Crack in wheel rim

jethrothe2nd

I left my bike in for a service this week and I asked them to true the rear wheel which had a small buckle in it. I picked it up on Friday and was cleaning it today when I noticed a crack on the rim, about 1 cm on one side of a spoke nipple and a half cm on the other side. Now I can't swear it wasn't there before I left it in but I ride and clean my bike very regularly and I am pretty damn sure I would have noticed it. I would also be surprised if it wasn't spotted whilst it was being trued.

I'm guessing that's the end of the wheel (sorry, haven't figured out how to attach a pic yet), but is it worth bringing it back to the shop to have a chat with them about it or am I likely to be wasting my time?

Alek

They may have overtighten spokes while truing, causing the rim to crack.

If you're around Dublin and willing to pop over to D8 I could measure the spoke tension for you so you know where to stand when talking to the shop

jethrothe2nd

Alek wrote:

If you're around Dublin and willing to pop over to D8 I could measure the spoke tension for you so you know where to stand when talking to the shop

That is a very kind offer and mightily appreciated. Unfortunately I won't be able to get into Dublin today. I'm guessing there is a specific tool and skill needed to check that that I couldn't do it myself?

jethrothe2nd

bedlam wrote:

It might be the seam on the rim. Does it look like

No it's not on the side, it's splitting the nipple if you know what I mean. I'll try get a picture up

Alek

Spoke tension meter is needed to check this... If it suits, we can meet any weekday evening after 6pm.

iwillhtfu

I'm not trying to absolve the shop but I assume you were cleaning the bike after a spin.

It's possible the rim was on it's last legs and coincidence it failed on your spin and left the shop intact. How old are the wheels?

jethrothe2nd

Alek wrote:

Spoke tension meter is needed to check this... If it suits, we can meet any weekday evening after 6pm.

Thanks so much. Chances are it will be later in the week but I'll drop you a PM when I know..

jethrothe2nd

iwillhtfu wrote:

I'm not trying to absolve the shop but I assume you were cleaning the bike after a spin.

iwillhtfu wrote:

It's possible the rim was on it's last legs and coincidence it failed on your spin and left the shop intact. How old are the wheels?

There are just over 7000km on the wheels which are stock Bontrager that came on the bike. No I haven't ridden the bike since I picked it up on Friday aside from a 10 second spin around the car park when I picked it up. I usually clean it once a week (or straight away after a wet spin) which is what I was doing this morning.

iwillhtfu

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

There are just over 7000km on the wheels which are stock Bontrager that came on the bike. No I haven't ridden the bike since I picked it up on Friday aside from a 10 second spin around the car park when I picked it up. I usually clean it once a week (or straight away after a wet spin) which is what I was doing this morning.

7000km on a rim they were on their way out anyway but presumably the shop put to much tension on one spoke trying to remove the buckle instead of loosening of other and then trueing correctly. It should have been spotted in the store but that's not to say it was visible then, the rim could have failed at anytime.

Eamonnator

I would expect to get a lot more than 7,000kms out of a rim, a lot more!!!

ford2600

Eamonnator wrote: »

I would expect to get a lot more than 7,000kms out of a rim, a lot more!!!

Depends on rim, rider and use?

I never got near 7k km with a stock Bontager, or any stock wheel for that matter; most are somewhere between OK and junk ime.

Imo lbs would be better of refusing to touch most low spoke count budget wheels. If wheel is out of true, there could be a lot of reasons. To investigate and fix properly (including looking up rim spec, max tension, spoke material, spoke diameters,) before checking spoke tensions is going to take time most guys won't want to pay for.

If the wheelbuilder is really top notch (they are super scarce here) he might do most of the above by feel.

Either way the true cost of either option probably wouldn't be justified for 7k km stock wheels

07Lapierre

It's quite possible that the rim was cracked for some time. Maybe the cracked rim caused the buckle in the first place?

Was the wheel dirty when you left the bike in for its service? ( I'm guessing it was as it was while cleaning the wheel that you noticed the crack)

Borderfox

I had a Zonda crack in a similar place after hitting a pothole and didnt notice it for a week

jethrothe2nd

It wasn't overly filthy. I cleaned it before I did the Great Dublin Bike Ride which was a largely dry cycle and left it in for a service the Wednesday after without cycling in between. I am pretty confident I would have noticed the crack when cleaning it before the spin, and I would be surprised if a bike mechanic would not notice it when working on the wheel.

Just for the record, I'm not trying to get something for nothing here, or out for blood with the bike shop, but taking everything into account I have a high level of confidence it wasn't there when I left it in (although I can't swear it) and it was there when I picked it up.