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Numpty IM Bike Thread
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That was quick! Thank you. I'll just pop down the garage and get the wheel so I can take a photo. How do I post a photo on here?
Here goes.... i've ringed it in red in the photo. It doesn't seem to be a crack, it's about 2mm long.
If you save it to your desktop ad then "preview" it you will see an enlargement.
Thanks, I'll try that. It is annoying though. Saying that, I've just realised that these wheels have a lifetime warranty. Do you think it's worth trying to get the wheel replaced under this warranty?
Not a warranty issue in my view, as it will almost certainly have been caused by a stone chip from a passing car. After a while then the pad and chip will both smooth a bit and whilst it won't really have any effect on total braking performance should stop being as clicky. The rim does wear (in fact if you look there will most likely be a little drilled circle somewhere on the rim that is a wear indicator), so it will smooth off eventually and the inclusion of a little hole in the brake suurface isn't going to be a big problem.
Not that all the above views are just my own, and as it's an issue that effects both brakes and structure of the wheel then the onus is still on you to reassure yourself of the safety of the wheel. (Sorry, been watching too much american TV).
you can take some very very glasspaper and rub the chip down so any protrusions are taken off but tbh, as D74 says, it will sort itself out in time..........
Thanks guys, much appreciated. I popped up to the LBS at lunch. Like you say, this is classed as wear and tear and not covered under the warranty. He agreed that it's either a stone has hit the rim, or got lodged in the brake pad. Anyway, at the LBS, the owner has sanded off the protrusion with glasspaper, as suggested - free of charge of course (after all, I have spent over £1500 there in the past year!!). I was thinking of using glasspaper on it myself last night, but didn't in case it invalidated the warranty.
Yes, there is a drilled circle in the rim. I did wonder what it was for. What does this do? When do I know from this circle that the rims are worn?
P.S. I've bought a book on bike mechanics. Park Tools Big Blue Book. Hopefully it will make me less of a numpty in the future!!
you can get rims full of water even with well sitting tyres. happened to me at the very wet Vitruvian tri of 2005 - so wet it was like riding through rivers. when I got home and took the wheels out of the car I could hear water sloshing around in the rims - rotated them and stood them up so the rim hole was downwards and lo and behold all the water drained out......
Thanks FB, looks like it's not a wear indicator then, after all.
I "rescued" someone at Vitruvian last year. He'd got kicked in the head during the swim and he came to a halt on the bike course from where I was watching the event with my wife and kids. He appeared to be suffering from concussion. Suffice to say, wife and kids were left by the side of the road as we got this guy back to race HQ for some attention. Anyway, the back of my car was swimming with water afterwards and I guess this must have come out of his wheels?
FB - Some are wear indicators - but not the ones drilled all the way through. When the whole disapears then the rim needs changing. Shimano I think are normally drain points, Mavic tend to have the wear indicator.
Water in car wasa as likely to have come from any drinks bottles left on teh bike. Always fun to watch people stop for a puncture to then lay the bike down and lose all their drink from the aero bottle.
Well you learn something every day. Apparently all rims need indicators now, or at least any that are to be sold in germany. Some machine the rim from inside, so when you see a mark then you're ready for a new rim, others drill from the outside and when you stop seeing the hole then it's time to change. Others have some coloured mark that appears.
I've only worn one set of rims, and when that went it wasn't pleasant, although at least I was cycling up a 1:10 at the time not down..... It's amazing how quick people can get up and out th ehouse when they think a gun's been fired at 5:20am
I've just had to have a rim replaced on my old bike. Thought the crack coming from the spoke was a bit worrying!!
Hmm, cracks around spokes are generally a result of the spoke being over tensioned, often as a result of botched attempts to retru the wheel by just increasing the tension of a single spoke, and not losening the opposing pair, or increasing the load over 3.
Of course occasionally then it is just 'time' for the rim.
I started paying a bit more attention after the above
In that case I'd already ordered replacements but they'd not arrived and I was chancing that it would last. In fact the next one went overnight when it was in the garage after I'd done the weekly checks and pump up. I swithched to ceramic rims for the commuter-scooter after that!
Hence my impending purchase of the new Kinesis decade commuter frame with disk mounts
I'll be honest, then ceramic rims and normal pads were actually OK, a little grabby and you need to watch the temperature as the pads can melt leaving a film on the rim. However the spin side is that ceramic rims and green pads in the cold and wet are a mare as you need to get a bit of heat into them before they brake at all, and that can be a bit 'brown trouser' until you get used to keeping some heat in them as you ride along.
I've never had ceramic rims. Do you remember leather brake pads? I thought they were quite good, I wonder why you don't seem to see them anymore?
On a more basic level of mechanical (in)competency.
How do you get the rear wheel out of a singlespeed bike that has rear facing track dropouts? Not that I've tried to do this yet, but I have a feeling that the first time I attempt this, it may be a challenge and I thought I'd better have some practice at home first...
Not done this for a while, but you need to drop the chain off the sprocket by moving the axle towards the BB to begin with, then you can pull it out the back. One of the problems with rear facing dropouts which are / were in fashion to get the tyre up against the seattube to reduce the aero drag. Not a feature I personally thought was worth the agro for the average age-grouper.
I'm sure FB will again suggest that if you used a kwik link on the chain then this would solve the issue
Mr D74 has a problem with these as his sausage fingers and lack of dexterity - does he have opposable thumbs?? - causes him grief yet the rest of us have no problem with them..........