Wheel Life

[kevin_cambs_uk]

Commuting, I do just under 8,000 miles per year.
Last year (August) my rear wheel free hub wore out, but because it was an old wheel I could not get the spare, so I bought myself a new set of wheels. Bontrager Race X Lites.

The rear wheel has gone back under warranty for a cracked rim after 5,000 miles. I have my wife's rear wheel on my bike but this has lasted only 700 miles before 2 spokes snapped this week.

I am still waiting on the replacement from Trek, so I am going out today to get another rear wheel or new set, as I can't get to work otherwise.

After explaining all that, I wondered what people's thoughts are on how many miles I should expect to get from a wheel, am I expecting too much and 5,000 is pretty good and I should expect to buy a new rear wheel every year?

 

[Alien8]

I guess we're essentially talking road riding here so I would expect any half decent wheel to last until the rim wears out - and then you can rebuild it using the same hub.

A cracked rim, assuming you haven't been rock-hopping, would indicate a poor build or a real cheapo wheel to me.

Hubs could be a different matter - as you're a year-round rider they take a load of abuse from the winter weather, salt of the roads etc. Do you clean and re-grease them at all?

Anyway, your long-term plan should be to start building your own wheels - it's good fun you know.

 

[numbnuts]

on my touring bike the rear lasted 10,000 miles, the front one has done over 23,000 miles, but it all depends if you have to do a lot of braking on your rides

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

A cracked rim, assuming you haven't been rock-hopping, would indicate a poor build or a real cheapo wheel to me.

I think I have been unlucky, as it cost me £350.00 for the rear wheel...

 

[byegad]

I got through a set of rims on my commuter in a year. At 32 miles a day the rims wore down to the safety indicators fairly quickly I could positively hear the alloy scraping off the rims at the end of every wet commute. I kept my rims clean washing them after every wet ride and I monitored the pads every week rain or shine but after 32 miles in spray both rims were grinding when I braked. I didn't ride every day, only worked 4 days a week for a start so the mileage was possibly 4 0r 5000 miles. I could have gone further I guess but when the wear indicators disappeared I played safe, having seen a rim blow some years ago.