It's a 2021 Roval Traverse 622×30 carbon rim. It was re-laced about four rides ago, and it's now out of true about 1/4", but not exactly in this spot.
I ride moderately aggressively, so it's possible I caused this. I rode a rocky trail yesterday. A reverse image search suggests this could be heat damage. I checked that the bike sits above my exhaust pipes when it's on my car rack. This spot on the rim could be aligned with the exhaust pipe, but it's about 15" back from the tips and up about 3", so I'm inclined to think that's not it, unless carbon is really heat sensitive(?).
Does anyone have experience with this kind of failure? I'd like input on whether this is a "replace immediately" or "monitor and proceed" situation. Thanks for your help.
by Scottyjb93
11 Comments
Delamination. The carbon layers are separating. I don’t think you can save that. Replacement.
Not the carbon but the resin is kinda heat sensitive afaik, and the position you described relative to the exhaust is definitely gonna be warm, especially if the engine is a large capacity one.
100% from the exhaust
My first thought was exhaust damage, though that does sound kind of far out. Regardless I wouldn’t ride it, may be worth reaching out to roval for their thoughts
looks like the glue of the top plastic film failed, possibly from heat, but its hard to say from the picture. carbon fibres are bound within a resin-matrix, so it is in fact heat sensitiv like any other moderately compliant plastics.
are all those spots bulging outwards and hollow, bubbles or burst bubbles so to speak?
15 inches is pretty dam close to a hot exhaust.
This is a normal failure for overheating a carbon part. They use a resin and if that resin gets hot it’ll basically melt.
Don’t use racks that put your bike by car exhausts.
Looks like heat dmg to me. It could be an instance of the gelcoat delaminating, but it could also be the heat. Different epoxies have different tolerances.
My bet in the bike world since weight and stiffness is what people really desire the epoxy probably has a tight window of operating temperatures.
Fun note since I have gotten to work with a few different epoxies. A bow manufacturer uses the same epoxy as most of the performance racing sailboats (Gfex).
Definitely looks like it was too close to the exhaust pipe. I read somewhere that you should keep your carbon wheels a minimum of 18 inches away from your exhaust pipes
Exhaust. Unlucky.
Refered to as an ocean first compression fracture.
Catastrophic. Delamination. Do not ride that.