Brocephus

I have a set of DT Swiss TK 7.1 (32 hole) rims, laced up with DT's to 105 hubs, and I've been noticing these hairline cracks at the eyelets. It's on every eyelet on the drive side of the rear wheel. The front wheel has it too, but the cracking isn't nearly as extensive , but it's on almost every hole, not just on the drive side.
To answer possible questions: I've been riding them almost exactly a year now (minus the winter, and some rides on another bike), while weighing between 190 and 200 lbs. My bike computer is showing about 3500 miles. My racing/serious training days are well behind me, so I don't do any sprinting at all these days, just steady paced exercise riding on hilly but very good, rural roads. The tires are some big, fluffy 700x32 Continentals, running about 75-80 psi, so I'd say the wheelset has got it about as easy as it gets.
I'm getting the impression the cracks are in what appears to be a thick clear coat finish, but I don't feel them at all when dragging a fingernail over them, so I'm concerned they may be underneath in the rim itself, or the surface anodising, but I really have no clue, and would appreciate any info, or even good guesses.
Thanks..........

familyguy

Irrespective, the surface finish generally wouldn't crack like that unless the tension is too high and it's being flexed. I'd say the rims are toast and it's a matter of time before the eyelets pull out and they fail.

cyccommute 

Just to show that I’m not always a pedantic ass-hat, I agree with familyguy. Cracks around eyelets aren’t a good sign. It may be only cracks in a coating at this point but the cracks come from stressed metal.

GamblerGORD53

Oh look .... another crap eyelet rim.....

trailangel

I don't think it's a crap eyelet rim. Supposed to be 560g rim.. used for MTB and Touring.
My question is who built the wheels? Or did you buy them built, and did you check the tension when you acquired the wheelset?

nomadmax 

I'd be done riding those.

GamblerGORD53

My Dyad rims are only 480g I think. The front one has 25,000 miles with a SA dyno drum, with locking nipples and 2.3/ 2.0 WH spokes. I way over tightened them at first, then backed off the tension. The bike and me is 243 lbs on a light day and 300 on tour. ZERO problems and looks like new.
The back wheel has a Rohloff with 16,000 miles too.
Blaming tensioning for all these many FAILURES is laughable. Eyelets do NOTHING but cause trouble with a POOR design and corrosion between dissimilar metals.

shelbyfv

You may be on to something. Have you informed Mavic and DT Swiss? They need to know!

Brocephus

I bought the wheels from a wheel building operation I've purchased from several times, and I like the operation and don't want to toss them under the bus by naming them. I'm still hoping they're gonna at least work with me here somehow, because I bought these specifically because (besides being economical) they are touted as being a very robust training-grade wheel, that obviously should last more than a year, especially for the mild riding I do.
I have 2 mtn sets from these guys, that have been stellar, right out of the box. But these have had some anomalies, since day one.
When I first received them, I noticed the front wheel didn't have DT spokes, which concerned me because they were a major selling point (I'd been through issues with generic OEM wheels and spokes).
Then I noticed the rear wheel wasn't acceptable true (not like the other 2 sets I got from them, which were straight as an arrow, and still are, and never made a sound out of the box).
Also, the wheels creaked and pinged considerably when under a rider's weight, which is NOT a sign of a well built, re-tensioned wheel, which is supposedly their whole business model.
While messaging with them, I mentioned having a suspicion that they didn't actually build these, but bought a lot of them from someone else, which I still suspect.
Anyway, when I messaged the company last year, they were outstanding, sending me a new rear wheel, and a shipping label for the old one. But, the new wheel also creaked and pinged considerably, right out of the box ( a big reason I suspected they didn't actually build these.) But I wasn't bent out of shape about that, as long as they held up ok.
Then, in the last few months, I noticed these hairline cracks when cleaning the bike, but didn't become really concerned till recently, when they became more pronounced.
BTW, I looked at the front wheel in the morning sun today, and all but one of the eyelets have these cracks around them, just not as extensively as the rear wheel.
So that's the story....to this point.

jimc101

Guess it was a DT Rim, have had them fail before like that, surprised that is has happened on a 7.1, as these are heavy duty rims, I have 4 on 2 bikes and no issues with them so far, although mine are all black where yours are cracked, so harder to see any issues. (and I have just been and checked them )

Eric S.

The rims may be toast, but I have an old set of Mavic Classics SSC wheels and one rear eyelet has cracks. I noticed it 5 or 6 years ago and it hasn't gotten any worse.

GamblerGORD53

Well looking at the pics, they sure don't look pretty to me. Looks like a sewer drain. Maybe he is a puddle mudder, while I avoid it like the plague. There is dirt in the gap and a scum ring around the nipple. That gap IS bigger than around my holes. Salt will get in easier for sure. Plus on the outside of the eyelet at 7 o'clock, it looks like corrosion to me.
I purposely got black coating. Bare Alu soon looks like crap and will NOT last as long.

Why so many get mesmerized by this fad is beyond me. They can reduce weight with no penalty?? LOL

ThermionicScott 

85+ years is a pretty good run for a "fad." Why do you get so emotional about this?

GamblerGORD53

Why?? The guys at my IGH LBS derided Dyads. Called them cheap and use more material for no good reason.
Eyelets have magical abilities to stiffen AND somehow allow the surrounding rim to perform the necessary flexing at the same time???..... LOL

ThermionicScott 

So this all stems from a personal slight at your bike shop. Everything has become clear.

Last ride 76 

Imagine a metal alloy that flexes under load... Now imagine that this alloy is coated with a non-structural material that is less flexible under certain conditions. What would be the result?


A problem! Yes.


A waranry issue? Yes, it should be.


A crisis? Unlikely...


Rims with eyelets? Worth blaming for the all the ills of the world, in caps? Are you aware that the ones which connected through to the glue surface of tubular rims were a big improvement over the single washers used previously, which distributed the stress over the inside of the rim.

Do you want to see my single material un-eyeleted Campagnolo Shamal wheelset with stress cracks at lots of spoke holes, which have lasted 4 more years since I bought them? They will presumably fail at some point, but more likely to be at individual spoke holes, rather than a complete catastrophic failure. Have you blown spokes through a rim? I did, two separate times testing wheels. Niether wheel disappeared in a puff of smoke...


"I purposely got black coating. Bare Alu soon looks like crap and will NOT last as long." Black anodizing, (if that is what you are refering to), is not "stronger" than clear anodizing. And looks? Now there's an objective standard...


Cheers all, Eric

Temps are dropping - 88° after local high of 95. If I don't make it back- Probably one of those ancient eyeletted rims exploded and I died in the fireball.

Last ride 76 

Dang it, I just now received a pair of NOS 32 hole Arc-en-ciel rims. I thought he was being BF friendly, responding to my WTB on C&V. I didn't realize he was just trying to u load his junk...

Brocephus

Normally, yeah, you'd think so, but I'm seeing that these were (and still are) some closeout wheels, that they sell "as is", so I could be left high-and-dry (no reply at all yet to my early a.m. message).
But, they sell the identical wheelset, but with various build options, for a hundred bucks more than these. Those wheels are obviously really built by them, and are probably rock-solid, but I still believe these wheels were likely bought in bulk from somewhere else, and sold more cheaply.........pings, cracks, and all.
If that's the case, then they sold them to me under false pretenses, and an ethical operation would step up and at least try to work with me on some replacement wheels, "as is" or not.
I know they're a small but busy operation, and not known for being real responsive or communicative, so I'm hoping they'll get around to tossing me a bone here.

shelbyfv

shelbyfv

What is it about wheels that brings out the half baked theories? I remember a guy a few years ago who had convinced himself straight gauge spokes made for a stronger wheel than butted. He related numerous contacts with DT and was aggrieved when they disregarded his advice. Never missed a chance to post his delusions.

GamblerGORD53

LOL Speaking of delusions...
Raleigh was still selling bikes with rim pull/ Rod Brakes till 1981. LOL Obviously they were deluded into thinking they WORK, along with all the dolts that bought them. hahahahaha

At least one guy broke 3 of those Mavics, under the impression that doing it over and over will get a different result. LOL
99.9% of the guys here are deluded to think drum brakes won't work on a tour bike in the mountains. LOL hahahahahahahahaha

Brocephus

(edit: I finally got a message from the operation, asking for more info, so I figured I'd better tone it down a notch and see what happens.)

squirtdad

well i certainly have had more problem with non eyelet rims cracking and never had an eylelet rim issue..... even with lighter vintage tubular rims.... so experiences vary