water ingress into wheels

[Rob_T]

ideas welcome please…

i go for a ride. currently it's very mucky.
when i've finished i wash the bike with soap and a hose (not high pressure).

invariably, and for some reason, i manage to get 'some' water into the wheels when i'm washing the soap off.

i can hear the water sloshing around. what is the best / simplest way to get the water out, or will it work its way out with a bit of tangential / centrifugal forces through the natural spinning of the wheels when you ride?

has anyone else had this problem? it's not a lot of water, but enough to make an unpleasant sloshing sound. if i were to leave the water in there for a week if i didn't use the bike would it be unwise?

any hints or tips welcome!

[anonymous-user]

The wheels are likely to be aluminium alloy so leaving them with water in the rim for a week or so, whilst not ideal, isnt too bad but the nipples will most likely be steel so thats the weak point. You shouldnt be getting that much in the wheel though, i'd check how well the tyre is sitting on the rim. Check the valve is well seated and possibly but a bit of silicone sealant around it. Also, its a long shot, but check the weld in the rim isnt cracking?...

[gazza285]

pablo said:

The nipples will most likely be steel

More likely to be brass.

[Rolls]

are there not drain holes? - leave them at the bottom, and the water will drain out - thats all I do!

[Justin S]

If you are using presta valves in schraeder holes, get some adaptors to fit in the holes to make them smaller, will stop the water getting in.

[Rob_T]

there are holes on the road bike (cosmic carbone sl) which i have noticed. these are aero wheels.

on the mtb they are crossmax slr's and that is where is seem to have the more surprising ingress. sorry i should have made it clear at the beginning.

useful info and replies though, especially concerning cracking rim weld. that sounds proper tasty….

thanks.

[croftsj]

I get this through the winter, after washing the bike I usually just leave the bike in a stand with the valves at 6 o'clock so any water will drain out, it won't get rid of it all but with the amount of punctures I get I'm taking the tyre off the rim once a week at the moment anyway.