My front Mavic Open Pro rim ....

[Scoosh]

... looks like this now

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On Friday I set out on a 90km ride from Edinburgh to Aberfoyle for the week-end, with my wife driving up to meet me and early on, going up a slight hill, the front tyre exploded

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I hadn't hit a pothole, bump or anything else - it just went BANG !

Didn't take me long to work out that this was not an ordinary flat tyre, so stopped quickly and saw a bit of the rim flopping about and getting into the spokes.

Ride Over.

Fortunately my good lady was still at home, I was only 8km into the ride, so she graciously came and picked me up.

I am relieved it went when it did - 30-50 secs earlier and I would have been doing 35kph coming downhill

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The rim is just over 2 years old, has done maybe 8,000km. It doesn't look as if the rim is worn through, so what could cause this to happen ?

 

[accountantpete]

That looks to be down to wear of the braking surface - although it may be due to an over-inflated tyre or an inherent defect.

Get a ruler and lay it edge on across the remaining good braking surface. There will be a gap - if you can get the edge of 3 or more pages of glossy paper in between then the braking surface is worn and that is the cause.

If the wear is less than that then I'd see if Mavic will replace the rim.

BTW - this usually happens to the front wheel as this is used in braking more than the rear. You should check the rear for wear though.

 

[dan_bo]

I've had that on 2 younger open pros. Just to let you know.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Looks like a classic case of a worn rim to me being used at a high PSI. 8000 - 10000 km use in all weathers up n down hills is about right for a lightweight race Open Pro in my opinion.

I keep a very close eye on my Open Pros. They are not the hardest wearing rims though they are tough, lightweight and make a excellant wheel.

I went through a pair of Open Pro rims in just over 12month a few year back, though I was commmuting in them 5 days a week in all weathers 40km a day, then doing 200km most weekends in the hills in all weathers.

Edit. Dont forget Open Pros are lightweight race rims. Not hardie touring rims.

 

[2Loose]

Ouchy! That has just made me check my cxp22's as they have done over 6k km... but then again they are leather compared to velvet.

 

[Scoosh]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

accountantpete - I'll have a measure up tomorrow and see if it is just 'fair wear and tear' - and checking the rear is very good advice too. VMT

YM - I do a bit of audax riding and the Open Pros were always highly recommended by the audax brigade - 'light, fast and bombproof' was the general response. Lightweight race rims ?? Ooops

Usually 100psi.


If not OPs - what rims are recommended ?

 

[Telemark]

Eeeek - glad this happened when you were going uphill, and that you (and the rest of the bike, of course) are ok!

May I recommend poison-bikes.de for good value wheelsets built to your specification. HJ says to use "google translate" if your German is not good enough... delivery for a wheelset is 10 EURO, that's where I got my new wheels from - they arrived very quickly (10 days) and perfectly true; the company came recommended by MrsHJsCousin, who uses them all the time

They even do Mavic Open Pro rims if you want more of the same

T

 

[HJ]

There is another good reason for converting to disc brakes...

 

[ColinJ]

Hmm, I was just looking at my 12 year old Open Pro wheels and wondering if it was worth sorting out the hubs ... I think I might retire them after all!

 

[YahudaMoon]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

accountantpete - I'll have a measure up tomorrow and see if it is just 'fair wear and tear' - and checking the rear is very good advice too. VMT

YM - I do a bit of audax riding and the Open Pros were always highly recommended by the audax brigade - 'light, fast and bombproof' was the general response. Lightweight race rims ?? Ooops

Usually 100psi.


If not OPs - what rims are recommended ?

Id stick with Open Pro. Why change from something excellant to something else ?
100 psi is safe. Those rims take up to 160 psi I think. Though a worn rim won't

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Hmm, I was just looking at my 12 year old Open Pro wheels and wondering if it was worth sorting out the hubs ... I think I might retire them after all!

rims only cj. your hubs should be ok. swapping rims takes 1hr watching the sopas and maybe a tenner for a final truing at blazing saddles.

 

[ColinJ]

rims only cj. your hubs should be ok. swapping rims takes 1hr watching the sopas and maybe a tenner for a final truing at blazing saddles.

The problem is that the hubs are worn so they need sorting, and I was looking at the rims and thinking that they might also be a bit worn, and given that most people suggest new spokes with new rims, that makes me wonder whether to bother at all? I might just take them down to Blazing Saddles when I have the cash and see what they reckon.

I also have a pair of Campagnolo Protons whose rear hub is kaput (and I might have lost some of the parts from the freehub!) and I'd like to get them working again.

I want to get all three of my bikes back in full working order. At the moment, only my Basso is usable and that needs some TLC too!

 

[brockers]

Hmm, I was just looking at my 12 year old Open Pro wheels and wondering if it was worth sorting out the hubs ... I think I might retire them after all!

The older Open Pros are higher quality than the recent ones.

My rear OP rim is eleven years old and, due to believing that braking is for wimps, there still appears to be plenty of meat on the walls. (A shop wheelbuilder OK'd them too.) So still another decade left before I even think of replacing it!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

The problem is that the hubs are worn so they need sorting, and I was looking at the rims and thinking that they might also be a bit worn, and given that most people suggest new spokes with new rims, that makes me wonder whether to bother at all? I might just take them down to Blazing Saddles when I have the cash and see what they reckon.

I also have a pair of Campagnolo Protons whose rear hub is kaput (and I might have lost some of the parts from the freehub!) and I'd like to get them working again.

I want to get all three of my bikes back in full working order. At the moment, only my Basso is usable and that needs some TLC too!

i've never put new spokes in and not had any problems and i've had to do it quite a lot. bearings take about an hour all round and are cheap as chips. i can come over and help if you want.

 

[ColinJ]

i've never put new spokes in and not had any problems and i've had to do it quite a lot. bearings take about an hour all round and are cheap as chips. i can come over and help if you want.

I'm going to do the Protons first because they are lighter and in better condition.

Thanks for the offer, but I have a 'resident' mechanic at the moment who keeps saying the same things as you about what a simple job it is so I'll get him to do them some time he calls round for a cuppa after work.

I think the problem was that I left it too long and had pitted the cones, so I need to get hold of some new ones. I found a company selling Campagnolo spares last night so I'll order some when my next affiliate payment comes through.

Speaking of coming over ... what happened to our weekday rides - is your summer break over now? Are you planning to join us for Season of Mists on October 2nd, or possibly a ride to Holmfirth on Friday, September 30th if you are free?

The older Open Pros are higher quality than the recent ones.

My rear OP rim is eleven years old and, due to believing that braking is for wimps, there still appears to be plenty of meat on the walls. (A shop wheelbuilder OK'd them too.) So still another decade left before I even think of replacing it!

I think mine definitely have some wear on them. I wouldn't say that I'm a (complete) wimp, but descending without braking on some of the hills round here isn't an option! It's a question of just how much wear. Perhaps I'll get some vernier callipers on them and measure how much metal is left there.