Hey guys – newer cyclist and I am checking out these wheels on marketplace. One of these has a small wrinkle it in (apparently previous owner left bike against car exhaust) wrinkle has been ridden on for 5,000 miles- wondering what to do- sweet deal and I’m okay riding with a little risk!
by SweetAd1614
27 Comments
I’m definitely not riding that. They also might just be knockoffs with a defect (in which case I’m NOT riding that)
I wouldn’t touch them…. everyone’s has different levels of risk i guess.
LOL wrinkle should not have been ridden 5000 miles. I don’t think you understand the risk of riding those. Sudden catastrophic failure and serious injury or worse is the risk here.
Unless you are getting the wheels for free to use the hubs as spare parts, it’s not a sweet deal.
No don’t do it.
Unless you want the hubs.
Nope! Nope! Nope! Believe me, you don’t want those wheels.
This would be getting a ‘DO NOT RIDE. STOP RIDING IMMIDIATLY.’ notice from me if it came into my shop.
I’d verbal it, put it on your receipt, email it to you, and refuse service on this bike if you declined to destroy this wheel. Why? Because I don’t want your loved ones suing me when you die.
Hard pass. And that tire is past its life too.
Everything here is to be avoided.
Nope. If it was mine and I did the damage, I’d ride them till I can get a replacement. But I wouldn’t sell them (unless parted out), and for sure would not buy them.
Carbon? Carbon does not become soft from high temperature, it oxidizes.
One fall could be a catastrophic experience for you. Don’t risk it
seller SAYS he’s been riding it for 5k miles
Won’t look like a sweet deal from a hospital bed. Stay away from those.
Hard to say from my seat here but that looks more like a delamination. Just the story alone is sus. I’d avoid.
Do not buy.
What im hearing is that you are okay with risk and are seeking justification.
That’s exhaust damage. Specialized will relace a new rim on there for a fee, which is way cheaper than buying new. You may have to be the original owner of the wheel, though, so call and check first.
But definitely do not ride!
You might be able to ride it forever with no problems, or it might split open when you are doing 40mph down a steep hill.
Nope. It’s wall art now.
Hard pass…
If they own up to it being the car exhaust then they’re basically saying they’re toasted. Car fumes can be super hot (upwards of 500c) and that melts the carbon resin. The wheel is (literally) cooked. Save yourself and don’t buy!
Riding this will end in the hospital, wheelchair or coffin when going downhill fast.
They will fail so fast you wont notice it and will not have a nanosecond time to react.
That wheel is delaminating and is now to consider as trash. Do not ride. Buy new wheels.
It’s delaminating, likely because during the lay-up the resin didn’t fully saturate the cloth.
There is no way to fix this. This is a catastrophic failure waiting to happen.
Unless you are desperate to get your favorite orthopedic and orthodontic surgeons an extra vacation this year, I’d advise not riding that at all.
im tellin yall…the best value carbon wheelset you can get is a custom chinese set. order rims separately and build yourself with custom parts. all these name brands use the same factories. stop paying 3x.
Carbon fiber is actually sheets of carbon plus resin. That’s what makes it a composite material. What happened here was that the exhaust softened the resin.
Almost all CF in the bike industry, including these wheels, uses what they call thermoset resins – that is, the resin hardens once. Thermoplastic resins can be heated, reformed a bit, then cooled, but thermoset material will be damaged if this happens.
This is why people are saying that the wheel is dead. You should not buy this.
Carbon isn’t supposed to do that. Do not ride.
that is a “how many broken bones do I want?” special.