Crummy seams on Campagnolo Khamsin wheels.

[shinomaster]

So I gave my neighbor my old Fuji as he was broke, and he quickly wore out the Proton rims. It rains here a lot and he must commute awfully vigorously, as I hardly ever wear out rims, and I ride way more than he does. Anyway, I got him some replacement wheels off the internet from the UK of course and they arrived with a pretty crummy seam on the back. The metal just doesn't line up on the two halves perfectly so you can feel it. I'm used to better quality campy wheels obviously which have welded, machined seams. Since he's worn out two sets of wheels in two years I'm wondering if this will be a weak spot? He blew out the Fulcrum 7 when he over-inflated it but it was worn badly too.
The brake pads wont be hitting the raised area head on if that makes sense. It will exiting the pads to the rear . otherwise it would just destroy the pads. Maybe these were on clearance for a reason.. Sending a cheap wheel back to the UK seems like a PITA.

[shinomaster]

Photo

[Jimbo251]

The fact that you gave your pal one of your bikes, let alone bought him replacement rims speaks volumes about what a solid dude you are.
Need more people like this in the world. Props to you for being that kinda guy.

I have a pair of Velocity A23's that are way worse than your pic. They pulse like a mother under heavy braking. I guess we get what we pay for.

Your right about returning them to the UK tho, not worth the shipping. Only thing he can do is ride them till he wears them out.

[shinomaster]

The fact that you gave your pal one of your bikes, let alone bought him replacement rims speaks volumes about what a solid dude you are.
Need more people like this in the world. Props to you for being that kinda guy.

I have a pair of Velocity A23's that are way worse than your pic. They pulse like a mother under heavy braking. I guess we get what we pay for.

Your right about returning them to the UK tho, not worth the shipping. Only thing he can do is ride them till he wears them out.

Aw thanks Jimbo! He actually paid for these but I ordered them. He's a big jock and brakes harder than I do I guess.. He will likely wear these out in a year, I know.. he just commutes everywhere.

[oldpotatoe]

Aw thanks Jimbo! He actually paid for these but I ordered them. He's a big jock and brakes harder than I do I guess.. He will likely wear these out in a year, I know.. he just commutes everywhere.

Used to be pretty common to take a mallet to try to align the seams of non machined sidewall rims..try that, finish with some Emory paper. UK? Wonder if it’s a second.

[shinomaster]

Used to be pretty common to take a mallet to try to align the seams of non machined sidewall rims..try that, finish with some Emory paper. UK? Wonder if it’s a second.

I wouldn't be surprised as they were $150 for the pair!

[ultraman6970]

File the seam so the brake pad is not doing tac-tac-tac all the time, and good to go.

[staggerwing]

Out of curiosity, what brake pads is your buddy using. Tried some "low noise" pads from Velo Orange once, and ruined a rim in one short summer of hard commuting. Those pads just seemed to pick up and hold road grit, turning them into abrasive blocks.

Never had the issue again after going back to salmon Cool Stop or Yokozuna pads. YMMV.

[aaronf]

Another option that I've successfully done many times is to sand it smooth with a random-orbital sander. Yes, you'll remove the anodization and/or machining marks, but if you're OK with those caveats it works really well. I've always used a light touch with 220-grit in the area of the seam until smooth. Obviously you'll need to remove the tire so the sander can make contact parallel to the brake track.
Once complete, you may initially feel a slight pulse while braking due to the different surface finish but I've always had that dissipate to near un-noticeable after a couple hundred miles. I think the pads ultimately deposit/imbed a bit of material onto the rim and then the braking is back to smooth.