Wheel rim split
Discussion
I have done five miles every morning for fifteen years. I make that 360 x 15= 4900 x 5 = 24,500 miles or the circumference of the Earth!
It is quite hilly and I use the back brake a lot as it is often wet or icy.
Half way round this morning the rear wheel kept locking slightly every rotation. This became more and more severe as I went up the hill. On inspection I discovered that the rim had worn so thin with braking that the tyre had fractured it and pushed it right out so that it was catching the brake block every revolution.
It started with about an inch fracture but by the time I reached the top of the hill it was like the picture and too dangerous to proceed.
Anyone else had this happen to them?
It is quite hilly and I use the back brake a lot as it is often wet or icy.
Half way round this morning the rear wheel kept locking slightly every rotation. This became more and more severe as I went up the hill. On inspection I discovered that the rim had worn so thin with braking that the tyre had fractured it and pushed it right out so that it was catching the brake block every revolution.
It started with about an inch fracture but by the time I reached the top of the hill it was like the picture and too dangerous to proceed.
Anyone else had this happen to them?
Yes, happened to me at about 12k miles. What you need are disc brakes....................
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http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Feel free to join the nonsense!
Yes, on mtbs ,used to loose a pair of rims once a year with V brakes, then disc brakes appeared and the issue disappeared. Best to keep a regular check on rims with calipers for this very reason. My Cube road bike has a line scored in the surface and my RS81 wheels on the Dolan, have a dimple machined in the surface. When either disappear its knackered.
It's the same as wearing out brake disc on a car! It'll happen eventually. I'm impressed it lasted as long as it did. You should really keep an eye on the wear indicators (usually a small groove in the rim or something) though I'm assuming that they were long gone quite some time ago. Probably be an idea to get a new front wheel as well...
Only time I've seen a rim like that close up it was on my wife's Raleigh Pioneer hybrid.
She'd given it a hammering for years, though, and seldom felt motivated to clean the rims or the blocks.
Hers gave up in one particular spot, where it had a slight "throw" in the rim, so had been contacting the rim more in that spot than the rest of the circumference. Thankfully they were very cheap wheels to replace. She was doing around 2,000 miles per year, and had owned the bike for about 6 years, so it took 12,000 miles of neglect and lack of maintenance for her to kill a rear wheel rim.
She'd given it a hammering for years, though, and seldom felt motivated to clean the rims or the blocks.
Hers gave up in one particular spot, where it had a slight "throw" in the rim, so had been contacting the rim more in that spot than the rest of the circumference. Thankfully they were very cheap wheels to replace. She was doing around 2,000 miles per year, and had owned the bike for about 6 years, so it took 12,000 miles of neglect and lack of maintenance for her to kill a rear wheel rim.
Yep, front wheel on my commuter went like that in the summer. 12,000km approx.
It was my own stupid fault, I knew the rim was rally worn but ignored the warning signs - random wobble, braking getting weird.
Fortunately it went boom 200 metres from an overpass when I had been going a significant speed downhill, I had slowed down otherwise it would've been grim.
Lesson learnt!
It was my own stupid fault, I knew the rim was rally worn but ignored the warning signs - random wobble, braking getting weird.
Fortunately it went boom 200 metres from an overpass when I had been going a significant speed downhill, I had slowed down otherwise it would've been grim.
Lesson learnt!
If the wheel is 15 years old and lasted for 24k miles I would be happy with that! Technology, manufacturing techniques etc have moved on quite a bit in the last 15 years so expect it's replacement to be super light, super stiff, ascetically stunning and last for 2.4k miles........
On a serious note, 24k miles on a rim that provides the braking surface in all weathers is not too bad eh?
On a serious note, 24k miles on a rim that provides the braking surface in all weathers is not too bad eh?
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