims because of the high failure rates.

There are no identifying regarding the model on the rim.

I have read that Mavic rims should be avoided at all costs.

[avag...@gmail.com]

RIDERS USING Mavic RIMS are stricken with incurable athletes foot

[James]

My front wheel has a Mavic Open Pro Ceramic rim. The hub has been
replaced, and is now a SP PV-8 dynamo hub, laced radial with 32 DT
Revolution spokes.

The rim has been in use for (as far as I can remember) about 15 years.

That means 150,000km so far.

Here it is, on my bike, where I was riding on Saturday. A 5km stretch
of dirt road with some short steep hills of 15-18%. 155km for the morning.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/14948765991/

--
JS

[avag...@gmail.com]

well then James can you offer a word or two on why Mavic is run into the ground ?

I see this but use double wall CR-18 Sunrims, never light rims so what do I know ?

[avag...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, August 17, 2014 7:08:10 PM UTC-4, avag...@gmail.com wrote:
> well then James can you offer a word or two on why Mavic is run into the ground ?
>
>
>
> I see this but use double wall CR-18 Sunrims, never light rims so what do I know ?

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

http://goo.gl/elSQBl