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29er wheel destruction
Just looking for a few thoughts on wheel-related events over the past few weeks.
Last weekend I'm out riding oxford falls and hit a rock pretty hard. 29 inch Roval Traverse wheel from a pretty much brand new stumpy evo 29er completely destroyed. I'm thinking fair enough- I hit it hard and killed a rim. Move on. (although i've never done it on a 26 inch rim).
$500 later and a brand new traverse wheelset with upgraded hubs later (bike shop got me a great deal for this wheelset because I have had quite a lot of issues with the bike generally), rushed through so that I can do the terrey hills ride tomorrow, and i'm out riding around manly dam to get a feel for the new wheels. I hit the jump on the downhill section before you get to the creek and on landing - perfectly straight I might add -the wheel buckles about an inch. I'm miffed, but continue as the bike is still rideable, deciding to take it a bit easier. As i'm riding I can feel the wheel flexing under me but think "it's a brand new wheel that has been freshly set up by a professional bike shop - i'm sure it's ok".
2 minutes later I hit a tiny jump on the trail, the back end gets SLIGHTLY out of shape and bang! the wheel folds and is completely TACO'd. Completely ruined and unrideable.
Have any of you 29er riders had strength issues with your wheels? Any comments? I firmly believe that the spoke tension was too loose - where do I stand on this? should I have picked it up? I was taking it pretty easy anyway because I didn't want to break my awesome new wheels.
Also, the wife is never gonna let me spend hundreds more dollars on broken gear. If they won't sort it i'm pretty much bikeless.
It's at the shop now and i'm waiting for their call but thought I would try to get a few opinions.
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Hindsight is wonderful of course but if you could feel it flexing after the first incident ... I'd have stopped right there. Taco-ing the wheel was getting off lightly. Could've gone further than equipment damage.
I've knocked wheels out of true around manly dam but they've been weightweenie builds an hardtails. Good rims built well should be fine especially on a dually.
I'm thinking Stans Arch or Flow built say by Aido at Belrose Bikes.
Factory wheels tend not to be built to the same attention to detail. Higher, even tension with proper stress relieving makes a big difference to wheel life. Factory built wheels typically fall short on the stress relieving and as the spokes stretch they lose tension and impacts aren't spread as well.
Stress relieving and retensioning during the build takes up most of the initial post build stretch.
Wheels are pretty much not warrantyable unless there's an obvious fault or they sold you a bike with wheels with a weight limit below what you weigh - you're at the mercy of the good graces of the bike shop.
Wheel size, materials, and build all play a role in wheel strength, as does rider weight and riding style.
Impossible to say whats at fault, but it doesn't sound normal. Two in such short succession id definitely get them covered under warranty. You'll probably have to fight for it, but I sou;don't be paying for either set.
I (try to) ride AM, so imo, no component is too tough. I know wheels can cop the most abuse so I went for the toughest carbon I could find. Expensive, thats for sure, but after a year of riding, and riding stupidly, they are as true as day one.
That includes my fair share of falls, regular horribly harsh landings, plenty of bashing into stuff, and a biggest jump of ~8m landing to flat.
Any new wheel/wheelset on its first or second ride, you should take it easy. I am not sure of the bike jargon for this, but the wheel/spokes need to 'settle in'. After a few rides, your wheel needs to be retightened/retrued to make it permanently tight and strong. My advice is go easy on brand new wheels and take them to your LBS after 3 or 4 rides.
Thanks for the replies. The upshot of all this is the shop have agreed to replace the wheelset free of charge. Although there have been a few issues with this bike Steve and the guys at Manly cycles have always bent over backwards to try to keep me rolling and their service has been excellent.
I still maintain that wheels shouldn't die that easily. I'll certainly be treading very carefully on my next few rides until I have regained a bit of confidence in them.