Fifty Plus (50+) - New Wheels

My rear wheel (Bontrager Select) started showing stress cracks at the spoke holes, and was getting squirlley on me, so I headed for the LBS. They had a set of Mavic Equipes on sale 30% off, and I picked up a pair. They feel pretty good, so far. Haven't noticed any speed difference, but I haven't had a chance to really give them a workout, yet.

They're a little lighter, and the rims are a little deeper, so they may be a little more aero, but I'll have to put some more miles on them before I can say whether they're faster.

My rear wheel (Bontrager Select) started showing stress cracks at the spoke holes, and was getting squirlley on me, so I headed for the LBS. They had a set of Mavic Equipes on sale 30% off, and I picked up a pair. They feel pretty good, so far. Haven't noticed any speed difference, but I haven't had a chance to really give them a workout, yet.

They're a little lighter, and the rims are a little deeper, so they may be a little more aero, but I'll have to put some more miles on them before I can say whether they're faster.

I think that they are cartridge bearing and therefor will take a 200 miles or so to start to free up the bearings.

My rear wheel (Bontrager Select) started showing stress cracks at the spoke holes, and was getting squirlley on me, so I headed for the LBS.

Is this something common to wheels or just Bontrager? The reason for asking is two of the fellows in our group had the same problem with their Bontrager wheels. I have the Bontragers on the 2004 and 2007 Treks and haven't had any problems.....but I'm lighter that the other two riders, too.

Bontrager did replace their wheels...not sure if it was an even trade or just a discount on new ones.

Cracking at the spoke holes can happen to almost any rim....In fact its one of those things that you should look at a few times a year when cleaning the bike. (cleaning the bike :eek:)

Some rims are more notorious for this problem than others. Note that Mavic renamed the venerable MA3 rim and came out with a whopping big warranty offer this year (they also tweaked the design slightly to prevent the problem)

Rider weight may be a contributing factor but most rims wear out eventually by cracking at the spoke holes or by using up the brake track on the side of the rim.

Hate to say it but it is Bontrager. I make no secret that I do not like the Bontrager brand and that just about covers everything with his name on it.

No experience of Road wheels but the "B" wheels on MTB's have never been good. Many years ago-It was impossible to put a tyre on them- then they were modified and the tyres would fall off whilst inflating them- Then the wheel rims started cracking. Now as to the road wheels- I have heard of so many of the "B" rims cracking- I can only think that the wheels are up to the reputation of the rest of the brand.

I have a variety of Hand built wheels-All with Mavic Rims on various Hubs and spoke arrangements. The only time I change a Rim is when it Gets worn out with use. I still run rim brakes on the MTB's.

I finally got a chance to take them out for a longer ride. I think I'm going to like them. Full ride report can be seen here (http://nopinchflats.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-wheels.html)

Hard anodizing makes otherwise strong rims more prone to cracking. Mavic's MA-2 was one of the best road rims ever made, strong and fairly light. They made an anodized version, the MA-40, with hard anodizing. They looked great and made great wheels. But after a few years people started having problems with them cracking around the eyelets. I got several good years out of mine but eventually they cracked at the eyelets. I use silver rims now.

Anyone here ever get custom wheels made? I want some vintage-looking Campy 10-speed tubular wheels for my Mondonico 10-speed conversion, but I don't know the best builders are. Modern wheelsets will not look right on this bike. Prefer midwestern builders.

Road Fan

Hard anodizing makes otherwise strong rims more prone to cracking. Mavic's MA-2 was one of the best road rims ever made, strong and fairly light. They made an anodized version, the MA-40, with hard anodizing. They looked great and made great wheels. But after a few years people started having problems with them cracking around the eyelets. I got several good years out of mine but eventually they cracked at the eyelets. I use silver rims now.

I like the look of silver rims, but I have a set of MA-40 wheels and they are going strong after about 10 years of use, but not heavy use. Maybe 3000 miles so far?