Alexrims DH19 (pics attached)

[cvaughan]

Hi,

I know I'm a newbie but I have followed this site quite closely and used it to help plan my 15 day lejog in June. For this, I brought a new bike, a Ridgeback Panorama, in October 2009 as a good quality tourer and to match my friends Dawes Super Galaxy. I have been impressed by the bike so far however the rear wheel hub appears to keep working loose and I have had to tighten it to stop it wobbling. This time, after tightening it, I have seen that it is still wobbling and on closer review, I can see that the rim has cracked quite badly in 3-4 points completely ruining the wheel!!!

I brought the bike as a tourer which is what it is advertised as and have done about 3000 miles on it. I have used it on road and on gravel tracks and never kerb hop. I don't think the quality of the wheels is good enough for a tourer having broken this quickly but just wanted an expert opinion on the matter??

Can anyone help?????

[thirdcrank]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31303

We had that thread about the rims last year with no negative posts. It's not at all clear to me the connection between loose hubs and cracked rims (OK, OK, spokes) but it sounds as though the wheel has been deteriorating in a couple of ways at once. If you can post some pics it might inspire people to post. As you feel it's not down to where you've been riding, it sounds like the way the wheels were built up.

[531colin]

If this bike is really less than 12 months old, the wheels are a disgrace. Take it back and get it fixed or replaced under warranty.
Sales of goods act, fitness for purpose, etc etc.
The photos show clearly the rim cracking next to the spoke holes, a typical fatigue failure. Touring rims have no business failing like this, if they are up to the job the typical failure mode of touring rims is the brake blocks wear through the sidewalls (eventually), which is fair wear and tear.

Edit- picture shows failure at every second spoke....I bet these are the driveside spokes, which are under more tension (=more fatigue) than the others

Edit edit -Unless you weigh 20 stone, of course.

[gbnz]

I trust you're not using the wheel in that state . For whatever reason, it looks like you've had a "duff" wheel. Could be due to manufacturing faults, poor wheel building, a heavy load and some forgotten potholes? Have to admit I'd just replace it if you've had the bike for ten months, though you could try for a warrenty claim (If I were a LBS/Manufacturer, I'd turn it down, as I'd have no idea how many miles you'd done, under what load, or on what types of road)

I had the alex dh19's on a 6 month tour in 2007/2008, including full camping load and unsealed roads, without an issue. While I use rigidas, I'd be perfectly happy with the alex rims when purchased new

On the hub coming loose, I've found both good quality (Old Shimano XT hubs) and cheap rubbish (Specialized own brand hubs), coming adrift for no particular reason. It's always required a new hub to resolve the issue at some stage, though locking the cone & lock nut to the axle with a lock tight "glue/resin" on one side, has been a useful stopgap measure. I've always assumed it's been due to thead wear on the axle, though have never been able to clarify exactly what has caused the problem

Assuming you replace the wheel, it's worth paying for a good wheel. I saved £40 on a new rear wheel for the town bike last year, it lasted two weeks before being returned for trueing, the hub lasting 11 months before new cones etc, etc were needed

[amaferanga]

Have you been tightening the spokes yourself? If so I'd strongly suspect that you've overtightened them leading to the failure of the rim. If you haven't messed around with the spokes at all then I'd suspect a duff wheel.

[byegad]

Do not use these wheels, even for round the block.

They are shot and I strongly recommend you destroy them by sawing through the rim in case someone else picke them up from the tip and tries to use them.

[thirdcrank]

This is just speaking generally, rather than about that wheel: you do hear so much about counterfeit goods these days in other areas, it ought not to be surprising if this happened with bike stuff.

[enigmatic]

What others have said - spokes too tight caused rim to fail. Don't ride it under any circumstances, it's dangerous.

[Wildduck]

Ditto the over-tightened spokes. Disagree with the weight comment though.

Wheels definitely not fit for purpose, warranty or no warranty.

[531colin]

So to-day I was discarding a worn-through rim on the scrap pile at the back of the yard at the shop, and guess what I found?
That's right, a DH19 rim with exactly this fault.
Now I don't know the history of "our" rim, but the sidewall wear hadn't even reached the wear line.

cvaughan......I think I can make out the wear line in your picture, but only to the right hand side. When the rims are manufactured, they machine a groove in the middle of the braking surface, and this gets painted black like everything else. The brake blocks wear the rim sidewall away, when the "thin black line" at the bottom of the wear indicator groove disappears, the rims are worn thin enough to be unsafe and therefore need replacing. If this has happened to your rims, you wont get it done under warranty. However my opinion of the suitability of these rims for touring remains as I originally posted.

BTW, I have never seen a rim failure which I have attributed to the customer over-enthusiastically tightening spokes, and I think that is a complete red herring. (I am talking about touring rims here, not super-light stuff.)

[cvaughan]

Thank you everyone for your comments... I def haven't been riding up and down kerbs or smashing it into potholes... I love the bike too much to be doing that!!! I've also checked the rim for any other damage on the edge of the rim or the tyre and all look perfectly fine..

I have never made any adjustment to the spokes, in fact it still has the original inner tube in it...

cvaughan......I think I can make out the wear line in your picture, but only to the right hand side.

It's still on it's first set of brake blocks so if it has worn through that quickly it's going to cost me a fortune to maintain. I'm not a bike expert but I am certainly not impressed.. It's a touring bike, built to carry weight, be durable and be built to last.. for something like this to happen so soon is disappointing.. I'm guessing that Ridgeback have made the saving on the wheels...

I'll take it back Saturday and argue the point with them...

Any more comments are still welcome!

[531colin]

I don't suppose it has Shimano brake blocks? They are notorious for being too hard/abrasive, and wearing the rim out. You want Kool stop blocks. Expensive but cheaper than new rims!
Do check the wear line, I think if the rim is worn down to the limit, they will weasel out of a warranty replacement.

[thirdcrank]

531colin

I don't see the connection between the wear indicator - which is in the braking surface of the rim - and this damage which is nowhere near that. It's not a matter of the wear indicator doing its job, or are you saying that wear to wear indicator = rim is kaput, even if some other part fails?

The manufacturer's www shows a cross-section of this type of rim (you have to go to "cross trekking" page 2 in the link)

http://www.alexrims.com/

It looks as though the part of the section holding the spokes has ripped out just where you might (or a total layman like me might) expect it to be strongest - where there is an internal brace. Incidentally this group of rims is headed with this comment:

As today's cyclists ride farther and are carrying heavier loads. A tougher and stronger rim is needed.

It looks as though they may be right, but not in the way they meant.

cvaughan

I still haven't picked up if there is any connection between the looseness of the hub you mentioned, such as spokes also pulling away the flange, or if it's just a question of your adjusting the hub that caused you to look at the rim.

[531colin]

TC
I'm saying if the rim is worn down to the indicator line they will say it needs chucking away anyway.
I agree that sidewall wear has had nothing to do with the fatigue failure cracks we see.

[531colin]

TC

Thanks for the site link, I never thought of that. The rim looks a bit thin to me where they are failing, when I click on the "thumbnail" of the DRC19 and get a cross-section drawing. Also their wear indicator is only 0.3mm. deep, thats not a lot of wear for a touring rim!