Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017 - Splitting Cracked Rims

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NewWheels2017

New Member
Location
London
Thank you in advance for reading or replying to this.

RE: Question about how long a bike wheel should last for before it splits

I decided to start cycling to work in July 2017. In that month I bought the 'Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017' from Cycle Republic.

It was all working fine until February 2019 (about 19 months later) when the back wheel split.

I phoned a Halford's store to ask how much a new wheel would cost, and they asked me if I had visited the store earlier to ask the same question, as some else had reported the exact same issue with the 'Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017' and they were aware that there was a backlog of orders for the back wheels for this particular model.

I ended up booking an appointment with Cycle Republic for repair, and they informed me that my only option was to buy a replacement back wheel, which was £150 (this is because it is an electric bike and the motor is built into the wheel).

When I collected the bike, and asked for the wheel with the split rim back, the nice chap who gave me my repaired bike back said he didn't know which one was mine because they had two wheels in the store with split rims from a 'Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017' as they had also carried out a replacement on another customer's bike that day.

At this point it seemed like the split might be more related to do with a poor built quality than my usage. My cycle commute is about 15 minutes, which I make everyday weekdays, apart from Dec/Jan.

Cycle Republic customer service has told me that they aren't aware of any issue with the 'Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017' and that the split rims occur with normal use, and are more likely to occur with electric bikes and bikes with 20" wheels.

Has anyone else had this issue with a split rim on a electric/20" wheel bike after 19 months? And/or would this be considered reasonable a wheel to only last 19 months?

Keywords: Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017 Splitting split cracki cracked rims wheel

https://www.cyclerepublic.com/carrera-crosscity-folding-electric-bike.html

Screenshot 2019-04-16 at 14.53.36.png
 
Location
Loch side.
Both those rims split due to brake pad wear. The smaller the wheel, the quicker it wears.
It will happen again, it is normal.
That's probably a rear wheel, in which case, you may want to learn to use your front brake more than your rear. That saves rims.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Brake pad wear - just get a new rim built in.

I've done one the same on a commuting road bike - but with 110 PSI in the rear wheel it exploded quite spectacularly going round a round a bout.

I used to wear rims out in 18 months even on my fixed wheel bike whilst commuting in an urban/city environment.
 

keithmac

Guru
As said you could have your old wheel rebuilt and ready to go!.

My Gtechs done well so far (3 years) but I keep an eye on the wear markers on the rims (black indented line).
 

chriscross1966

Über Member
Location
Swindon
Also look at your brake pads... thete are great ones that the pads wear fast but save the rims, and there are some effective ones that are quite abrasive and will eat rims, especially cheaper end of the market small wheelers. Talk to your LBS....
 
Location
Loch side.
I would disagree with the above.

It seems like it's prematurely worn to me.

I had a similar thing happen to me on my Brompton after what I considered to be too few mile, but most people seemed to say that it's because I didn't clean them often enough.

The thread's here:

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/rear-rims-just-cracked.205315/

You seemed to have learnt nothing from previous advice and still stubbornly insist that it is a faulty product.

A rim is a wear part.
A smaller rim wears quicker than a large one.
A dirty rim wears quicker than a clean one.
A rim splits because the wear track is worn thin and air pressure presses it outwards, initiating the crack.
The fact that was the first time it happened to you is not proof that it should happen routinely.
Rims don't wear through shear mileage, but through braking applied over distance.
If you cycle a million miles and never brake, your rim will not fail at the brake track.
This is not a mystery, rocket science, unusual, an anomaly or conspiracy.
 

Kell

Veteran
You seemed to have learnt nothing from previous advice and still stubbornly insist that it is a faulty product.

A rim is a wear part.
A smaller rim wears quicker than a large one.
A dirty rim wears quicker than a clean one.
A rim splits because the wear track is worn thin and air pressure presses it outwards, initiating the crack.
The fact that was the first time it happened to you is not proof that it should happen routinely.
Rims don't wear through shear mileage, but through braking applied over distance.
If you cycle a million miles and never brake, your rim will not fail at the brake track.
This is not a mystery, rocket science, unusual, an anomaly or conspiracy.

As far as i can see there was nothing in the previous thread that constituted good advice. Lots of hearsay and supposition about cleaning regimes.

Have you learnt (sic) nothing from the update I posted which says that the replacement rim lasted well over twice as many miles over the same route in London and which now includes a daily 40mph hill that I brake on - putting even more 'wear' on the rim.

As far as I am concerned, 16 months is an unacceptably short period of time for a rim to last. That might be OK if you were doing 100 miles a day in a city where you're braking from a fast speed to a slow speed very often.

But the OP said 15 minute commute (each way). 30 minutes of cycling for me is around 7.5 miles. Do that 5 days a week and it's 37.5 miles a week. Multiply that by 16 months at 4.3 weeks per month (as the OP stated they don't cycle in Dec/Jan) and you get 2,580 miles. There or thereabouts.

Longer than the wheel I referred to lasted, but then it's a 20" wheel as opposed to a 16" wheel. With a circumference of around 62.8 inches as opposed to 50.2. so in actual terms because "a smaller rim wears quicker (sic) than a large one," it should have lasted 2,750 miles to be the equivalent of mine.

You also seem unable to understand that I've been commuting by bike for over 20 years, and riding bikes for more than 40. The Brompton has only been for four of those. Never in that time has any other rim on any other bike I've owned split. And I rode the same route for five years previously on a Dahon with 26" wheels (81.6 inch circumference) and used the same cleaning 'regime'. By your logic my Dahon's wheels would have lasted around 3,520 miles before my rear rim split. If that was normal wear.

But it didn't. So I still argue that it isn't.

That wheelset lasted for over 10,000 miles on that bike and when I junked the bike because the frame cracked, I kept the wheels and transferred them to another bike of mine. And guess what, they're still going strong with minimal signs of wear.
 
Location
Loch side.
As far as i can see there was nothing in the previous thread that constituted good advice. Lots of hearsay and supposition about cleaning regimes.

Have you learnt (sic) nothing from the update I posted which says that the replacement rim lasted well over twice as many miles over the same route in London and which now includes a daily 40mph hill that I brake on - putting even more 'wear' on the rim.

As far as I am concerned, 16 months is an unacceptably short period of time for a rim to last. That might be OK if you were doing 100 miles a day in a city where you're braking from a fast speed to a slow speed very often.

Well that jab just backfired on you.

Learnt.jpg
 
Location
Loch side.
As far as i can see there was nothing in the previous thread that constituted good advice. Lots of hearsay and supposition about cleaning regimes.

Have you learnt (sic) nothing from the update I posted which says that the replacement rim lasted well over twice as many miles over the same route in London and which now includes a daily 40mph hill that I brake on - putting even more 'wear' on the rim.

As far as I am concerned, 16 months is an unacceptably short period of time for a rim to last. That might be OK if you were doing 100 miles a day in a city where you're braking from a fast speed to a slow speed very often.

But the OP said 15 minute commute (each way). 30 minutes of cycling for me is around 7.5 miles. Do that 5 days a week and it's 37.5 miles a week. Multiply that by 16 months at 4.3 weeks per month (as the OP stated they don't cycle in Dec/Jan) and you get 2,580 miles. There or thereabouts.

Longer than the wheel I referred to lasted, but then it's a 20" wheel as opposed to a 16" wheel. With a circumference of around 62.8 inches as opposed to 50.2. so in actual terms because "a smaller rim wears quicker (sic) than a large one," it should have lasted 2,750 miles to be the equivalent of mine.

You also seem unable to understand that I've been commuting by bike for over 20 years, and riding bikes for more than 40. The Brompton has only been for four of those. Never in that time has any other rim on any other bike I've owned split. And I rode the same route for five years previously on a Dahon with 26" wheels (81.6 inch circumference) and used the same cleaning 'regime'. By your logic my Dahon's wheels would have lasted around 3,520 miles before my rear rim split. If that was normal wear.

That wheelset lasted for over 10,000 miles on that bike and when I junked the bike because the frame cracked, I kept the wheels and transferred them to another bike of mine. And guess what, they're still going strong with minimal signs of wear.

I see now, it is a conspiracy against you because:

Tenure trumps fact.
Anecdote trumps reason.
Miles count more than use during miles.
Variables can be eliminated with simple arithmetic.
It has never happened before, therefore it can't happen.
Cleaning doesn't remove abrasive paste.
You have experience with wheels which never wear out.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
It's wear. Also factor in wetter rides will increase wear. As said, I'd go through rims in 18 months of urban commuting, and that was on a fixie, with additional leg braking. The rim is also filthy, increasing wear.

It looks just like mine did when it went bang.
 

Kell

Veteran
I see now, it is a conspiracy against you because:

Tenure trumps fact.
Anecdote trumps reason.
Miles count more than use during miles.
Variables can be eliminated with simple arithmetic.
It has never happened before, therefore it can't happen.
Cleaning doesn't remove abrasive paste.
You have experience with wheels which never wear out.

No I have experience with several wheel sets over the same conditions during a total period of 15 years. The fact that I have ridden the same route day-in, day-out for that amount of time would all but eliminate variables in any reasonable test.

You seem to be either incapable of accepting that fact or are being deliberately obtuse for the sake of appearing clever. Ironically.

I don’t think it’s a conspiracy. And it’s not anecdotal. Rational thought would dictate that if it only happens once, that’s the anomaly, not the norm.

Regardless of whether or not you agree, I don’t think that it’s acceptable.

Still i’m on my third rear rim now so how many miles do you predict this one will last? Maybe I’ll update this thread in another 2,000 miles and accept that they do wear out more quickly. Or maybe it will be in over 5,000 in which case two out three wins it for me.

Whichever way it goes, I think it’s unacceptable.

Oh and you’re right about the jab. Cheap shot and that did backfire. For some reason I thought you were American.
 
OP
OP
NewWheels2017

NewWheels2017

New Member
Location
London
Many thanks all for the feedback!

I can see how cycling in a city, which results in a lot of braking, and the additional force of the back wheel has contributed to the rim splitting in this way.

I think my takeaway from this is that:
  1. Keep the rims clean to lessen abrasion
  2. Check the quality of my brake pads
  3. Use the back brakes less often (where possible)
  4. Look into whether the back wheel (with the built in motor) can be rebuilt
 
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