3alarmer 

Your suggestions of drug and alcohol use, while correct in principle, are very hurtful.

I'm simply trying to make the connection from some valuable information I
picked up elsewhere on the forums.......duh!

mrrabbit 

Well let's put it this way...

If you can spin a wheel and count the spokes while it's spinning, then you must be Hammie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3O2kuEXf8Y

=8-)

SortaGrey

This from a guy peddling $7 hubs.. rims for a few bucks more.. and wheelsets for what was it.. cheeep.. with of course NO warranty.

The pied piper of the garage bikes..........

THEN.. you need to post an apology here to 3alarmer. Your remarks were.. what.. indicative of your character? or... what are you SMOKIN'?

bradtx

Quite possible. The wheelset was new at the time that patteren showed itself and when I retensioned the set. Other CXP10 and CXP12 wheelsets (I like those rims) never showed that pattern so you can understand my correlation.


Brad

mrrabbit 

You know 3alarmer and I are poking at each other right?


BACK > REFRESH > DOWN > https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...rds-what-to-do


=8-)

3alarmer 

No need......we do this late at night here in NorCal when neither of us
can sleep but both ought to be in bed. Age related insomnia, I guess.



Sometimes I call him Mr Bunny, and sometimes he wants to call me Snickerdoodle,
but he is too shy to state publicly how he really feels.

I've been saving one emoticon in reserve, which i will trot out
in one of our comic exchanges some time in the future...

For the record, Mr Bunny really does know more about this stuff than do I.

It's just that sometimes he can be such an old cranky pants.

Al1943

I agree that the minimum spoke tension on the non-drive side should be the primary concern. But with modern multi-speed bikes if the NDS tension is 60 (kgf assumed) the DS tension for a typical road rear wheel is going to be a lot higher than 80.

FBinNY 

Absolutely, the 80kpf tension is about the range that ensures that all spokes remain under tension at all times (32 spokes or more). Going higher does not improve the mechanical properties of the wheel and so 80-90 is fine for front wheels. On the rear, there's little choice since, as you point out, RH tension will be considerably higher. I try to find a balance between lower than ideal tension on the left, and excess tension of the right.

While most modern rims will handle tensions of 120kpf or more giving the builder wide latitude, I prefer to use very light rims and am therefore limited by max RH tension and min LH tension into a very narrow range, in some cases having to pinch on both sides.

oblique 

Supposed to hear back from them tomorrow. Ill take some pics if I have to go over there.

Im wondering what Mavic would say. In my mind the bottom line is that the rims, as they are, dont meet factory specification even if operating them can be warrantied.

well biked

We have a bike in our shop right now that's being serviced, a different brand bike than the two models we have on the sales floor with CXP-22's. It's equipped with CXP-22 rims with eyelets. Absolutely no bulging around the eyelets, no bumps, nothing but perfectly smooth. If there's significant bulging around the eyelets on oblique's rims, I'm convinced there's either too much spoke tension or the rims are defective. More likely too much spoke tension IMO.

FBinNY 

So let me see if I understand. You bought your first "real" road bike (your words in the OP), and based on that great depth of experience, you're qualified to judge whether rims meet a factory spec. You can do this without knowing the material the rims are made of, what the factory spec. is, whether they were fine but built over tight, whether they were built overtight in the first place, without knowing the factory's recommended spoke tension, or measuring what the tension actually is.

That's pretty good structural engineering, and I salute you.

On the flip side, there's the expertise of the shop that did measure the tension, the evidence of the other similar wheels showing similar bulging, the quality controls in place at the Mavic, the skill of the wheelbuilders at Felt, and the quality controls at Felt.

While it's possible that the wheels are either over tight, or the rims are soft, the odds favor ductile rims within Mavic's quality spec. built to the high end of the allowable range. Anyone who says otherwise without knowing both the actual tension and Mavic's max. tension spec for these rims is just speculating, or not so politely - blowing smoke.

I repeat my earlier suggestion that you see if you can return the bike based on your concerns. If Felt can't properly build wheels, or spot defective rims in quantity, what else did they get wrong?

In fact the bike is almost assuredly fine, but if you trust a bunch of strangers on a forum, about whose credentials you know absolutely nothing (including mine), more than you trust the bike, then you'll never be happy with it. If the shop is smart they'll recognize the situation and get out of it as soon as possible, and be glad they did.

Sorry for the tone, but sometimes things like this need to be said.

oblique 

Im here to get a second opinion because I think theres a problem. Theres no way to know for sure where between forging the aluminum and building the wheels this problem arose but at least we can see if there are similar issues out there - surely the 'strangers' on this board can help with determining that. Frankly Im inclined to take what these 'strangers' have to say, albeit with a grain of salt, as more 'expert' than someone whos biased towards running a successful business.

I thank you for your insight but if these rims were designed to bulge then it seem that there is some inconsistency at Mavic's factory.

FBinNY 

I understand your concerns, though I believe they're misplaced. But be that as it may, I strongly expect that this will play out such that you'll end up with a choice between accepting the bike and wheels as is, or returning or exchanging it for another bike (not another of the same model since they all seem to be the same), or a refund.

That you don't trust a dealer or manufacturer that you consider biased toward foisting defective goods on you, is why I suggested you return the bike. I'm not the one to argue that the wheel isn't too tight because I'm usually the one who says that the trend has been to wheels that are unnecessarily tight in general. But being tighter than necessary isn't the same as being too tight.

I haven't seen the rims, but asked a few local dealer clients who have these bikes in stock, including one who's one of the top wheel builders in the area, to take a look, and they report the rim distortion as being across the board on those wheels (as did your dealer). The wheel builder also checked the tension of his dimpled Felt wheels and reported it wasn't unusually high.

If you reread my first post you'll see that I said such distortion was common with ductile rims (extruded, not forged) were built tight. Looking at the rim's profile, I note that the hole and eyelet are radial. I can imagine that the pull angle of the spoke would cam the nipple and eyelet pulling out a bulge on the tight side until it settled in alignment to the spoke. This is less likely to happen with a non-eyelet rim because the nipple is freer to float to alignment.

I'm not invested in your bike, the dealer, Felt or Mavic, I'm simply trying to give you some measure of reassurance that this isn't rare or unheard of, or in any way hazardous. Worst case is that you'll eventually see some stress cracking, and ultimately (if ever) a spoke pulling through. But that's the worst case, and won't necessarily happen which is why I suggested that if you otherwise like the bike, you ask for a limited warranty covering replacement wheels if the rims stress crack within 2 years or so.

But, ultimately, the issue isn't the wheels but your confidence and comfort level. You spent a nice chunk of change and should be able to ride the bike with confidence. Regardless of the actual structural soundness, if you don't trust it or the dealer you should look elsewhere.