Mavic wheel problem!

murph226

I have a 2010 Giant Defy 2 with Mavic cxp22 wheels, the bike is about 9months old.

I use it mainly for commuting to work, about 32-36k 5 days a week and it just got its first service about 3weeks ago because the gears started to slip.

Tuesday morning this week I noticed the bike was rattling quite a bit, didnt pay it much attention, just said I'd check everything for tightness when I got to work.

When I got to work, one of the lads who is fairly well into cycling told me to check the spokes and low and behold there was 8 spokes loose.

They were so loose they were barely hanging in by a few threads, of course nobody at work had a spoke key so dumass here gave them all a nip with small shifters and in doing so managed to buckle the wheel.

I rang the shop that I bought it from and explained my case, they told me to bring in the wheel and they would sort it, which I did.

The wheel is now back on the bike, spokes nice and tight but the right hand rim is rubbing off the right hand bake pad nearly all they way around.

The wheel is sitting fine in the forks, is the "dish" of the wheel out on one side and does it need more adjustment?

Is it a common thing for spokes to come loose, does everyone carry a spoke key around with them?

Is it possible to true a wheel on the bike?

Cheers Murph

at1withmyself

I wouldn't worry about it, the dish might be out a small bit but most brake calipers have an adjustment screw to re-align the brake to stop the rub. The adjustment screw can also be used to adjust the tension on the brake.

I carry a spoke key when going on long rides but not while commuting.

I think it is possible to true a wheel on the bike and have done so many times but there are factors that might not make it possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRuIoZtFvC8

murph226

Lovely stuff, I'll give that a tweak tomorrow!

Cheers Murph

at1withmyself

Also make sure the wheel is sitting correctly in the drop outs.

doozerie

It could be that the dish of the wheel is out, or that the wheel isn't sitting correctly in the dropouts, or that your brakes have moved off centre. Take the wheel out, and put it back in the other way around. If the rim is still rubbing against the same brake block as before then it's just the brakes that are off-centre and not the rim. Moving calipers back to centre is straight-forward - with some you can just rotate them by hand and they'll stay in the new position, with others you may have to loosen the bolt holding them to the forks, adjust their position, and tighten the bolt again.

If it turns out that the wheel dish is out, then although you'll get away with it being out by a little you should really get it fixed. In that scenario I'd think twice about bringing it back to the same shop as they shouldn't have done that to the wheel in the first place if they really knew what they were doing.

Donie75

My Specialized Secteur has Mavic CXP22 Rims as well. I had a few problems with loose spokes when I got the bike first. When I brought the bike back for the 3rd time to true the back wheel and tighten the spokes, I asked the bike mechanic to use some threadlock on the spokes. He did and they have been perfect since. I think it's an issue with the CXP22's.

doozerie

Re some of the other questions in the original post:

Is it a common thing for spokes to come loose? No, not for a well built wheel in good condition. I carry a spoke key with me on rides so that I can deal with a spoke breaking and still be able to cycle home, but if you find yourself routinely having to adjust spokes then the wheel needs an overhaul as it suggests some spokes are constantly under insufficient tension (and/or you have a damaged rim). Having to use threadlock on the spokes also suggests that the spokes haven't been tensioned properly to start with - perhaps it is the only solution with some wheels but it's certainly not something I've ever had to resort to myself. Mind you, I think I've read somewhere that some factory built wheels may actually come with threadlock on the spokes (makes me wonder about the quality of the build though), and you can buy a version of threadlock specifically for spokes so perhaps using it is more common practice than I might expect.

Can you true a wheel on the bike? Yes, but it is always recommended that you remove the tyre and tube as an inflated tyre puts pressure on the rim (and therefore the spokes) that might hide, or exacerbate, an issue so any adjustments that you make might be short-lived. Having said that, I've made minor adjustments many times in the past without removing or deflating the tyre and with the wheel still on the bike - in fact I used to do it all the time many years ago, before I had bought a wheel truing stand, but I wouldn't do so for anything other than very minor adjustments these days, not least because it makes it difficult to keep track of how round the wheel is/remains while you work.

murph226

Thanks for all the replies lads!

Snapped spoke on back wheel on the way to work this morning, rang the shop and was informed that there is indeed a problem with these wheels!

The offending wheels are to be sent to Dublin to be respoked, 7-10 day turnaround:rolleyes:

Fairplay to the owner of the shop, hes trying to sort something out a bit sooner!

If the manufacturer knows there is a problem with a product like that, should the bike/part not be recalled?