Old 09-25-13 | 11:40 AM
  #2  
FBinNY
Senior Member
Titanium Club Membership
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 39,897
Likes: 3,865
From: New Rochelle, NY

Bikes: too many bikes from 1967 10s (5x2)Frejus to a Sumitomo Ti/Chorus aluminum 10s (10x2), plus one non-susp mtn bike I use as my commuter

Stress cracking of rims at the spoke holes is becoming more common on all wheels. This wasn't an issue years ago because rims were made of more ductile alloys, and builders used thinner spokes and lower tension.

Over the last few decades many have moved to thicker spokes and typical tensions have risen tremendously from what was considered proper in the past. Part of that is folks simply getting carried away, but also consider that modern wheels have more dish (asymmetry), causing greater tension differences between the right and left side (as yours does). Also, wheels with fewer spokes require more tension to compensate.

Years ago, the typical mode of failure in race wheels, was spoke breakage, these days rim failure is also common.

I don't know how many miles those wheels have, nor how heavy you are, but I'm not surprised about the cracks, and suggest you continue riding until they die, then replace or rebuild depending on the relative cost. If you replace, and want longer life expectancy, consider a wheel with more spokes.
__________________
FB
Chain-L site

An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.

Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.

“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN

WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
FBinNY is offline  
Reply