Hello everyone
For the last three weeks I've been touring using my Cube Nuroad Race FE (2020) which as I've read on the internet has pretty bad stock rims. Today I noticed cracks in the rim in the back (as seen in the picture). The cracks are present to some extend around every second spoke.
My question is, will these rims take me another 600km with panniers in the back ( pretty flat but 50/50 paved / unpaved) and what could I do to mitigate worse damage until the end of the journey? I'm in a bigger city tomorrow and could have shop have a look at it / change the rims. But I'd rather do this when I'm back home.
Thanks for the help.
by ExceptionInThread
29 Comments
No, those rims are dead right now.
Get it fixed now while you have the chance, a new wheel is probably fastest/cheapest
Sorry, these rims are toast. Not even another 1km. New rims, asap
there’s absolutely nothing you can do to « mitigate » damage or risk once your rim is cracked. get that swapped asap. it’s just a wheel, not a frame or fork to replace, any bike shop can have that work done in a few hours
No one can tell, I’d send ’em I’ve ridden worse for longer. But I never was more than 20km from home.
No. It’s new wheel time.
What will happen is that a spoke will pull through the rim, then another and another until the wheel collapses. Also flats will probably start to happen whenever you pedal. The spokes will poke through the cracked rim.
This is one of those situations where it’s amazing you gotten as far as you have, and you might think you can continue on. But it’s like a crack in the dam: that’s the indicator it’s going to burst, not that the dam is in a degraded mode.
You might ride another day then when you make one strong pedal stroke or hit a bump then the wheel collapses.
Finishing your trip with these cracks is very risky. Pretty good chances nipples will go through the rim or/and wheel will go out of true severely
You can swap rim if hub is worth keeping (usually not the case on stock wheels)
You can also get new solid wheel
Alternative and cheapest option is to ask for truing retensionning wheel but still very risky
I would consider loosening that spoke to limp into town and get another wheel. Teeth and hospital bills are more expensive than wheels.
Toast.
Thanks for the replies, I will take the bike to the shop tomorrow. Any recommendations in Bordeaux?
They’re dead Jim
Get them swapped ASAP
You should have changed the wheel when the first crack appeared. Now it’s just a matter of time before it crumbles apart. Hopefully ou can find a bike store before it and get a new wheel to continue the trip.
I had this happen on the back wheel of my Chromag hardtail. There were cracks around every spoke nipple by the time I noticed it. The wheel was still basically true though lol. Too many WV rock gardens I guess.
rim carnage more like it
Not going to the doctor/dentist is always the better option. Replace now.
Check out ZTZ wheels on amazon! Amazing, affordable, sealed bearing hub, with rings around each nipple hole to help them last longer, and are compatable with 7-12 speed hg cassettes. I’ve had mine for about 2 years now and they’re amazing and they do have a loud freehub. I bought these cause my wtb wheels did this too…. Good luck!!
Smells like toast here
Congratulations, you get the exciting opportunity to book an emergency hotel stay and walk — do not ride — the bike to your nearest bike shop and/or have a new rim shipped to your door!
I had similar, but I checked right after hitting a pothole. Stopped riding immediately.
Stuff like this, I always tell myself that I will feel pretty stupid not spending the couple hundred bucks…. while in the back of an ambulance and for the months of rehab afterwards.
https://preview.redd.it/5w997iuqrxoh1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=782325b3e8f01bc39502904484cfd734bac1c694
With that cracking I wouldn’t guarantee another 600 metres never mind 600 km.
The choice is yours but if you choose to continue choose to make sure your medical cover is good as well because that rim is ready to change from face not hurting to face hurting anytime.
Maybe, maybe not. The crack will grow based on the loading, which over the next 600 km is completely unpredictable. If the bike were ridden by someone half your weight on a smooth velodrome surface, the likelihood of crack growth is lower than someone of your weight on the open road where, while much of the road may be “smooth”, you still may hit the random bump or hole.
So unless you know a good fortune teller who knows the load spectrum there is no telling if the existing cracks are stable or unstable. If this were an aerospace part one would measure the length of the crack and repair or replace if the length were outside spec (IOW, aerospace parts can be used safely in service with cracks, just not “out of spec” cracks).
you can either switch the cracked wheel, or crack something else
You can gamble and ride those wheels, but these are fatigue cracks and there is nothing you can do except buy new rims, or complete wheel. Worst case scenario is that spokes would pop out and you would get seriously deformed wheel. It is not worth a risk.
Toast
Cooked
Anyone who makes any attempt at saying “yes” is throwing darts. Might last a thousand miles; might last one. The question you will want to ask yourself is if you want to risk being far away from the city that could help you and have it finally fail. The answer is obvious. It might cost a bit to fix and maybe it’s not the ideal rim but there’s a value in salvaging a trip. Fix your bike in the city, finish the ride, build a lifetime wheel when you get home.
Just buy the cheapest rims that will get you home, and those can bide you over while you procure something nice at a good value.
If you keep riding these, you’re gonna get stranded and will be in a worse position as a buyer.