Wheel damage

[flight147z]

Managed to get a stone stuck between my frame and rim earlier on today with the below result

Fairly deep scoring the whole way round the carbon rim. Bike is rim brake. Although the scoring isn't on the brake track I assume this rim is done?

Luckily no damage to the frame

[BrundanBianchi]

Not necessarily. How deep is the gouge? I’ve seen worse, if it’s not on the braking track, I wouldn’t worry too much.

[flight147z]

BrundanBianchi said:

Not necessarily. How deep is the gouge? I’ve seen worse, if it’s not on the braking track, I wouldn’t worry too much.

Probably about half a millimetre. Obviously looks awful too.

[IroningMan]

If it's no deeper than the resin - ie it hasn't damaged any fibres - then the strength shouldn't be compromised but you might want to seal the score mark with some araldite - or even just rattle-can lacquer.

Alternatively someone like Rob Hayles might be happy to check it over and/or repair the finish.

[flight147z]

I'll try to get a better picture when I've cleaned the rims. The wheelset was from Farsports with their generic carbon rims built onto DT Swiss hubs

If it's safe to ride I'll order a replacement and keep riding these until it arrives. I wanted to avoid riding it if there was much danger of failure. Cosmetically it's ruined and I doubt getting it fixed up will be much cheaper than a straight replacement as they aren't the most expensive wheels

I did it going up Park Rash so I have already put a 25% descent into it going back down without issue. I don't think it will get much of a tougher test than that...

[flight147z]

Thanks for the replies so far - some better pictures now the wheel is a bit cleaner

[Mastodon2]

It looks quite superficial, based on my knowledge of carbon fibre in other areas you'd need to damage the weave quite a bit in order to compromise the structural integrity of the piece. Those high res photos of the gouge look like it's only damaged the top layer. In fact, how deep is that top layer? It looks almost like the wheel is made of plastic.

As you say, getting it repaired might be as expensive as a new wheel and while it might be safe, I wouldn't ride it because the aesthetic impact would irritate me. It's probably safe for day to day stuff, not sure if I'd trust it on a 60+ kmph downhill ride though, just in case!

Good excuse to get some new wheels.

Edit to add: I'm just looking at their website now, I had been wanting some aero wheels for next year but I need a rim brake set, their Kaze set do look quite nice. I don't want to spend a ton on wheels since I'll be switching to a disc brake bike as my main ride either next year or the year after, but these guys might be the answer. Shame they don't have the price for anything on their site, though I guess they probably quote based on the rims and hubs you pick from their menu.

Edited by Mastodon2 on Tuesday 25th August 15:57

[flight147z]

Mastodon2 said:

It looks quite superficial, based on my knowledge of carbon fibre in other areas you'd need to damage the weave quite a bit in order to compromise the structural integrity of the piece. Those high res photos of the gouge look like it's only damaged the top layer. In fact, how deep is that top layer? It looks almost like the wheel is made of plastic.

As you say, getting it repaired might be as expensive as a new wheel and while it might be safe, I wouldn't ride it because the aesthetic impact would irritate me. It's probably safe for day to day stuff, not sure if I'd trust it on a 60+ kmph downhill ride though, just in case!

Good excuse to get some new wheels.

Edit to add: I'm just looking at their website now, I had been wanting some aero wheels for next year but I need a rim brake set, their Kaze set do look quite nice. I don't want to spend a ton on wheels since I'll be switching to a disc brake bike as my main ride either next year or the year after, but these guys might be the answer. Shame they don't have the price for anything on their site, though I guess they probably quote based on the rims and hubs you pick from their menu.

Edited by Mastodon2 on Tuesday 25th August 15:57

They have two sites, prices are listed on "wheelsfar" rather than "farsports" same company

50mm carbon clinchers start at around £550 I think

[Mastodon2]

Thanks! I foresee some 50 or 60mm tubeless wheels with a DT Swiss 54T freehub in my future. They are cheap but when I get an aero bike with disc brakes I'd probably splash out on some Zipps or Swiss Side for that, but do you reckon these wheels are a good deal for the price?

[flight147z]

Mastodon2 said:

Thanks! I foresee some 50 or 60mm tubeless wheels with a DT Swiss 54T freehub in my future. They are cheap but when I get an aero bike with disc brakes I'd probably splash out on some Zipps or Swiss Side for that, but do you reckon these wheels are a good deal for the price?

I've done 8000 hard miles on mine and they are still perfectly true. The DT hubs are excellent they roll forever and need very little maintenance at all. From my experience the hubs make more difference than the rims and you won't get a set of DT hubs from a European seller for anywhere near those prices