Cracked rim, pulled spoke, replacement wheel?

blindwilly · #1 07-30-2019, 08:02 AM

I was riding down a hill this past weekend when my rear wheel locked up on me. According to strava i was upwards of 35 mph when this happened. After pulling over and examining the wheel i discovered a spoke had pulled out of the rim and the rim was cracked. The wheels are Mavic Ksyriums from around 2012. Has anyone heard of this happening? What do you all suggest doing about the wheel? Replace just the rear? Replace the set? What are some recommended replacements/upgrades for the wheel? The bike is Serotta CSI that i use as a primary road bike for all my road bike needs.

oldpotatoe · #2 07-30-2019, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blindwilly

I was riding down a hill this past weekend when my rear wheel locked up on me. According to strava i was upwards of 35 mph when this happened. After pulling over and examining the wheel i discovered a spoke had pulled out of the rim and the rim was cracked. The wheels are Mavic Ksyriums from around 2012. Has anyone heard of this happening? What do you all suggest doing about the wheel? Replace just the rear? Replace the set? What are some recommended replacements/upgrades for the wheel? The bike is Serotta CSI that i use as a primary road bike for all my road bike needs.

VERY common..Mavic 'may' have a replacement rim but from a 2012 wheel..not sure.

Got a decent wheelbuilder around? Have him/her design and build a set specifically for you and your needs..
-Far better hub
-same or less weight
-standard, non proprietary parts..kill a rim, rebuild
-probably less $ as well..

If nobody local, PM or email me or ERGOTT..

cp51errc@gmail.com

ergottwheels@gmail.com

saab2000 · #3 07-30-2019, 08:20 AM

I agree with the idea of getting a custom wheel. They're much more serviceable than factory wheels and today's hubs and rims are better than ever with many options to mix and match hubs, rims, spokes and spoke count based on your needs.

AngryScientist · #4 07-30-2019, 08:21 AM

Agree that cracked rear ksyriums are very common.

Most likely, if you had inspected them earlier, you would have seen cracking around the spoke holes that eventually led to the pull-out condition you experienced. Glad to hear it sounds like you were not hurt or didnt go down, locking up a rear wheel unexpectedly at 35mph downhill must have been disconcerting to say the least!

if you dont see any cracking at the spoke holes in the front, there is no reason strictly speaking why you need to replace the whole set, but with the age of the wheels, it may be best to just move on to a new wheel set that you can have full confidence in and better longterm reliability.

Forget about rebuilding the rear, not worth the hassle.

A nice set of handbuilts would probably suit that Serotta well, something built for you and your riding needs. likely less money than the msrp of ksyriums too!

FlashUNC · #5 07-30-2019, 08:39 AM

I'll second all the recommendations above, but given the prices Ksyriums are going for online these days I'd caution against the "handbuilts will be cheaper" line.

Can find a new set of Ksyriums for around $300. Handbuilts are still the right answer if you're worried about it though.

blindwilly · #6 07-30-2019, 09:15 AM

Any recommendations for a wheel builder in Massachusetts?

ultraman6970 · #7 07-30-2019, 10:14 AM

I have to check to be sure but i might have one of those rims... rear right?

Hmmm i think mine is the SSC one, rear, no idea if it will fit your wheel tho.

guru · #8 07-30-2019, 11:10 AM

Scorpionbikewheels.com. Southcoast MA

blindwilly · #9 07-30-2019, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

I have to check to be sure but i might have one of those rims... rear right?

Hmmm i think mine is the SSC one, rear, no idea if it will fit your wheel tho.

I wouldn't know either. All i know is the guy i bought the bike from built up the frame in 2012 and listed the wheels as Mavic Ksyrium Elite. The rims are silver with no branding.

berserk87 · #10 07-30-2019, 02:20 PM

The original lineup of the Ksyrium was one of the best factory built wheels ever made, if not the best. I'm still using mine.

The more recent editions are nothing short of crap, in my experience. I had a set of the uber-nice ones, about the same genus as yours. Had broken spokes on the front, on the rear, and a nipple pull-through as well. A teammate of mine that bought and identical set had the same issues, along with a dragging rear hub.

Mavic stepped up and replaced both via warranty with other sets (upgrades, actually) due to the problems we had.

Mavic took a bomb-proof wheel that was neither light nor aero and tried to make it lighter and and more aero. They milled out the rims, made narrower spokes - and took the wheel from being great at one thing (durability) to not great at anything.

The other issue is the proprietary spoke thing that Mavic is famous for. They fiddle with the design one year, and then the next, they don't make the spoke to fit your 5-year-old wheels. I wouldn't throw good money after bad. I'd recommend going for something handbuilt, or at least more standard.

simonov · #11 07-30-2019, 03:15 PM

I still find newer Mavics, including Ksyriums, to be bombproof. My first gen set of Ksyrium SLRs are still going strong, even after around 30K miles and multiple crashes. All I've done is replace the bearings once and swap the freehub. YMMV, though.

berserk87 · #12 07-30-2019, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonov

I still find newer Mavics, including Ksyriums, to be bombproof. My first gen set of Ksyrium SLRs are still going strong, even after around 30K miles and multiple crashes. All I've done is replace the bearings once and swap the freehub. YMMV, though.

Yeah. I figure that there are some modern success stories on the newer Ksyriums. I wasn't one of them. I'm also notoriously hard on wheels. Some of it could be body mass. I could starve myself for months and still be heavier than most.

Ken Robb · #13 07-30-2019, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berserk87

The original lineup of the Ksyrium was one of the best factory built wheels ever made, if not the best. I'm still using mine.

The more recent editions are nothing short of crap, in my experience. I had a set of the uber-nice ones, about the same genus as yours. Had broken spokes on the front, on the rear, and a nipple pull-through as well. A teammate of mine that bought and identical set had the same issues, along with a dragging rear hub.

Mavic stepped up and replaced both via warranty with other sets (upgrades, actually) due to the problems we had.

Mavic took a bomb-proof wheel that was neither light nor aero and tried to make it lighter and and more aero. They milled out the rims, made narrower spokes - and took the wheel from being great at one thing (durability) to not great at anything.

The other issue is the proprietary spoke thing that Mavic is famous for. They fiddle with the design one year, and then the next, they don't make the spoke to fit your 5-year-old wheels. I wouldn't throw good money after bad. I'd recommend going for something handbuilt, or at least more standard.

Not arguing about your experience and findings but why did anyone use the early bombproof Ksyriums if they weren't aero or light relative to standard wheels like OPs on Record or Dura Ace hubs? I had one set of Ksyriums that came on a Legend I bought and I didn't care for them. Whatever aero/speed advantage they MIGHT have had over my 32 hole OPs on Ultegra hubs was MORE than offset by their sensitivity to crosswinds here on the coast.

fogrider · #14 07-31-2019, 02:59 AM

the original SL model were available on sale for around 750 bucks and came in right around 1500 grams for the wheelset, that was pretty light for aluminum clinchers... even today. Unless you're willing to spend a bit more, I'm willing to bet it would be tough to find a wheel in that weight. Not sure what width tire you can fit on your bike, but I would recommend using at least a 25, but wider the better to help with durability.

berserk87 · #15 07-31-2019, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

Not arguing about your experience and findings but why did anyone use the early bombproof Ksyriums if they weren't aero or light relative to standard wheels like OPs on Record or Dura Ace hubs? I had one set of Ksyriums that came on a Legend I bought and I didn't care for them. Whatever aero/speed advantage they MIGHT have had over my 32 hole OPs on Ultegra hubs was MORE than offset by their sensitivity to crosswinds here on the coast.

Because I got them new through a team deal for around $300, and the design was different. I wanted to try them. They are quite stiff and as I've said, I've used and abused them for well over 20 years without fail. Had to have bearings replaced but that was cheap and easy. And, as training wheels, I don't care about aero or light. I look for something I can beat the hell out of and not have to micro-manage. So they ended up fitting a niche for me.

A huge upside is that (by my understanding) an unintentional manufacturing issue caused Mavic to make the rear hub so that it would accept 9, 10, or 11 speed cassettes. So in this regard, they have not become obsolete as would a Campy or Shimano hub of the same era.

It's windy here quite often too but I've never been pushed around on my Ksyriums. I feel more deflection from the wind on my Zipp 303's.

In the early days of the Ksyrium, if I recall, Mavic sold the bladed spokes as being more aerodynamic than a regularly spoked wheel. Perhaps the shape, and the fact that there were fewer - I'm not sure. I bought into it at first, until I rode them and learned that this was a bogus claim.