Haven’t seen this level of seperation before too. I’d imagine the brakepads last as long as if you’d mount them on a cheese grater. Id look for a cheap used wheel in my area.
CargoPile1314 on
This is fixable. You need to figure out if it’s that the high spot is pushed out or it’s the low spot that’s pushed in (compared to the rest of the rim). You then gently and lightly do your best to make it flush using pliers (protect the aluminum from the hard steel jaws). Once it’s as good as you can get it, you file or sand it to make it smoother (or, just ride in the mud for a while).
If you search for Bicycle Research Rim Saver, you’ll find pliers that are made for fixing rim dents. These can be used directly if the problem is the high side. If the problem is the low side, you need a spacer under the beak only on the inside of the low side of the joint.
squirlybumrush on
The separation might be ok. As long as you don’t feel it when you brake. If you feel it grab as you brake it’s still fine to ride but could be annoying .
Honestly I’m more concerned about the tire and the (apparent) excessive wear on the side wall. It could be contributing to the rim separation.
Rare-Classic-1712 on
It’s ok to ride. It looks like a sloppy pinned rim joint. If you feel the joint when braking using an abrasive tool such as a file (when the tire is removed from the rim) remove aluminum until it’s a smooth joint. It’s a shitty joint on an old rim and you’re not going to be able to get it as good as a new rim with machined sidewalls but should be fine. As far as the rim blowing up while riding so have a horrific crash – I doubt it. The inward pulling forces of the spokes hold the joint together. In theory you could have a 32° wheel and the rim divided into 32 segments and it would be ok to ride (until you hit a good bump and then it would collapse). In 22 years of wrenching I’ve seen lots of stuff go bad. Yes a shitty rim joint might go bad if it took a significant impact exactly on the joint. I’ve never seen a wheel fail due to a bad rim joint. I’ve seen plenty of tacoed rims with badly busted apart joints but even if those rims had a perfect welded joint the wheel would have been tacoed. I wouldn’t overthink it.
4 Comments
Haven’t seen this level of seperation before too. I’d imagine the brakepads last as long as if you’d mount them on a cheese grater. Id look for a cheap used wheel in my area.
This is fixable. You need to figure out if it’s that the high spot is pushed out or it’s the low spot that’s pushed in (compared to the rest of the rim). You then gently and lightly do your best to make it flush using pliers (protect the aluminum from the hard steel jaws). Once it’s as good as you can get it, you file or sand it to make it smoother (or, just ride in the mud for a while).
If you search for Bicycle Research Rim Saver, you’ll find pliers that are made for fixing rim dents. These can be used directly if the problem is the high side. If the problem is the low side, you need a spacer under the beak only on the inside of the low side of the joint.
The separation might be ok. As long as you don’t feel it when you brake. If you feel it grab as you brake it’s still fine to ride but could be annoying .
Honestly I’m more concerned about the tire and the (apparent) excessive wear on the side wall. It could be contributing to the rim separation.
It’s ok to ride. It looks like a sloppy pinned rim joint. If you feel the joint when braking using an abrasive tool such as a file (when the tire is removed from the rim) remove aluminum until it’s a smooth joint. It’s a shitty joint on an old rim and you’re not going to be able to get it as good as a new rim with machined sidewalls but should be fine. As far as the rim blowing up while riding so have a horrific crash – I doubt it. The inward pulling forces of the spokes hold the joint together. In theory you could have a 32° wheel and the rim divided into 32 segments and it would be ok to ride (until you hit a good bump and then it would collapse). In 22 years of wrenching I’ve seen lots of stuff go bad. Yes a shitty rim joint might go bad if it took a significant impact exactly on the joint. I’ve never seen a wheel fail due to a bad rim joint. I’ve seen plenty of tacoed rims with badly busted apart joints but even if those rims had a perfect welded joint the wheel would have been tacoed. I wouldn’t overthink it.