I know I need a new wheel, but I don't know when.
February 7, 2010 4:30 PM Subscribe
How much longer can I nurse my bike wheel before replacing it?
I was just cleaning the weekly commuting gunk off my bike, and I noticed there are some cracks in my back wheel. There is about a quarter-inch long crack on either side of three spokes on the wheel - they're not contiguous spokes, so there are basically half-inch long, hair-width cracks on three different parts of my back wheel.
I know this will require replacing the wheel; the questions are, is it safe to ride until I do replace it, and how soon should I replace it? The safety side of me says "replace it now before something goes catastrophically wrong", but the I'm-unemployed-as-of-this-coming-Thursday-so-money's-a-pretty-big-issue-right-now side of me doesn't want to spend $150-200 on a wheel this week if I can feasibly avoid doing so for a month or two.
Salient facts: I commute about 12 round trip miles a day (until this week, anyway), the wheel in question is approximately five years old and has about 10,000 miles on it, and this is the first I've noticed these cracks so I'm not sure if they've been there a while and gotten bigger over time. I'm also not capable of building my own wheel, nor particularly wanting to learn to be capable of doing so.
I was just cleaning the weekly commuting gunk off my bike, and I noticed there are some cracks in my back wheel. There is about a quarter-inch long crack on either side of three spokes on the wheel - they're not contiguous spokes, so there are basically half-inch long, hair-width cracks on three different parts of my back wheel.
I know this will require replacing the wheel; the questions are, is it safe to ride until I do replace it, and how soon should I replace it? The safety side of me says "replace it now before something goes catastrophically wrong", but the I'm-unemployed-as-of-this-coming-Thursday-so-money's-a-pretty-big-issue-right-now side of me doesn't want to spend $150-200 on a wheel this week if I can feasibly avoid doing so for a month or two.
Salient facts: I commute about 12 round trip miles a day (until this week, anyway), the wheel in question is approximately five years old and has about 10,000 miles on it, and this is the first I've noticed these cracks so I'm not sure if they've been there a while and gotten bigger over time. I'm also not capable of building my own wheel, nor particularly wanting to learn to be capable of doing so.
These cracks are emanating from the spoke holes in the rim, right?
It's not good, but a rear wheel failing on your bike while you're riding isn't the end of the world. A front wheel failure, however, almost guarantees that you will go over the bars and do a faceplant.
I would just ride the rear wheel until it dies or you have money for a new wheel, whichever comes first. I would not take the same chances with a problematic front wheel.
posted by randomstriker at 4:52 PM on February 7, 2010
It's not good, but a rear wheel failing on your bike while you're riding isn't the end of the world. A front wheel failure, however, almost guarantees that you will go over the bars and do a faceplant.
I would just ride the rear wheel until it dies or you have money for a new wheel, whichever comes first. I would not take the same chances with a problematic front wheel.
posted by randomstriker at 4:52 PM on February 7, 2010
Oh and a great way to prolong the life of the wheel is to get a pro mechanic to retrue / retension it. But a wheel as old as yours might have corroded spoke nipples, or might spontaneously fail on any attempt to retrue / retension. It's usually better to do it as preventative maintenance than repair.
posted by randomstriker at 4:57 PM on February 7, 2010
posted by randomstriker at 4:57 PM on February 7, 2010
Ride it gingerly, too!
You appear to be in Portland OR. If so, lucky you; you live in one of the most bike-friendly places in the country. Your local Community Cycling Center is now hosting Salvage Sundays, where "community members in need of bicycle parts or frames have the opportunity to sort through materials we are unable to utilize." It would seem to be the perfect place to perhaps get that wheel, or at least get an informed opinion in person.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 4:57 PM on February 7, 2010
You appear to be in Portland OR. If so, lucky you; you live in one of the most bike-friendly places in the country. Your local Community Cycling Center is now hosting Salvage Sundays, where "community members in need of bicycle parts or frames have the opportunity to sort through materials we are unable to utilize." It would seem to be the perfect place to perhaps get that wheel, or at least get an informed opinion in person.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 4:57 PM on February 7, 2010
You don't need a new wheel, you just need a new rim and a relace/respoke. A Mavic CXP33, which is pretty bulletproof, is about $70, plus maybe what, $25 for the build? Maybe $125 max.
posted by rhizome at 4:59 PM on February 7, 2010
posted by rhizome at 4:59 PM on February 7, 2010
Response by poster: Randomstriker - they are emanating from the spoke holes, yes. And good to know about riding until it dies.
RikiTikiTavi - I am indeed in Portland, and I love the CCC. The problem with that approach here, though, is it presupposes willingness to do the work myself, and I don't trust myself. I can/will do minor bike maintenance myself, but something like building a wheel is well beyond my feeble abilities.
rhizome - good to know about the Mavic. I like the "bulletproof" angle.
posted by pdb at 5:28 PM on February 7, 2010
RikiTikiTavi - I am indeed in Portland, and I love the CCC. The problem with that approach here, though, is it presupposes willingness to do the work myself, and I don't trust myself. I can/will do minor bike maintenance myself, but something like building a wheel is well beyond my feeble abilities.
rhizome - good to know about the Mavic. I like the "bulletproof" angle.
posted by pdb at 5:28 PM on February 7, 2010
The chances that you found these cracks on the same day they formed are pretty slim. Ride it one more time, and check the cracks. If they look the same, ride it ten more times and check the cracks. This will give you an idea of how fast they're growing, and therefore how urgently you need to get the rim replaced.
Meanwhile, avoid jumping kerbs.
If you want to have a go at slowing down the rim's deterioration, drill a 3/16" hole about 1/8" past the visible end of each crack; then put a tapered punch into the drill hole and give it a good whack to smooth and pre-stress the hole's edge. Once the crack tip propagates all the way into the stop hole, the hole's larger radius should be enough to stop it going further for a while.
I haven't tried that technique on bicycle rims, but it works for a fair while on crash cymbals.
posted by flabdablet at 5:38 PM on February 7, 2010
Meanwhile, avoid jumping kerbs.
If you want to have a go at slowing down the rim's deterioration, drill a 3/16" hole about 1/8" past the visible end of each crack; then put a tapered punch into the drill hole and give it a good whack to smooth and pre-stress the hole's edge. Once the crack tip propagates all the way into the stop hole, the hole's larger radius should be enough to stop it going further for a while.
I haven't tried that technique on bicycle rims, but it works for a fair while on crash cymbals.
posted by flabdablet at 5:38 PM on February 7, 2010
Your wheel is close to death. If the hub is a really good one, get a new rim. But I'll bet it will be more cost effective to just find a new or new-to-you wheel.
When it fails, do you have to walk far? How much will it suck to be without a bike while you get a new wheel? If at all possible, take care of it now.
posted by cccorlew at 5:42 PM on February 7, 2010
When it fails, do you have to walk far? How much will it suck to be without a bike while you get a new wheel? If at all possible, take care of it now.
posted by cccorlew at 5:42 PM on February 7, 2010
I never cleaned the gunk off, so I never saw the cracks before the metal broke. First thing I noticed was when a spoke came out, and when I went to put it back in, there was a chunk of metal missing from the rim around the spoke hole. If that's the worst case scenario, it's not a bad one.
The bike will work with a spoke disconnected at one end, though the wheel will start to deform, and you'd want to be careful, but I'd suggest you could continue to ride carefully while you save for a new wheel.
If a domino effect causes all three spokes break out in quick succession, things might be hairier, but if you're not going too fast, I expect you just stop the bike as soon as you notice something's not right in back.
posted by -harlequin- at 5:43 PM on February 7, 2010
The bike will work with a spoke disconnected at one end, though the wheel will start to deform, and you'd want to be careful, but I'd suggest you could continue to ride carefully while you save for a new wheel.
If a domino effect causes all three spokes break out in quick succession, things might be hairier, but if you're not going too fast, I expect you just stop the bike as soon as you notice something's not right in back.
posted by -harlequin- at 5:43 PM on February 7, 2010
Cracks in Al wheels are bad but not really dangerous. They generally take months to form, so the chances of sudden failure are pretty low - Al is quite ductile and will just allow the spokes to slowly pull through. Think of what happens when a spoke (or three) breaks - a bit of a ping noise and your wheel is suddenly a little uneven, maybe rubbing on the brakes. Nothing dangerous.
Given that there are cracks in some parts and not others, my bet is that the spokes with cracks around their nipples will basically have no tension on them (unless you've been continuously retensioning/retruing your wheel), in which case the cracks probably aren't growing and there's no chance of those particular spokes failing or pulling through.
Quit worrying. It'll go for months or years yet and a complete replacement should be $125ish from new parts. Or you could buy a secondhand wheel for peanuts.
I recently had a wheel rebuild and the mechanic pointed out that I have 1/4" cracks around practically every spoke nipple. He said to expect the wheel to last a few thousand km more - that was 1500km ago and the wheel looks just the same. FWIW I'm pretty heavy too.
If it's a CF wheel, different story. Probably replace it right now.
posted by polyglot at 6:44 PM on February 7, 2010
Given that there are cracks in some parts and not others, my bet is that the spokes with cracks around their nipples will basically have no tension on them (unless you've been continuously retensioning/retruing your wheel), in which case the cracks probably aren't growing and there's no chance of those particular spokes failing or pulling through.
Quit worrying. It'll go for months or years yet and a complete replacement should be $125ish from new parts. Or you could buy a secondhand wheel for peanuts.
I recently had a wheel rebuild and the mechanic pointed out that I have 1/4" cracks around practically every spoke nipple. He said to expect the wheel to last a few thousand km more - that was 1500km ago and the wheel looks just the same. FWIW I'm pretty heavy too.
If it's a CF wheel, different story. Probably replace it right now.
posted by polyglot at 6:44 PM on February 7, 2010
Retensioning your spokes may help alleviate symptoms of cracking, too.
If you are looking at new rims, the Velocity Deep V rims are nigh invincible. They're heavier, but it's worth it. I hit a curb at about 25mph and the frame bent in horrible ways. The front wheel had a slight dent in the braking surface but remained true. The wheel held up to 8 months of Portland potholes before that and never required any maintenance.
posted by tmt at 7:46 PM on February 7, 2010
If you are looking at new rims, the Velocity Deep V rims are nigh invincible. They're heavier, but it's worth it. I hit a curb at about 25mph and the frame bent in horrible ways. The front wheel had a slight dent in the braking surface but remained true. The wheel held up to 8 months of Portland potholes before that and never required any maintenance.
posted by tmt at 7:46 PM on February 7, 2010
Just replace the wheel. Better to do it now, then in a few weeks when money is even more tight. This is not an expensive fix. A used bike wheel and all should only be about 10 bucks if you salvage it off of some old free spirit.
I notice you hesitate to work on your own bike, but if you are soon to be unemployed in Portland, I would suggest learning. It is pretty easy to build your own wheel and then ask a friend to help you true it.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 1:54 AM on February 8, 2010
I notice you hesitate to work on your own bike, but if you are soon to be unemployed in Portland, I would suggest learning. It is pretty easy to build your own wheel and then ask a friend to help you true it.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 1:54 AM on February 8, 2010
Personally I'd want to replace the rim as soon as possible, but then I'm ultra-cautious.
So the cracks are running across the rim from the spoke-holes? The rim is under tension so which should keep everything together, but if you whack a curb or a pothole on a cracked section then you could be in a lot of trouble.
Not sure about your figure of $200 for a new wheel; assuming you can salvage the cassette you could probably get a cheap and cheerful set of new wheels for that money.
If you just want to replace the cracked wheel, if you buy a rim that's the same model as the one you've got now any competent wheel-builder should be able to do you a rebuild using the existing hub and spokes (assuming reasonable condition). Bike shops probably aren't going to be too enthusiastic about this since there's not much of a margin in it, but if you can find the number of an indy wheel-builder then they'll be more likely to give it a go if you explain your situation.
Even if you have to replace the spokes they aren't too expensive, I'd recommend ACI Alpina double butted spokes as a durable replacement. Converting from UK prices they're about $0.40 each, so $9.00 for a 36-hole wheel.
posted by SyntacticSugar at 3:29 AM on February 8, 2010
So the cracks are running across the rim from the spoke-holes? The rim is under tension so which should keep everything together, but if you whack a curb or a pothole on a cracked section then you could be in a lot of trouble.
Not sure about your figure of $200 for a new wheel; assuming you can salvage the cassette you could probably get a cheap and cheerful set of new wheels for that money.
If you just want to replace the cracked wheel, if you buy a rim that's the same model as the one you've got now any competent wheel-builder should be able to do you a rebuild using the existing hub and spokes (assuming reasonable condition). Bike shops probably aren't going to be too enthusiastic about this since there's not much of a margin in it, but if you can find the number of an indy wheel-builder then they'll be more likely to give it a go if you explain your situation.
Even if you have to replace the spokes they aren't too expensive, I'd recommend ACI Alpina double butted spokes as a durable replacement. Converting from UK prices they're about $0.40 each, so $9.00 for a 36-hole wheel.
posted by SyntacticSugar at 3:29 AM on February 8, 2010
Sorry, $14.40 for the replacement spokes. Forgot to convert from GBP.
posted by SyntacticSugar at 3:30 AM on February 8, 2010
posted by SyntacticSugar at 3:30 AM on February 8, 2010
Even buying a new wheel should not set you back $150, unless you're getting something fancy. And of course you can relace the hub to a new rim.
The thing about wheels is that they can fail catastrophically. I've seen one front wheel that more or less exploded—the rim came apart into three pieces—and the rider lost a lot of skin. I don't know what condition the rim was in before that happened, and I do know that it was using a mix of normal elbow spokes and "s-hook" spokes that just looked sketchy. I've ridden (briefly) on a bike where the rear wheel had three broken spokes. Who knows when that would have taco'd?
posted by adamrice at 7:47 AM on February 8, 2010
The thing about wheels is that they can fail catastrophically. I've seen one front wheel that more or less exploded—the rim came apart into three pieces—and the rider lost a lot of skin. I don't know what condition the rim was in before that happened, and I do know that it was using a mix of normal elbow spokes and "s-hook" spokes that just looked sketchy. I've ridden (briefly) on a bike where the rear wheel had three broken spokes. Who knows when that would have taco'd?
posted by adamrice at 7:47 AM on February 8, 2010
I wouldn't mess around with this too much. I ride in traffic a lot, and if a wheel, even my rear wheel, failed catastrophically, it could throw me under a bus. Unless your hub is fantastic, pick up a secondhand wheel, off of either a thrift store bike, bike co-op, or CL, depending on price and quality.
posted by craven_morhead at 8:25 AM on February 8, 2010
posted by craven_morhead at 8:25 AM on February 8, 2010
I would replace it pretty quickly, within a few weeks. Usually, if an aluminum anything cracks, the standard advice is it's finished. Three half-inch long cracks? On the scale of a wheel, that's pretty significant.
Still, you can probably get a few weeks out of it, but you are taking a risk.
I recommend getting a lightly-used wheel off of eBay, if you're looking to save money.
posted by luckypozzo at 8:28 AM on February 8, 2010
Still, you can probably get a few weeks out of it, but you are taking a risk.
I recommend getting a lightly-used wheel off of eBay, if you're looking to save money.
posted by luckypozzo at 8:28 AM on February 8, 2010
...if an aluminum anything cracks, the standard advice is it's finished...
...I ride in traffic a lot, and if a wheel, even my rear wheel, failed catastrophically, it could throw me under a bus...
...The thing about wheels is that they can fail catastrophically. I've seen one front wheel that more or less exploded...
Oh my gods, this level of paranoia is suffocating and indicative of how recreational American cyclists have been thoroughly taken in by industry salesmen. Got a ding, nick, scratch or crack in your aluminium part? Replace it now with this shiny new part for $199.95 otherwise your life is in danger!!!!!
Have you seen all the beater bikes being ridden in Amsterdam, Nairobi, Delhi, Beijing or Manila? Have you seen how many of them have wheels badly out of true, cracked frames and rims, and enough rust to give you tetanus just by looking at it? Do you know what the poor owners of these bikes do? They carry on riding, just a little more slowly and without cutting across 3 lanes of downtown traffic!
Look, here's what'll happen: ride it and most likely it'll be fine for a while. It's probably been a year or two since the cracks formed, anyway. If a spoke pulls through while you're riding, the wheel will just go a little bit out of true -- resulting in a very slight rear wobble and perhaps some brake rub. If more spokes break, then it's just a bit more wobble brake rub. You're not gonna taco the rim. You're not gonna fall over. You're not gonna die.
Like I already said, just ride the damn thing until it dies or until you have money to be excessively cautious again.
posted by randomstriker at 1:18 AM on February 9, 2010
...I ride in traffic a lot, and if a wheel, even my rear wheel, failed catastrophically, it could throw me under a bus...
...The thing about wheels is that they can fail catastrophically. I've seen one front wheel that more or less exploded...
Oh my gods, this level of paranoia is suffocating and indicative of how recreational American cyclists have been thoroughly taken in by industry salesmen. Got a ding, nick, scratch or crack in your aluminium part? Replace it now with this shiny new part for $199.95 otherwise your life is in danger!!!!!
Have you seen all the beater bikes being ridden in Amsterdam, Nairobi, Delhi, Beijing or Manila? Have you seen how many of them have wheels badly out of true, cracked frames and rims, and enough rust to give you tetanus just by looking at it? Do you know what the poor owners of these bikes do? They carry on riding, just a little more slowly and without cutting across 3 lanes of downtown traffic!
Look, here's what'll happen: ride it and most likely it'll be fine for a while. It's probably been a year or two since the cracks formed, anyway. If a spoke pulls through while you're riding, the wheel will just go a little bit out of true -- resulting in a very slight rear wobble and perhaps some brake rub. If more spokes break, then it's just a bit more wobble brake rub. You're not gonna taco the rim. You're not gonna fall over. You're not gonna die.
Like I already said, just ride the damn thing until it dies or until you have money to be excessively cautious again.
posted by randomstriker at 1:18 AM on February 9, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jjb at 4:48 PM on February 7, 2010