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Mavic ksyrium ssc sl wheel failures

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mike boersma

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Jun 10, 2006, 6:04:01 PM6/10/06
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I just had a rim failure on my mavic ksyrium ssc sl rear wheel on the
drive side. When I brought the wheel to my dealer, he showed me several
other mavic wheels with similar failures (right at the spoke nipple, on
a spoke from the drive side of the wheel) awaiting shipment to mavic..
He also informed me that mavic is now blaming such failures on the
rider (and not mavic) so that mavic will not perform warrantee service
at their own cost and will instead bill the rider (me) around $200 for
repairs. The dealers estimate was that there is, in his experience,
about a 3%-6% failure rate on ksyrium wheels.

My wheels had less than 2k miles on them. They are road wheels -- I do
not bmx with them.

Can anyone confirm what my dealer is saying? How wide spread is this
problem? It seems fishy that a $750 wheelset with under 2k miles is
failing and that the cost will add an additional $200 to the price.

Mike Boersma

Phil, Squid-in-Training

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Jun 10, 2006, 7:18:17 PM6/10/06
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Sorni, pass the popcorn! ;)

With the post a couple of days ago concerning the explosive failure of a
pair of CXP33s, it seems that Mavic is doing very poorly in quality control,
and possibly initial design, if their rims are failing at this kind of rate
that your dealer has been claiming to see.

--
Phil


Sorni

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Jun 10, 2006, 8:14:40 PM6/10/06
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All I know is my Crossmax XLs (rear hub especially) blow goats.

Bill "and no, that was not a shot at Fogel" S.


jobst....@stanfordalumni.org

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Jun 10, 2006, 9:13:43 PM6/10/06
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Mike Boersma writes:

> I just had a rim failure on my Mavic ksyrium ssc sl rear wheel on


> the drive side. When I brought the wheel to my dealer, he showed me

> several other Mavic wheels with similar failures (right at the spoke


> nipple, on a spoke from the drive side of the wheel) awaiting

> shipment to Mavic.. He also informed me that Mavic is now blaming
> such failures on the rider (and not Mavic) so that Mavic will not


> perform warrantee service at their own cost and will instead bill
> the rider (me) around $200 for repairs. The dealers estimate was
> that there is, in his experience, about a 3%-6% failure rate on
> ksyrium wheels.

> My wheels had less than 2k miles on them. They are road wheels -- I

> do not BMX with them.

> Can anyone confirm what my dealer is saying? How wide spread is this
> problem? It seems fishy that a $750 wheelset with under 2k miles is
> failing and that the cost will add an additional $200 to the price.

I've been carping about Mavic's poor rims since they gave up their
best all time rim the MA-2 that had spoke sockets and eyelets. All
these new rims have no sockets so the whole spoke load is supported by
a small area of the inner rim wall.

So what else is new!

Jobst Brandt

Jay Beattie

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Jun 10, 2006, 10:16:07 PM6/10/06
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Read the warranty information carefully. Most states also have
consumer warranty acts that make manufacturers liable if the product is
not "merchantable" meaning that it is not reasonably good. The LBS may
also have warranty obligations (which are usually waived on the
invoice, but you can look). I would blow a gasket if someone told me
that Mavic was not going to warranty a wheel that failed miserably
after only 2K. And why on earth should it cost $200 to repair the
Ksyriums? This is why I use only conventional wheels (mostly
Aeroheads, Open Pros and some old MA2s). -- Jay Beattie.

Jay Beattie

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Jun 10, 2006, 10:16:14 PM6/10/06
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Read the warranty information carefully. Most states also have

Chris

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Jun 10, 2006, 10:56:29 PM6/10/06
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Depending how fast you put the 2k miles and paid by credit card, then call
your credit card company, refuse the charge and the dealer may get more
searious about solving the problem with Mavic rather than makin git his
customers problem and keeping his vendor/rep happy.


"mike boersma" <mike.b...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1149977040.9...@m38g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

carl...@comcast.net

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Jun 10, 2006, 11:20:35 PM6/10/06
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On 10 Jun 2006 15:04:01 -0700, "mike boersma" <mike.b...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Dear Mike,

What exactly are these failures?

Rear rims cracking at drive-side spoke holes?

Any pictures of this dealer's pile of bad wheels?

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Sorni

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Jun 11, 2006, 1:05:44 AM6/11/06
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Chris wrote:

> Depending how fast you put the 2k miles and paid by credit card, then
> call your credit card company, refuse the charge and the dealer may
> get more searious about solving the problem with Mavic rather than
> makin git his customers problem and keeping his vendor/rep happy.

Just how fast do you think the OP is? :-D


M-gineering

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Jun 11, 2006, 2:32:58 AM6/11/06
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>> The dealers estimate was that there is, in his experience,
>> about a 3%-6% failure rate on ksyrium wheels.


My experience is 50% (rear wheel no end of trouble, front wheel sorta
survives)


--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

carl...@comcast.net

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Jun 11, 2006, 3:00:21 AM6/11/06
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On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 08:32:58 +0200, M-gineering
<ikmotg...@m-gineering.nl> wrote:

> >> The dealers estimate was that there is, in his experience,
>>> about a 3%-6% failure rate on ksyrium wheels.
>
>
>My experience is 50% (rear wheel no end of trouble, front wheel sorta
>survives)

Dear Marten,

How do your wheels fail?

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

M-gineering

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Jun 11, 2006, 3:16:36 AM6/11/06
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freewheel running rough
bearings rusting out
spokes jumping out the flange
spoke breakage at the nipple
rim cracking over the threads

Qui si parla Campagnolo

unread,
Jun 11, 2006, 8:42:57 AM6/11/06
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We see 'eyelets' pulled out and lots of broken spokes...along with the
obligatory rear hub OVH for dragy-ness and front hub OVH for noise.
Mavic takes a look at each and frequently will not warranty some of
them. Poor design, used by riders who should not use them and many
riders who 'should' be in the envelope for these things. Just yesterday
I replaced a spoke on a rear with 700 miles on it...he had heard they
were 'bomb proof'(where does that come from??

I think it comes from bike outta box sellers, and bike makers that get
sweet OEM deals and so lots of Bikes have them, even tho they are
crappola in my experience.

Derk

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Jun 11, 2006, 11:17:03 AM6/11/06
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mike boersma wrote:


> Can anyone confirm what my dealer is saying? How wide spread is this
> problem? It seems fishy that a $750 wheelset with under 2k miles is
> failing and that the cost will add an additional $200 to the price.

I had it a cracked rim on a SSC-SL wheelset and I traded in all 4 Ksyrium
SSC-SL wheelsets I had. I now hear lots of stories here about spoke nipples
that come loose. Mavic glues them hwen they're returned, I understand.

I don't want any other Mavic (or other factory) wheelset any more.

Gr, Derk


Richard B

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Jun 13, 2006, 1:37:47 AM6/13/06
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"Jay Beattie" <jbea...@lindsayhart.com> wrote in
news:1149992173.9...@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com:

>
> mike boersma wrote:

Snip

He also informed me that mavic is now blaming
>> such failures on the rider (and not mavic) so that mavic will not
>> perform warrantee service at their own cost and will instead bill the
>> rider (me) around $200 for repairs.

Snip

>> Can anyone confirm what my dealer is saying? How wide spread is this
>> problem? It seems fishy that a $750 wheelset with under 2k miles is
>> failing and that the cost will add an additional $200 to the price.
>
> Read the warranty information carefully. Most states also have
> consumer warranty acts that make manufacturers liable if the product
> is not "merchantable" meaning that it is not reasonably good. The LBS
> may also have warranty obligations (which are usually waived on the
> invoice, but you can look).

Snip


Look for a website that gives you access to the UCC (Uniform Commercial
Code) for your state. Those engaging in business must comply with the
local UCC for the state in which the business is being conducted. You
might also find that a business may not waive a warranty in your
particular state no matter what the receipt says on the back.

Rich

mike boersma

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Jun 14, 2006, 2:18:43 PM6/14/06
to
Thanks

I am an attorney and am aware of UCC article 2. Michigan also has
consumer protection laws for false advertising, etc.

I would rather not have to sue to enforce the warranty, but will if I
have to.

Mike Boersma

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