[Riquez]

Today I noticed my WTB STP i23 TCS rear wheel has CRACKS at the spoke holes in about 7 places.
The front rim seems OK.

I have never adjusted the spoke tension. I have had the bike about 18 months.
My level of riding is very light. Mostly road & light trail riding. I go off drops 60cm or so, under a metre. Do a few small jumps. Probably about the minimum you can do to qualify for "leaving the ground" - ha ha

I don't know if it's always been like this & I never noticed... but I assume I would have noticed by now.

• How serious/dangerous is this?

• I also notice many white lines in the photos, like the rim material is full of stress/cracks - maybe that's normal or not a problem - do you know?

Thanks for your advice! :thumbsup:

 

[life behind bars]

Not normal, the rim is junk and should be replaced.

 

[crfoot]

Send the photo's to WTB and see about warranty. Not adjusting the spoke tension, I would leave that part out.

 

[*OneSpeed*]

Yup, that rim is done.

 

[LyNx]

As said, it's toast. Did they come on a complete bike build or did you buy them from somewhere pre-built, like an online shop etc? Weird that the tension would be so high to cause such a failure from properly built and tensioned wheels, would be interesting to know what the spoke tensions are. Definitely contact WTB, the warranty is 2 years AFAIK.
Just curious, but you did not mention how much you weigh OP, if you're a bigger dude, you could need a stronger rim/wheel build.

 

[Riquez]

Well thanks guys.
:sad:
oh well ...

It was a complete bike. 2017 Vitus Sentier VRS.

Any recommendations for a cost effective replacement?
It'll need to be i-23 or i-25 i guess, not sure if i should go wider due to tyre clearance.
27.5 32H

 

[*OneSpeed*]

Definitely go wider. What tire are you using?

 

[Riquez]

Definitely go wider. What tire are you using?

nobby nic 2.35 on the rear,
magic mary on the front

 

[*OneSpeed*]

how much do you weigh?

 

[Riquez]

67 kg

If wider is OK, then these Spank Spoon 32 (26.7 inner) are a nice price & get some good feedback. https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/jp/en/spank-spoon-32-mtb-rim/rp-prod65128

I'm drawn to the raceface arc27 since I have a lot of RF stuff on my bike, but these Arc get some rough reviews.

I have under 1cm (7mm?? maybe, hard to measure accurately) of clearance on the rear tyre so im worried wider rims will be risky.

 

[Lone Rager]

I have under 1cm (7mm?? maybe, hard to measure accurately) of clearance on the rear tyre so im worried wider rims will be risky.

Roughly speaking a rim adds 1/3 of its width to the width of the tire carcass. So if you go from 24mm to 30mm inner width rims, and change of 6mm, the tire will get about 2mm wider. Knobs usually move even less.

 

[One Pivot]

I'm about 100kg and my arc27 are doing great. They're very thin, but very stiff. Keep pressure reasonable and they're solid.

 

[WP Local]

how much do you weigh?

still such a dick...

 

[hoolie]

Yeah, no fat shaming! Hahaha. Ive really got to lose a few pounds. I had cracks in rims just like that. Bummer. I had to replace the rims to sell the bike. WTB Laser Disc Rims. WTB was very generous and warrantiied hoops. I really love that company. I try to buy a bit of stuff from them whenever it works out for me. WTB is great.

 

[LyNx]

I'd definitely step up to at a least a 25mm internal width, maybe 27mm. As to rims, I like WTB, have had good service out of them since I switched to them about 5 years ago. As to which model, I'd say if you want ultimate strength get the ST i25, something a bit lighter the new KOM Tough.

Well thanks guys.:sad:
oh well ...

It was a complete bike. 2017 Vitus Sentier VRS.Any recommendations for a cost effective replacement?
It'll need to be i-23 or i-25 i guess, not sure if i should go wider due to tyre clearance.
27.5 32H

 

[*OneSpeed*]

still such a dick...

Huh?

 

[Schulze]

Huh?

Dont you know? Never ask a woman her weight!

 

[mack_turtle]

I really like WTB rims. The rims that came on that bike are not their best rims, but they should not have cracked like that unless someone really over-tightened the spokes!

If you have to replace the rim at your own expense, the question now is- new rim or new wheel? If you replace just the rim, you'll probably need new spokes too. The cost of rim, spokes, and labor can add up quickly. Building your own wheels is an option (that's what I do) but it's a challenging skill to learn.

 

[Riquez]

I really like WTB rims. The rims that came on that bike are not their best rims, but they should not have cracked like that unless someone really over-tightened the spokes!

If you have to replace the rim at your own expense, the question now is- new rim or new wheel? If you replace just the rim, you'll probably need new spokes too. The cost of rim, spokes, and labor can add up quickly. Building your own wheels is an option (that's what I do) but it's a challenging skill to learn.

Quite right! Good points Turtle.
I considered this but I think a new rear wheel means getting into the complication of a rear hub & sourcing a supplier who can build it to spec.

I live on a remote pacific island. I can't buy from USA due to excessive shipping costs ($70+ shipping for a sticker (LOL)) so my options are Chain Reaction or a good european store that can send a rim for €20
I am guessing my LBS will charge $80 for building the wheel & doing the tubeless etc.

• Raceface ARC 27 from CRC the total will be about $150 (rim, spokes, labour) - getting good & bad feedback about this. not sure but would like to go for this.

• Spank 295 Oozy from Euro store, the total will be about $190 - cool colour & brand, light & good price. Some say the beadlock is hard to remove, i already have enough trouble setting up tubeless so i worry about more woes.

• WTB Tough i-25 looks good too, but that means about $210 - i'm sure it would be the safest option.

If I buy it all from CRC it make life easier, so just weighing up the pros/cons right now.

 

[scooterman]

I see rims crack like this all the time from all brands. Spoke tension can play a role. Also time, weight, and watts.

You can ride it lightly for a bit but eventually a spoke will pull through and you will be stranded. I would not do any extreme riding with the rim like that.