Taco'd Ksyrium Story

[tmanley]

While riding down a local road today with a friend, I braked hard coming into a corner and felt some weird modulation through the rear brake level. It felt like the wheel wasn't true and that the braking power was oscillating. After exiting the corner I asked my buddy to look at my tire from behind and he said it looked true.

About a half mile later I was coming into another corning under hard braking and felt the same sensation. This time it got worse and ended up causing my back wheel to skip off the ground several times. I was almost to the corner and just starting to make the turn when the rear wheel bent and I crashed. Luckily I was ok and my helmet did its job.

After making sure all buddy parts were functioning (which they were) I looked down and saw a pretty bad taco'd rear wheel. Man was I pissed! This wheel only had 1,500 miles on it and never displayed any problems.

This was the second Ksyrium SSC SL that I know of to have problems in the past week. A another friend of mine had his rim split where several spoke nipples pulled through.

So, now I got to figure out to do next. The wheel is under warranty, but I'm leary of Mavic's since this is a pretty bad failure of the product. Before buying the wheel all input/feedback from others said they were 'bombproof'. Not this one...I guess it might be time to go the custom route and get some more stable for my 215 lbs. frame.

Any feedback or questions are welcomed...

-Thanks, Todd

BTW, my CDA didn't get a scratch!

[onekgguy]

Yeah, that should not happen...just curious though...how much do you weigh?

[SoCalSteve]

Wow! Glad you are OK!!!

My thought is that a custom wheel built for you may be the better route next time. I am taller and weigh more than you and have no problems with Mavic Open Pro's and DT R 1.1's.

Chat up Ergott about a set!

Again, glad you are OK.

Steve

[Dude]

i dunno if you wacked it or what but this looks like the seam done up an' broked. Weird...

[Fixed]

bro the first time you feel some weird stuff get off and check it out .
that's mp bro glad you are ok you can always come up with another wheel
cheers

[BumbleBeeDave]

. .. have indeed been "bombproof" and have about 15k miles on them by now. I've had to replace the front and rear bearings, but no truing issues, cracks, etc.--and I've taken some major hits on them.

But mine are 2001 models, they weigh more than yours and don't have the shaved out part between the spokes. I think they've also pared down the hubs in several ways to save weight. It just might be that the Ksyriums of five years ago had the extra heft to support 215 pounds, but these new ones with material shaved out all over the place have drifted over into "stupid light" territory for heavier riders.

does Mavic have any kind of recommended weight limit on them now?

But in any event, I'm really glad you're OK and this didn't mess you up more than it did!

BBD

[tmanley]

I'm a little sore from the fall...took it w/ my butt and shoulder. I'll definitely be looking into the custom route going forward.

[coylifut]

I tried to destroy a rim not long ago to get it in the recycle bin. I couldn't believe how hard it was to do. I suspect the seam failed.

[a100mark]

A lady that I ride with often has also had an issue with her rear ksyrium. Her wheel only had about 200 miles on it when it's integrity was also compromised. can we say recall may be in the pipline........

[znfdl]

I have a set of 2002 Ksyrium's and they have been bomb proof. High miles on them and never had to have the wheels trued.

Glad that you are OK.

[Too Tall]

Pics. worth a thousand words. Tell Mavic to send you a set of Carbones.

[martianbait]

Wow...reading your post and had nearly the same experience about a month ago. Braked hard going into a turn and the wheel tacoed on me. Not Kyseriums, but Mavic Cosmos. Had less than 500 miles on them, but bought them second-hand, so not under warranty. Previous owner had less than 1000 miles.

Outside of Open Pros, I don't think I'll go with a Mavic product again.

[tmanley]

One thing I forgot to mention related to the crash was that the impact caused my Polar HRM unit (720i) strap to break. As I hit the strap broke and the watch went flying over the edge of the road; luckily it was the watch and not me. So now I'm out a HRM unit and a wheel!

I'll probably revisit the crash site later this week and try to hike down the side of the road to see if it's there...trust me, I didn't want to do this in my cycling gear and shoes since the slope was way too steep and I'd probably get poison oak from walking through the shrubs.

[shaq-d]

i'm 220, would never use a 20 spoke wheel... mavic open pros are fine, as is velocity deep-v's...

sd

[Skrawny]

Bummer, sorry about the crash.
I thought Ks were bomber. Mine have held true through a lot of abuse.
-s

[LegendRider]

Wow...reading your post and had nearly the same experience about a month ago. Braked hard going into a turn and the wheel tacoed on me. Not Kyseriums, but Mavic Cosmos. Had less than 500 miles on them, but bought them second-hand, so not under warranty. Previous owner had less than 1000 miles.

Outside of Open Pros, I don't think I'll go with a Mavic product again.

These are the first reports I've ever heard of Mavic wheels spontaneously "tacoing." Very disturbing to say the least.

[alancw3]

i have kysrium elites on my six13 and was skepticle of the bladed spokes but i have to say i have hit some very bad pot holes and not a bit of untrue. can't say enough about the wheels and this is from a vintage bike person who is very wary of new fangled things. i love the elites!

[Ahneida Ride]

Tmanley

Glad you are not injured seriously.

This is why I ride CXP-33's mated to White Hubs. 36by3 lacing.

[tmanley]

36by3 lacing.

I've been giving some serious thought to this lacing on my new rear wheel.

[SoCalSteve]

At 6' 5" 245 pounds and losing, I run 32 x 3 cross on all my wheels and find this to be very adequate. Never a broken spoke. But, with the roads of Los Angeles as poor as they are, I do find myself retruing wheels quite often.......But, I must say that I am an anal perfectionist and I am sure most people wouldnt take the time to true a wheel that is only slightly out of true. I do.

Chat with some of the finer wheel builders and see what they have to say. Both Mike Garcia and Ergott agreed that 32 spoke x 3 cross was fine for my weight.

Good luck,

Steve

[tmanley]

This afternoon I drove back up to where the crash happened to see if I could find my Polar HRM that flew off the handlebars when I crashed. As I arrived to the scene it felt weird to be back at the scene where it all happened. I parked the car and took several photos before starting my search.

The first photo is from the edge of the turn looking back up the hill; the second photo is looking down the road into the corner where the crash took place. The final picture shows where I would have exited the corner if I had been on two wheels.

After finishing up w/ the pictures, I donned a long-sleeve t-shirt and gloves in case I was going to run into any poison oak down the side of the hill. As I walked and searched along the side of the road I found my lost handlebar tape plug. It was about 20 feet farther down the road from where I slid to a stop. Knowing that this part made it farther down the road made me think that the added weight/momentum of the HRM might have launced it even farther. Come to find out this was true...another 25 feet down the road and about 10 feet over the side and down the hill I saw the HRM!

I rushed home and downloaded the data to see what could be discovered. Now keep in mind my HRM takes a reading every 5 seconds, so a lot can happen in that amount of time. Well it must! Because the last reading I have on that road was 32.5mph. I know now that I can stop in less than 5 seconds if I'm doing 32mph...but I'd rather not do it with a taco'd wheel and road rash.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . .that at least you could find your HRM and hopefully still use it OK. Things were bad enough already . . .

BBD

[Fixed]

bro looks like you have a nice place to ride .
cheers

[Louis]

I rushed home and downloaded the data to see what could be discovered.

Doesn't the NTSB usually do this part of the investigation?

[tmanley]

bro looks like you have a nice place to ride .
cheers

Yeah, it's a great road to ride. Here are the details from Google Earth:

Latitude: 37°10'15.52"N
Longitude: 122° 1'39.22"W

[znfdl]

tmanley:

The combination of your story and my creaking rear ksyrium caused me to trash the wheels. Ergott got an order last night for some new wheels.

[tmanley]

tmanley:

The combination of your story and my creaking rear ksyrium caused me to trash the wheels. Ergott got an order last night for some new wheels.

What did you end up getting?

I've got some new wheels coming too from a Bay Area builder. Ti grey Velocity Aerohead rims, silver CX-ray spokes, silver White Industries hubs...32 front, 36 rear.

[SoCalSteve]

tmanley:

The combination of your story and my creaking rear ksyrium caused me to trash the wheels. Ergott got an order last night for some new wheels.

Great decision! Keep it in the Forum family!!!

Good luck with your new wheel set,

Steve

[znfdl]

What did you end up getting?

White Indutries Campy Hub 32 rear, 28 front
Velocity Aerohead OC Rear, regular front
Wheelsmith 14g drive side, Sapim Laser non drive and front, 3x all around.
Should be lighter than my 2002 Ksyriums and stronger.

[97CSI]

bro looks like you have a nice place to ride. cheersLooks very much like the roads we are fortunate to ride around the Philadelphia area. Along the Brandywine River (think Revolutionary War battle), French Creek, Delaware River, etc. Lots of climbing and many river/creek roads covered with trees. Great in spring/summer/fall and icy as hell in the winter.

Good luck with the new wheels.

[Ken Robb]

beautiful road--I would be afraid to go 32mph with such seemingly limited vision ahead. I don't think I could stop or evade an unseen ugly surprise around the corner like a car stopped or puked auto coolant. I learned this the hard way riding motorcycles.

[tmanley]

The ride I was on was a century from Palo Alto, up through the Santa Cruz Mtns, then down to Soquel and back up through Santa Cruz and up into the mountains again. About 9,000 feet of climbing.

As for the road, I was on it around 8:45am in the morning along with a large group of other cyclists. Enough people were on route that it looked like the TdF when the peloton gets spread out. Riders were very good about yelling 'car up' or 'car back' and the one vehicle we did see was going slow and honking on the horn as it came around a blind corner. All in all it was pretty safe...I was more afraid of the random branches and roadkill that might get in the way.

[Brons2]

I would have taken that corner at 32.5 :D

braking, smraking :D

[medici]

This afternoon I drove back up to where the crash happened

The first photo is from the edge of the turn looking back up the hill; the second photo is looking down the road into the corner where the crash took place. The final picture shows where I would have exited the corner if I had been on two wheels.



Hey, that looks like Summit Road (Skyline?) up near Black Road. Tricky, narrow road. Glad you came out of it OK.

Pete

[Lincoln]

I miss my Integra.

[tmanley]

Hey, that looks like Summit Road (Skyline?) up near Black Road. Tricky, narrow road. Glad you came out of it OK.

Pete

Bingo! You win the prize. I was about a mile north of the Bear Creek/Summit intersection when I went down.