[HellMuttCracker]

Went riding today, and 15minutes into my ride, this happened. I weigh 135lbs, and was just coming off a short hill climb when my Stans Crest 29" front wheel failed. I live in Houston where our terrain is xc with roots/sand/dirt. I got the wheelset at the beginning of 2011, so the wheels are right at 3 months old.

I am really surprised that the wheel only lasted 3 months..

 

[customfab]

you need to give some indication of how it happened. Since it didn't fail at or near the seam I'm pretty sure you did something to cause this failure. I've seen people destroy well built wheels in a single ride, doesn't mean it was the wheels fault. Think about that next time before you try to deface a company with a reasonably good reputation.

 

[clarkrw3]

JRA... in years working in bike shops at least 85% of wheel failures were this way!




Just Riding Along.....

 

[HellMuttCracker]

Ok, I went riding at 10:35am on 3/5/2011. The local trails got a sprinkle over night, but it wasn't raining. I started out 3mile xc trail (the green trail at Memorial Park aka Cambodia). As I came up a hill near the picnic loop, turned slightly to the right went over a root, then boom, i went down. I got up and saw my tire off the wheel and started walking to the trail head (about 20 yards away). On my way out, i noticed a kink in the wheel. Walked to the picnic loop and found a ride home.

Was riding at 27psi with the Geax AKA29" tires, fork wasn't locked out.
(I really like the tires btw)

Rode on the wheelset that came w/ my bike for 3 years w/ out having to true the front wheel, so it seems to be a defective product.

I have a spare front wheel but it still sucks to ruin a front wheel w/ only about 20 rides on it

 

[gfs69]

Regardless of how it happened, that sucks. On a side note, the last time I weighed 135 pounds was in third grade.

 

[bmw]

Why does no one seem to believe him? Sometimes wheels fail right?

I don't see the part where he is slamming Stans or making a big deal about it...

 

[Reignman]

Nice one Cruso. Yep,looks like JRA to me.

 

[playpunk]

Ouch. I don't know why the haters are coming on so strong - it sucks that the wheel broke.

Was it built by Stans or by your shop?

 

[JSD303]

Were the wheels looked at after you started riding them? Usually a new set of wheels will need to be trued a little after the initial break-in... Just curious if perhaps it happened over time.. small crack from a square hit, but nothing catastrophic... then continuing to ride and the crack eventually caused the failure. How often did you look at the wheels or clean the bike etc? When was the last inspection you made of them where they were 100% fine?

I'm heavy and roll Flows, but I check them regularly and made sure to have them trued again after breaking them in. Those wheels have been perfect for over 3 years now. I would have destroyed that Crest on the first ride with my weight. I'm glad you didn't get injured!

 

[HellMuttCracker]

::EDIT::

Thanks Admin - For cleaning up this thread...

I have learned from my day today that for me, posting a photo/story of a product failing on MTBR.com/fourms is a probably a bad idea.
It actually made my day worse (broke my wheel/posted story/was attacked by a troll). I really don't post too often anymore and today I was reminded why.

The next time I get a brand new wheelset or a fairly new bike product and it fails, I will think twice about posting it on here.
Again, thanks admin for cleaning up all the troll messages.

 

[skiahh]

you need to give some indication of how it happened. Since it didn't fail at or near the seam I'm pretty sure you did something to cause this failure. I've seen people destroy well built wheels in a single ride, doesn't mean it was the wheels fault. Think about that next time before you try to deface a company with a reasonably good reputation.

There will ALWAYS be someone who jumps to the company's defense, no matter what. While I agree with your first sentence, the rest of your post is just plain stupid until hearing what you asked for in the first place.

Ask the question, get the answer.... THEN call the poster a liar if you feel the need. Don't do it all in one step.

Were the wheels looked at after you started riding them? Usually a new set of wheels will need to be trued a little after the initial break-in...

Really? They were 3 months old!! How much looking after do you need to do on something brand new? Sure, if there was something obviously wrong with them, you shouldn't ride them, but after only 3 months... truing and inspecting and whatnot? When do you ride amongst all that truing and cleaning and inspecting and NDI testing you're doing on your wheels?

The wheels are 3 months old, the guy barely weighs more than his bike and lives (so presumably) rides in Houston. Houston... what kind of things can you really hit in Houston to damage rims? Sheesh, give the guy a break.

His post said the wheels failed and he was disappointed. And rightfully so, I would say.

I'm sure Stans or whoever built them will warranty them, so I don't see any besmirching of reputation or whatever... just his experience and his disappointment. Now, if they don't make good on the rim, then we can begin the besmirching!

 

[HellMuttCracker]

errr.. the wheels 2 months old.. (b/c i got them at Jan. 2011)I got the wheels at the beginning of Jan.. so they were pretty new...
it is funny how defensive people get about products...

 

[Mojo Troll]

another troll

Perhaps another troll should chim in. Seeing how Houston has an elevation gain of maybe 5' I'd say theres more to the story than appears.

I also weigh 135 pounds and ride 355's tubeless. My riding is in the Ozarks wheres theres ton's of rocks and am confedent in my rims. Excellent rim. Would buy them again in a heartbeat.

I also ride ESI grips. If installed correctly using windex or alochol. These things dont budge. Best bang for your buck for a bike IMO.

Judgeing by how much your grip slipped and the dirt on the right one. I'd say theres more to the story than what you are disclosing.

Looks more like a square edged hit such as a curb. Seeing how you were in a park. Maybe a big decrotive landscape rock?

It ain't cool to be a tool :nono: Got a close up pic of the rim where it failed?

 

[HellMuttCracker]

close up

:Edit: added a pic of the root/area I crashed.​

...jra

 

[AZ]

Kinda looks like it took an impact at an angle perhaps. Sucks none the less though.

 

[APSBiker]

I agree with the sentiment...

that the rim failure wasn't necessarily due to the rider. A rim that light will have very little margin for error in the manufacturing/finishing process. Even a small scratch, say in shipping, might be enough given a couple months of riding. Aluminum is finicky like that.

I'd love to hear about the outcome of how the Stan's people take care of this one, since I'm still tossing around the idea of a Crest-based wheelset in a couple months.

 

[Mojo Troll]

Judging by the dirt splatter on the drive side pedal. I'd say someone went over the bars.This is evident in the slipped right grip, which is over half muddy. Compared to a completely clean left grip. Thus tacoing a rim in the process.

Disclosure: I'm not a CSI, nor do I play one on MTBR. However, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

[APSBiker]

Contraversial Formum Distruption!

 

[car_nut]

I agree with the sentiment...

that the rim failure wasn't necessarily due to the rider. A rim that light will have very little margin for error in the manufacturing/finishing process. Even a small scratch, say in shipping, might be enough given a couple months of riding. Aluminum is finicky like that.

I'd love to hear about the outcome of how the Stan's people take care of this one, since I'm still tossing around the idea of a Crest-based wheelset in a couple months.

The whole failure from a scratch thing doesn't really apply to many real world situations. Even when it does, it occurs when something is subjected to severe fatigue loading. Rims spend most of their life under compression, so fatigue loading doesn't really apply. The picture also shows the rim folded over and not cracked, which means it hit something big and buckled.

 

[boomn]

I could see that happening if the tire burped all the air pressure or blew off the rim first in the corner (rare, but it happens), and then the riders weight and momentum was pushing the bare rim into the root.