BoilerMike

I have read that the Bontrager Race X Lite wheelset had a manufacturing design flaw or defect which led to cracking in the past, and that they corrected the design. I can't find what year the corrections were made. I even hear that there were two different re-engineering years. I may buy a used set from my neighbor, but since rebuying them voids the warranty, I want to make sure they were made after the fix.

Does anyone know the details and when the wheelset defect was corrected?

Thanks!

HAMMER MAN

i have 2 sets on the x-lite and as far as i am concerned they are great wheels. noproblems with mine what so ever

55/Rad

I don't believe there was ever an official claim of a defect or recall. What I do know is that some of the wheels did tend to develop cracks in the rims around the nipples as well as cracks in the hub flange itself. Most would argue that this is due to stresses put on the wheel by the paired spoke design.

That stated...I have owned many sets of Rolfs and Bontragers. Vectors, Sestriere, Vigor, Elan, Race lite, race x-lite, etc. And I've always felt they were good wheels. I did have 2 sets, out of maybe 15 total, that gave me some grief. One night, while surfing the net, I heard a loud bang in the garage. I went out but couldn't find the cause. 3 weeks later I discovered that one of the X-lite Aero wheels that was hanging in the garage had blown a hub flange....while it was hanging there. And a race lite rim did develop a crack at some point.

My local Trek dealer claims these issues are what prompted Trek/Bontrager to get away from paired-spokes and into traditional style wheels. Maybe, but they sold the wheels with the technology for over 10 years...

55/Rad

mechBgon

Yeah, look for ones that don't have paired-spoke design, or accept the purchase as a roll of the dice.

R900

Buy them and ride them. My '06's rock the cross circuit!

Munk69

I had a set of 07 x-lites and they were just fine.

Rutnick

The defect was addressed when they got away from paired spokes I think in 2009 or 2010. I've destroyed every set of paired spoke wheels I've ever owned with the exception of the Rolf Vector Comps (heavy but strong as hell).

I think Trek (bontrager) got away from paired spokes because of the breakage and maybe because of licensing. Rolf and Trek were together at one point and Rolf gave trek paired spoke. They parted ways and trek kept paired spokes but I don't know how long that agreement was or even if it ever expired. I can't tell you the amount of warranty claims myself and other members of my team have had on paired spoke bontragers. I know I warrantied one set at least three times until they moved away from paired spokes.

Mine was always rim cracks around the nipple. We had one guy that was cracking them every few months. Take it with a grain of salt about me...I've also cracked a Ksryrium Sl rim and just about every wheelset I've had with the exception of my Carbons, the new Race Lites and my Boyd Alloy clinchers (but they only have 1k miles on them right now and that's from cyclocross racing and training).

mechBgon

It should also be noted that there's Rolf, and then there's Rolf Prima. Trek's stuffs are mostly just Rolf-licensed designs, not the real McCoy made by Rolf Prima themselves. Having warrantied oodles of Bontrager paired-spoke rear wheels here at the LBS, there's no denying it's a gamble to buy used ones. You pays your money and you takes your choice

For original owners, Trek's good about warrantying them, but you can be waiting 1-2 weeks. I keep a rack of loaner wheels waiting in the wings so we can keep people on the road while their warranty claim gets handled. There've been times when I have four or five rears loaned out at once... when it rains, it pours.


Amusing tangential story: so about 18 months ago, I'm tuning up a bike and OH WHAT A SURPRISE, the rear Bontrager PS wheel's got cracks. No problem, dude is the original owner and I fire off a warranty claim on his behalf, while loaning him Loaner Wheel R5. He goes on his way. His new wheel arrives, but he ignores our messages and never comes to get it.

OK fine. New wheel sits in box for a year. Loaner Wheel R5 is chalked up as a loss.

Then I'm working through my workload a year later, doing a tune-up, and I see it's been noted that "the rear wheel keeps going out of true." Maybe that's because OH WHAT A SURPRISE, it's a Bontrager PS wheel with cracks... and it's engraved R5, because it's our loaner wheel

*SIGH* Well here, lemme fix that with your well-aged replacement wheel, sir...