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WTB Frequency i23 rim cracks????

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#22 ·
I have also noticed that my i23 rims (bought in june 13 at crc) are WTB69 alloy and weight 20/30g more than advertised on WTB US site (around 480g).
Maybe they have reinforced rims due to cracking issue?
Anyway OP never state which alloy they where.
 
#23 ·
Fiendbear said:
Our local mtb-only bike shop has had nothing but problems with the i23 rims. So many failures that they won't sell them or put them on demo bikes anymore. They recommend Stan's Flow EX (or Arch EX for lighter riders) instead.
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loolilon said:
Wow
That's almost the story here...
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Humm, I wonder if they got the 7000 series Al.

An irony is that from your mtb is they recommend Stans rims, and WTB tires are a no no together because of Stans non standard rim wall height.
 
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#25 ·
ziscwg said:
Humm, I wonder if they got the 7000 series Al.

An irony is that from your mtb is they recommend Stans rims, and WTB tires are a no no together because of Stans non standard rim wall height.
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meltingfeather said:
Huh?
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So, Shiggy (the mod), knows more of the technical details about this. However, from 2 different bike shops (one in Downieville) said the WTB tires and Stans rims are not compatible. It has something to do with the bead size/shape and the Stans rim walls being a tad too small. So, the tires never seats in properly.
 
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#26 ·
ziscwg said:
So, Shiggy (the mod), knows more of the technical details about this. However, from 2 different bike shops (one in Downieville) said the WTB tires and Stans rims are not compatible. It has something to do with the bead size/shape and the Stans rim walls being a tad too small. So, the tires never seats in properly.
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I just didn't understand what you are trying to say.... what's the irony? Is he using WTB tires or does the shop only sell WTB? Maybe I missed something.
 
#27 ·
ziscwg said:
Humm, I wonder if they got the 7000 series Al.

An irony is that from your mtb is they recommend Stans rims, and WTB tires are a no no together because of Stans non standard rim wall height.
Click to expand...
meltingfeather said:
Huh?
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meltingfeather said:
I just didn't understand what you are trying to say.... what's the irony? Is he using WTB tires or does the shop only sell WTB? Maybe I missed something.
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Sorry, I assumed since the shop had WTB I23 rims, they were a WTB dealer. So, the irony is the LBS can do the Stans rim, but has to find another tire brand. Maybe I'm the only one who sees it like that.
 
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#28 ·
ziscwg said:
Sorry, I assumed since the shop had WTB I23 rims, they were a WTB dealer. So, the irony is the LBS can do the Stans rim, but has to find another tire brand. Maybe I'm the only one who sees it like that.
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ah... got it. sometimes i'm slow. :blush:
 
#32 ·
WTB i23 rim failure 7000 series

I bought 8 WTB i23 rims and have them built up as wheels in stock. All are 7000 series. SIX HAVE NEVER BEEN USED and have been sitting in stock.
Two have failed on a customer's bike. Image shows 5 that have failed ON THEIR OWN just sitting. My wheel builder has 30 years experience and has built well over 10,000 wheels. This is a manufacturing problem.

 
#33 ·
Yup. If it wasn't a manufacturing problem, WTB wouldn't have replaced the 7000 with the WT69.
I had the i19s in 7000, and couldn't get them to stay true. WTB warrantied them for free; also, they just gave me the i23 on request to use at the rear; plan on putting it to use this weekend. So:
Any notes on top-end kgf for the WT69 i23?
 
#34 ·
120 kgf max. Sometimes the rims will start getting unstable at a slightly lower tension, it varies from one rim to another. If you start noticing instability as you are truing/tensioning, it is best to back off from that tension if one of your criteria is long-term durability.
 
#35 ·
4slomo said:
120 kgf max. Sometimes the rims will start getting unstable at a slightly lower tension, it varies from one rim to another. If you start noticing instability as you are truing/tensioning, it is best to back off from that tension if one of your criteria is long-term durability.
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In general 120kgf should be considered an absolute max upper limit for 32h rim. No need to go higher and no upside. 110 is a better target IMO.
 
#36 ·
Well I'm in the same boat: had a set of wheels sitting in storage, looked at them the other night and one of the nipples had pulled thru the rim, much the same as other photos in this thread.

Anyone know if WTB will offer any sort of warranty coverage for a legitimately defective product? I sent them an email just now, curious if people have been successful getting support from WTB.

I'll let y'all know if they reply with anything interesting.
 
#37 ·
My bike is rolling on two 7000-series i23's, 29ers. Both are built with DT 2.0-1.8's and brass nipples.

I've got 2500 miles on the front and 2000 miles on the rear. No problems at all. Thanksgiving morning I bumped the rear wheel out of dish, I had a couple loose spokes and some nipples that were rounding. So yesterday I rebooted the wheel with new nipples.

The rim was in perfect shape. N cracked nipple holes, no non-recoverable deformation. Came right back to perfect true.

Both wheels have 3 cross tied and soldered spokes which maybe chances things a little.

Makes me wonder if these rims that are built and stored are suffering from not having a tire bead holding down tension.
 
#38 ·
Thought I might chime in as I not only own a set of these rims, but I have had the problem described. I don't remember if they were the 7000 series aluminum, or if they were the '69' series. But yes, it was due to being built with too much spoke tension on my rear wheel. WTB replaced the rim, and it was rebuilt at the correct tension. I've had no issues with the front wheel (laced to a lefty hub) and after a year, and 1 and a half seasons of racing, it's still true as can be.

The rebuilt rear wheel continued to be a problem, but the issue was from my frame being not 100% perfectly aligned, so it was difficult to get it dished right with good tension, so spokes kept getting loose. This was remedied by replacing it with a different, eyeletted rim that is doing just fine. I took the i23 that I had been using as a rear wheel and had it built up with a DMR convert 20mm front hub and it now lives on the front of a 160mm travel bike and 3 park days, and much other abuse later, still true as can be!

Overall, I am happy with these rims though. Very stiff, good profile, look nice (removed the stickers), tubeless setup is easy as can be, and the rims on their own aren't too pricey.
 
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#40 ·
WTB warranty

Metamorphic said:
Just discovered some cracks in my 7000 series i23. Will be calling WTB in the AM. How do they handle the warranty exchange?
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So, how did this turn out? I am a big fanboy (fanMAN) of WTB products. My Chris King singlespeed/WTB i23 build is 1.5 years old, and abused. I am kind of worried as some of my rides are 3 or 4 hours out and back. That's a long way to walk or deal with a wheel failure. Updates?
 
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