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Carbon wheel bulge

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Old 03-24-21 | 04:10 PM
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Carbon wheel bulge

Hi everyone



I just got home after a ride and noticed that my wheel is a little bulged outwards around the valve area.

It also looks like it has some little folds.

did not feel anything out of the ordinary while riding and did not go down any decent or anything like that so i was wondering if this wheel was still rideable?



Thank you all for the information in advance



Kind Regards



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Old 03-24-21 | 04:18 PM
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The size of the deformation in the second image looks concerning. I wouldn't ride that wheel until you have inspected by your LBS.
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Old 03-24-21 | 04:25 PM
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Yeah, that would concern me.
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Old 03-24-21 | 04:25 PM
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spoke tension might have been too much. take the tube & tire off for a better pic.
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Old 03-24-21 | 04:31 PM
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New or new enough? Check with seller or manufacturer before you do your own remedy.
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Old 03-24-21 | 04:33 PM
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Say no to plastic
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Old 03-24-21 | 09:13 PM
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Let us know what your LBS has to say. I'm interested in knowing/learning too.
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Old 03-24-21 | 11:08 PM
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Originally Posted by trailangel
Say no to plastic
Say no to crack.
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Old 03-25-21 | 03:54 AM
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I would refrain from using that wheel indefinitely. Even if someone at the LBS says it’s fine do you want to learn the hard way how wrong they were?
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Old 03-25-21 | 07:53 AM
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It appears to be a poorly made wheel with excess resin around the valve stem. It may be fine to ride but with an indication of poor quality control there could be other issues. What brand is the wheel?
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Old 03-25-21 | 08:53 AM
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That wheel is effed.
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Old 03-25-21 | 08:57 AM
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I'd probably ride it on the trainer if there's no chance at warranty.
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Old 03-29-21 | 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by gregf83
It appears to be a poorly made wheel with excess resin around the valve stem. It may be fine to ride but with an indication of poor quality control there could be other issues. What brand is the wheel?
I bought them from a Lbs who had them from a chinese company not sure wich brand
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Old 03-29-21 | 09:25 AM
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Originally Posted by NoWhammies
Let us know what your LBS has to say. I'm interested in knowing/learning too.
He checked spoke tension and that did not seem to be the problem but then he started pushing around the wheel with his hands and it just started creaking he asked if he could push any harder i said sure if you need to so he pushed and it broke all the way luckily i did not ride it any more other wise that would have been very bad. So he said the wheel was nit stress relieved properly that means that there was a constant pressure on the wherl as if you were constantly hitting potholes.
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Old 03-29-21 | 11:33 AM
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Originally Posted by piete
He checked spoke tension and that did not seem to be the problem but then he started pushing around the wheel with his hands and it just started creaking he asked if he could push any harder i said sure if you need to so he pushed and it broke all the way luckily i did not ride it any more other wise that would have been very bad. So he said the wheel was nit stress relieved properly that means that there was a constant pressure on the wherl as if you were constantly hitting potholes.
seems to be some back pedaling from the investigator.
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Old 03-29-21 | 01:21 PM
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I'd say spoke tension wasn't the problem, but we don't know what the tension is. Most likely a crappy Chinese rim.... I'd call it a Bontrager rim.
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Old 03-29-21 | 01:50 PM
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Originally Posted by piete
He checked spoke tension and that did not seem to be the problem but then he started pushing around the wheel with his hands and it just started creaking he asked if he could push any harder i said sure if you need to so he pushed and it broke all the way luckily i did not ride it any more other wise that would have been very bad. So he said the wheel was nit stress relieved properly that means that there was a constant pressure on the wherl as if you were constantly hitting potholes.
Whoever said this about stress relieving has no idea what he's talking about. Stress relieving removes high stress points in spokes to avoid premature spoke failure. It has no effect at all on the rim.

I have no idea what that bit about potholes at the end is supposed to mean, but when a wheel hits a pothole, the tire and rim are deformed radially inward and the spokes near the impact point lose tension. If he meant there were some spokes that were under-tensioned, how could he say spoke tension wasn't a problem?
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