Thank you in advance for reading or replying to this.
RE: Question about how long a bike wheel should last for before it splits
I decided to start cycling to work in July 2017. In that month I bought the 'Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017' from Cycle Republic.
It was all working fine until February 2019 (about 19 months later) when the back wheel split.
I phoned a Halford's store to ask how much a new wheel would cost, and they asked me if I had visited the store earlier to ask the same question, as some else had reported the exact same issue with the 'Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017' and they were aware that there was a backlog of orders for the back wheels for this particular model.
I ended up booking an appointment with Cycle Republic for repair, and they informed me that my only option was to buy a replacement back wheel, which was £150 (this is because it is an electric bike and the motor is built into the wheel).
When I collected the bike, and asked for the wheel with the split rim back, the nice chap who gave me my repaired bike back said he didn't know which one was mine because they had two wheels in the store with split rims from a 'Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017' as they had also carried out a replacement on another customer's bike that day.
At this point it seemed like the split might be more related to do with a poor built quality than my usage. My cycle commute is about 15 minutes, which I make everyday weekdays, apart from Dec/Jan.
Cycle Republic customer service has told me that they aren't aware of any issue with the 'Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017' and that the split rims occur with normal use, and are more likely to occur with electric bikes and bikes with 20" wheels.
Has anyone else had this issue with a split rim on a electric/20" wheel bike after 19 months? And/or would this be considered reasonable for a wheel to only last 19 months?
Keywords: Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017 Splitting split cracki cracked rims wheel
https://www.cyclerepublic.com/carrera-c ... -bike.html
Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017 - Splitting Cracked Rims
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- Posts: 1
- Joined: 16 Apr 2019, 3:54pm
Re: Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017 - Splitting Cracked Rims
You could have just bought a new rim, provided you could source one in the correct size, and had the wheel re-built. Rims are usually around £20-30 upwards and you would expect to pay the same again for labour for rebuilding, but still much cheaper than £150 for a new wheel.
Split rims are not unknown, but not common. I had one after a similar time on my touring bike, but I found out this was a known fault of that particular rim. The replacement wheel has lasted more than 4 years and is still going strong. I wonder if, being an electric bike, the rim is subject to greater braking forces than a normal bike and whether this contributed to the rim failure? But it sounds to me that the rim was faulty.
Split rims are not unknown, but not common. I had one after a similar time on my touring bike, but I found out this was a known fault of that particular rim. The replacement wheel has lasted more than 4 years and is still going strong. I wonder if, being an electric bike, the rim is subject to greater braking forces than a normal bike and whether this contributed to the rim failure? But it sounds to me that the rim was faulty.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
Re: Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017 - Splitting Cracked Rims
Can't really say what has happened there, but it's certainly possible to wear out rims pretty quickly if you ride in wet/gritty conditions, dont keep rims/pads clean - I wore out a pair of 28" rims in a few weeks when I didn't know better, and small wheels on an electric bike will certainly have a harder life. It would be interesting to examine the wheel and see if the braking surface is concave from wear, or the rim has a bulge in it, or whether there is some defect in the component from new.
Re: Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike 2017 - Splitting Cracked Rims
if a spoke broke and/or the wheel went out of true on a normal bike, you would soon notice the brake rubbing. On an electric bike maybe the brake can rub and you don't notice, thus wearing the rim much faster than normal. The rims will be wearing anyway but if they have a reason to wear faster than normal at one spot they mightn't last very long at all.
FWIW I would have the old wheel rebuilt with a new (stronger, thicker-walled) rim and keep it as a spare.
cheers
FWIW I would have the old wheel rebuilt with a new (stronger, thicker-walled) rim and keep it as a spare.
cheers
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