Mavic SSC Bleu cracked - advice please

[RooKilo]

Hi, I purchased a pair of wheels during the summer and re-negotiated as the front rim had cracks around some of the eyelets - the hubs are Mavic 500 so I had the wheels anyway for those. The spokes were massively overtightened which probably caused the damage though I seem to remember that they suffered from cracking anyway? The rim is double eyeletted and there is no cracking on the outside diameter.

I've taken a photo of the worst cracking, please can anyone give me advice whether to use it or not :?:


DSC01601 by Rookilo, on Flickr

 

[mattsccm]

Sadly I would say knackered.
I would probably use it on the back of my pub bike.

 

[mattsccm]

Just the one? Rebulid the wheel as a 28 spoker missing the damaged one?
Bet they are all nearly as bad though.

 

[Citoyen du monde]

I must admit to having ridden on a similarily cracked rim for thousands and thousands of miles. My logic back then, when I had absolutely no money, was that if it did fail, the worst possible result would be the equivalent of a broken spoke: i.e. not the end of the world. If you loosened up teh tension somewhat, you can probably get by, but be very vigilant and any worsening now that the tension has been lessened should be enough to convince you to switch out the rim.

 

[argonsixar]

I would avoid riding that. I had a a rim with that sort of cracking and it collapsed spectacularly on me.

 

[Jonny69]

You can stop the cracks spreading by drilling a small hole at the end of each of them. Put a 1.5mm drill in a Dremel and do it that way. Since there are a lot of other spokes holding the wheel together I would expect it would be fine to ride.

 

[RooKilo]

Thanks for the advice, I think I'll not use it and salvage the hubs for another pair of rims. The rear rim is good so I'll keep an eye out for another or sell it, not sure yet. Cheers

 

[thecannibal]

I must admit to having ridden on a similarily cracked rim for thousands and thousands of miles. My logic back then, when I had absolutely no money, was that if it did fail, the worst possible result would be the equivalent of a broken spoke: i.e. not the end of the world. If you loosened up teh tension somewhat, you can probably get by, but be very vigilant and any worsening now that the tension has been lessened should be enough to convince you to switch out the rim.

A rim failure resulting from these kind of cracks could be a lot, lot worse than a spoke breaking. Also, lessening spoke tension could actually increase risk of failure.

 

[thecannibal]

You can stop the cracks spreading by drilling a small hole at the end of each of them. Put a 1.5mm drill in a Dremel and do it that way. Since there are a lot of other spokes holding the wheel together I would expect it would be fine to ride.

You seriously think it's fine to ride a cracked rim (a lightweight road rim at that) with extra holes drilled in it? That's insanely bad advice!

 

[nammonk]

You wouldn't catch me riding it. I fear steerer tube breakage (experienced, happily at low speed) and wheel collapse (happily not experienced). I don't think it is worth the risk for the price of a rim.
Rims---especially nice blue ones---make nice art installations.
Nick