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Small crack in rim near one spoke—should I stop riding immediately?

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Small crack in rim near one spoke—should I stop riding immediately?

Old 04-24-22, 09:36 AM
  #1  
drewfio
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Small crack in rim near one spoke—should I stop riding immediately?

I noticed a small crack around one of the spokes in the rear wheel of my Ksyrium Equipe wheels. I inspected both rims very closely and it is the only spot with any signs of cracking. Should I stop riding it immediately, or is there still some (safe) life left in it? See picture below. Thanks!

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Old 04-24-22, 10:19 AM
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Well that certainly appears to be a crack to me from the photo. If indeed a crack, then personally, I wouldn't ride it much more than around the neighborhood myself to check adjustments, etc. if I worked on the bike. Others with more experience with Kysrium rims may chime in.
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Old 04-24-22, 10:50 AM
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I say don't ride it.
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Old 04-24-22, 01:27 PM
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I’d say don’t ride it. That said, I had a crack in a wheel I didn’t notice for over a year and nothing bad happened but could have. I had a creaking/popping noise and couldn’t figure it out until the crack got stuck “open” and I snagged my wash cloth on the rough edge while cleaning it.
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Old 04-24-22, 01:30 PM
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If it were a front, I would definitely stop riding it. But as it's a rear, my curiosity would have me pack a spoke wrench and keep riding it to see what happens.
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Old 04-24-22, 01:34 PM
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I don't think it's a big safety concern but with that few spokes in the rim it will just keep getting worse, will probably go way out of true at some point and could ruin a ride. You could drill a small hole at each end of the crack if you can't get it replaced right away which would slow the growth of the crack.
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Old 04-24-22, 02:20 PM
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The crack will stop growing when the stress is released, when the spoke no longer has tension. Many riders have gone many miles more with cracking spoke nipple holes w/out issues (other than wobbly wheels) This is no worse than riding with a broken spoke. Of course wheels with stupid few spoke counts will see more wobble, when this happens, than a wheel with a higher spoke density will.

But I always like these "should I still ride the bike" type questions. Or the "how much more can I ride the bike" ones. The bike (or wheel) is telling you that it has given up it's life for your pleasure and ideally should have already been replaced. Andy
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Old 04-24-22, 04:08 PM
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Rear - Ride it until you get a replacement, but start that process now.
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Old 04-24-22, 05:47 PM
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Originally Posted by drewfio
I noticed a small crack around one of the spokes in the rear wheel of my Ksyrium Equipe wheels. I inspected both rims very closely and it is the only spot with any signs of cracking. Should I stop riding it immediately, or is there still some (safe) life left in it? See picture below. Thanks!
Most likely scenario is that the wheel goes out of true as the crack propagates and the spoke tension is reduced. Then you tighten the spoke to true the wheel and the crack propagates faster. Then you replace the rim. Even if the spoke pulled out you would just have a wobbly wheel.
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Old 04-24-22, 06:36 PM
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Over the years, I've replaced a number of rims with cracks like that.
I always found the crack when cleaning the rim, and never had a catastrophic failure from one.
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Old 04-24-22, 07:29 PM
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I had a rear rim with a couple cracks like that after a few thousand miles. I have no doubt the cracks had been there for some time before I found them. I procured a new rim and spokes, which took a while, then re-built the wheel. I doubt such cracks are likely to fail catastrophically, but I considered it a "courtesy warning".
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