Cracked bike rims

[frugalnacho]

My rear wheel has had some small cracks around the spokes like this:



Today I noticed that one spot has cracked more:



I don't think I should be riding on it in that condition.  Do I need new wheels?

[kendallf]

I think you know the answer here.  :-)

You'll pull one through eventually, which usually isn't catastrophic but depending on the spoke count, may or may not be rideable home.  Unless the hubs are high dollar, pitch 'em and buy some new ones.

[Syonyk]

That one is really bad. I'd replace them, like, now.

[SC93]

I'd ride until it blows! But that's just me :)

[Syonyk]

I've destroyed plenty of bike rims.

They usually either cause a flat or lock the wheel when they quit. That's excitement I don't need as I get older. :)

[shuffler]

My rear wheel has had some small cracks around the spokes like this ... Do I need new wheels?

Eh ... what's the worst that could happen from a few little cracks?

[Rubic]

You really don't want to be riding a bicycle with a known physical defect.  The
cost of a new wheel is much cheaper than a visit to the ER.

[Righty]

The cost of a new wheel is much cheaper than a visit to the ER.

May or may not be true haha

[frugalnacho]

I'd ride until it blows! But that's just me :)

No thanks, already had a catastrophic handle bar failure.  Shuffler beat me to posting the thread.  I was fine with the cracks in the first picture as they won't blow up the wheel, just have spoke pull through eventually, but the structure would remain stable as there is another wall holding it together.  But now I don't think I can trust that rim...just not worth the potential injury.

I've had this bike for around 3 years and put around 6,000 miles on it.  During that time I have:

Been hit by a car (very lightly, but it was still a car.  It hit the back wheel.  It appeared fine afterwards, but that probably isn't helping the structural integrity of the wheel).
Had the handle bars break which resulted in me crashing and breaking my wrist
broke and replaced the saddle
broke and replaced the pedals
broke and replaced the replacement pedals

EDIT to add: The purchase of this bike was prompted by me breaking the crank arm on my old department store huffy.  Didn't make sense to repair that POS so I bought a new bike.

I'm not sure if it's just shitty components, or the fact that I am very heavy and very hard on bikes, or a combination of those 2.  I weigh about 240-245, and I usually have a backpack that may weigh up to 30 pounds.


I'm apprehensive about just purchasing new wheels and slapping them on this bike.  It's lasted 6,000+ miles, but has given me plenty of failures in that time.  The rear wheel looks like it's in much worse condition than the front, but the front looks like it's beginning to get the hair line fractures around a few of the spokes so that should probably be replaced at the same time.

Where do I buy new wheels?  Should I be looking at any specific design or brand considering I am so heavy and put so much stress on bikes (and tend to destroy bike components)?  Should I consider purchasing a brand new bike altogether that is much higher quality?

[Syonyk]

How much do you weigh and how much was that bike?  It sounds like you're either dealing with a substandard bike, or are really hard on it.

I've been very happy with the money I've spent on double wall touring wheels.  They're stronger, heavier, and pretty much eliminated my problem with broken spokes and destroyed rear wheels.  I'm often fairly hard on my bikes, weigh 250#, and have been known to have another 50# in my rear racks and/or backpack.

[miked]

I just cracked my rim on my commuter last week. I swung by the local bike co-op and for $10 have a new used rim on my bike. Thanks bike co-op! I thought my wheel was just out of alignment, but I went to look at it and the sidewall was cracked and was hitting the rim brakes. Heavy loads of groceries and jumping curbs don't mix.

Also, I'm just down the road from you in Lansing. I know Detroit has at least one bike co-op: http://thehubofdetroit.org/back-alley-bikes/

[frugalnacho]

How much do you weigh and how much was that bike?  It sounds like you're either dealing with a substandard bike, or are really hard on it.

I've been very happy with the money I've spent on double wall touring wheels.  They're stronger, heavier, and pretty much eliminated my problem with broken spokes and destroyed rear wheels.  I'm often fairly hard on my bikes, weigh 250#, and have been known to have another 50# in my rear racks and/or backpack.

I weigh about 240-245, and I usually have a backpack that may weigh up to 30 pounds.

Bike was purchased from bikes direct.  This is not the model I have, this is the newer model: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/elite_trail.htm

It was around $370 when I purchased it in 2014.

I think I am really hard on bikes.  I had an old department store huffy and I broke the crank arm on it during use.  That prompted the purchase of a new better bike.  I broke the pedal not long after that and purchased a pair of meet locks from amazon.  I used those for a little over 2 years until I broke that set of pedals too, and am now on my 4th set of pedals in as many years.  That seems like way too many pedals getting busted, but they were all from different manufacturers and no one else seems to be having the same problems.  I'm not smashing the pedals on the ground, or tossing the bike around or anything, it's just from the force of pedaling on them.  I'm not going on rough trails or anything either, mostly just commuting to work on pavement.  Occasionally I go through a park and ride over some grass, and occasionally when I'm cranking along I'll take it off of a curb (so like an 8 inch drop?).  I don't need a bike to take off wicked jumps or do stunts with, I just need it to hold up to actual use. 

[Syonyk]

That's on the cheap end of what I'd consider reasonable for that type of use, but you can probably make it work.

Get a heavy duty double walled touring wheel on the rear.  They're expensive, but I've yet to destroy one of those.

Also, if you're damaging the pedals, it's probably hard on your knees too.  Spin faster and try to press "around" instead of just straight down on the pedals.

[TrMama]

You're not that heavy, but you do put quite a few miles on your bike. Clearly you really enjoy riding and will stick with it; so in this case I'd spend what you can afford to get a better bike. I'd stick with a mid range ($1000-$1500) bike designed for touring or cyclo-cross. Touring bikes are designed to carry the weight of panniers and cross bikes are designed for rough terrain. Stay away from super light racing bikes since they're built to be light with little concern for longevity.

Make sure the wheels have a high spoke count and heavy rims. I think you'd also prefer disk brakes over rim brakes.

What kind of pedals are you breaking? Basic flat pedals or clipless? If you're having trouble with flat pedals, I'd consider going to an SPD clipless pedal. If you do this, spend some time learning to pedal in a perfect circle. I know it sounds dumb but it's an actual skill. Applying force to the pedal as you push down, pull back, pull up and push forward should put less stress on the pedal than just pushing down as hard as you can 1x/revolution. It's also easier on your legs and makes it easier to pedal at a higher RPM (think Spin to Win).

If you get a bike new, make sure the shop includes a basic fitting for you.

[frompa]

I agree with TrMama; given how much you cycle, and your style of cycling (carrying stuff, commuting, which usually means in and among motorized traffic), it probably makes sense for you to get a better quality bike.  Quality matters, in the frame as well as the components.  Also, consider putting a rack on your bike and let the bike do the carrying -- your back will thank you.  (I take the long view, having cycled for many decades.) The good news is, a really good bike doesn't need to cost you - there are plenty of $-ignorant bicycling bozos out there who replace their bikes every year or two just for the hellofit.  Look on Craigslist, etc., or if you have one, use your local bike co-op.  You should know enough by now to know what fits you in terms of frame size, as well as in terms of your style of riding.  In fact, I've not heard much good about Bikes Direct, and I've heard a lot bad.  A poor quality bike is going to fail, and you already know the dangers of that.  Even if you don't have the time to replace this bike immediately, if I were you I'd change out those rims immediately.  Rim failure, spoke failure, catastrophic failure.  Don't go there, dude! Best of luck!

[Car Jack]

Go to a bike shop and have them relace the wheels with ferrelled rims.  These will have sort of inserts in the spoke holes to re-enforce the connection.  Back in my racing days, I had some very light Fiami rims on Hi-E hubs (I'm dating myself, this was state of the art in lightness in 1974).  The rims cracked like yours.  I went to a set of ferrelled rims and relaced the wheels.  They lasted forever.  Well, until I got out of racing and sold off all my spare wheels.

[gooki]

Looking at the specs and previous issues I'd be retiring that bike. Given your size and distance you travel a higher quality bike would be worthwhile.

[shawndoggy]

buy a wheelset commensurate with your weight and use.  This looks like a decent deal: http://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=122_361_362&products_id=3556

Or get some handbuilt wheels with 36h XT hubs built up 3x with brass nipples to mavic open pros if you want a set of "keep 'em for life" bomber commuting wheels for a heavier dude.  That'd probably cost you $350, but they'd stay true and wouldn't break.

[Syonyk]

I'm not a "spend $5k on a bike" kind of guy, but I've definitely learned that there's a price point below which you just get junk that won't last.

At this point, I'd say around $700 or so for a new bike (you can obviously do a lot better used if you know what to look for) is about the lowest I'd go for a daily commuter grade ride - and that should include some fenders and lights.

The heavy duty touring wheels are so much stronger that they're worth the money, IMO.

[Reynolds531]

The pedaling advice above I respectfully disagree with.

Learn to spin pedaling slightly faster. Have a qualified person  check your fit on the bike specifically seat and knee position over the pedal axle at forward horizontal. As you're pedaling you are only really pushing from about 4 to 5 o'clock at high rpm. At the back of the pedal stroke you aren't pulling up. Instead you you are unweighting your foot. You should just feel the sole of your foot pull away from the insole of your shoe.

..returns to cranky old bike man regular programming

[Reynolds531]

Also yes get a new rim. With double walled eyelets.