Chinertown
Chinese Carbon Road Bikes => Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components => Topic started by: CJ on January 07, 2024, 05:32:14 PM
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Went out for a fast group ride today and got dropped around the 4hr mark despite pushing 400+ watts. I then noticed my back tire was soft and pulled over to discover that the non-drive side of my rim had buckled. I don't remember hitting anything significant. At 153lbs/70kg I'm well within tolerance.
Pictures below. I'm not seeing a rim-strike and there appears to be a crack that extends to the middle of rim bed.
Only 2 weeks of use. 11 rides, 650mi/1050km.
First time encountering an issue like this. Is this warranty-able?
Any experiences (particularly with Elitewheels) and insight would be helpful. Thanks!
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Yikes. Glad you didn’t take a fall. I’m curious how Elitewheels will go about handling this. I’m no carbon expert, but looks like delamination to me. Worth it to start the warranty claim process. Nothing is fast when dealing with Chinese vendors, even the good ones.
Did you get these on Ali or directly from Elitewheels?
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Thanks, I initiated a claim and I purchased them directly from Elitewheels. Will provide updates along the process.
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Easiest way to get a Chinese brand's attention is to call them out by making a video. But I only advise this if you've made every attempt in good faith to work it out directly with said brand privately.
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Elite Wheels sent me a free replacement rim when mine was damaged, though I had to re-lace the spokes myself (sent it to my LBS). Just give them a detailed description, pictures and order details. I'd ask for a full wheel replacement in your case though.
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Easiest way to get a Chinese brand's attention is to call them out by making a video. But I only advise this if you've made every attempt in good faith to work it out directly with said brand privately.
LOL hoping it won't get to that but that's a useful word of caution coming from someone as experienced...and dare I say "influential"... as you are, Pat ;D I knew what I signed up for going the Xiamen route. Hoping for a quick resolution but prepared for an arduous tooth-pulling saga.
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Elite Wheels sent me a free replacement rim when mine was damaged, though I had to re-lace the spokes myself (sent it to my LBS). Just give them a detailed description, pictures and order details. I'd ask for a full wheel replacement in your case though.
Good to know! Did you submit your claim through their Service Center Form (https://www.elite-wheels.com/after-sales-form/)?
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They have good customer service from personal experience it's not perfect but they should work with you.
Glad you didn't take a tumble.
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Just woke up to the following email from Anthony, that was pretty darn quick! A rebuild not my 1st choice but I'll take it Will continue to update everyone.
Hello Chris,
Thank you for reaching us.
We are very sorry for the problem and the inconvenience caused to you.
We will send one new rear rim for your replacement. When you receive it, could you help us find a reliable local bike shop to replace the rim and rebuild the wheel for you? We will cover all the service costs incurred.
If it is okay with you, could you ask the bike shop to cut a segment of the damaged rim (about 20cm in length) for our analysis? We will afford the shipping freight.
Please refer to the manual about how to true carbon spokes.
Thanks a lot. Look forward to hearing from you.
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Just woke up to the following email from Anthony, that was pretty darn quick! A rebuild not my 1st choice but I'll take it Will continue to update everyone.
That's the kind of reactions of manufacturers we like to see here :)
We should make a database of warranty claims and handling of sellers/ manufacturers for future reference :)
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Just woke up to the following email from Anthony, that was pretty darn quick! A rebuild not my 1st choice but I'll take it Will continue to update everyone.
Being an amateur wheel builder myself, I wonder how straight forward it is to properly tension carbon spokes. I understand that the elasticity is minimal compared to steel spokes. Therefore tension has to be a lot higher and the margin of error is much smaller when it comes to uniformity of the spoke tension throughout the wheel. I’d probably rather go to a dedicated wheelbuilder than your average local bike shop. Just saying. Good to see that they’re willing to stand up to their warranty though.
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Being an amateur wheel builder myself, I wonder how straight forward it is to properly tension carbon spokes. I understand that the elasticity is minimal compared to steel spokes. Therefore tension has to be a lot higher and the margin of error is much smaller when it comes to uniformity of the spoke tension throughout the wheel. I’d probably rather go to a dedicated wheelbuilder than your average local bike shop. Just saying. Good to see that they’re willing to stand up to their warranty though.
Despite not being a dedicated wheel builder there's a guy in my area that I trust. I'll also have him inspect the front wheel, note spoke tension, adjust as needed, etc. Perhaps this precipitated failure on the rear.
Waiting on Elitewheels for shipping ETA. This will be informative.
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Update from Anthony at Elitewheels:
Thank you so much for your reply and help.
We will send "one replacement rim + 24 spare nipples + one roll of rim tape" to you via express by tomorrow.
And the tracking number will be updated by this Friday. Please wait for our next emails.
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The rim arrived today, but without nipples and rim tape :'(
Quite likely they fell out of the large tear in the box:
(https://i.ibb.co/v1PMmY9/IMG-3635.jpg)
I’ve emailed Elitewheels to ask if they can express ship these items to me.
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That wouldn't be UPS's handy work, would it?
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That wouldn't be UPS's handy work, would it?
Indeed it was ;D
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Update from Anthony @ Elitewheels:
Sorry for the problem and the inconvenience caused to you.
We did include the spare nipples and rim tape in the package. They must fall out of the package which was severely damaged in transit.
Please do not worry, we will send new parts via FedEx to you soon. Please wait for our next email about the tracking number.
Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions. Have a nice day.
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Nice to see a business taking care of their customer.
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UPDATE (Day 22) - The nipples and rim tape arrived today. Dropping off at my wheel builder tomorrow. Will also have him inspect the front wheel.
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This is good to hear compared to what Lexon do
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UPDATE (Day 22) - The nipples and rim tape arrived today. Dropping off at my wheel builder tomorrow. Will also have him inspect the front wheel.
CJ I take it things went well and your wheel builder was able to to get the job done? Have they provided any feedback on how different it is from regular spokes? Had a recent situation where I ended up in a pot hole and my rear wheel broke hence will have to be rebuilt
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Only seeing this now. Curious as well to know how things went.
The pictures very much look like delamination. Very odd.
For comparison, a friend (he weighs 2.5 ants) crashed during a race last summer and broke 2 Farsports wheels, photos attached. He says he was drafting and slammed right into a curb at 40kmh, something like that. Let's say he definitely felt the crash :)
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https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ac-FVFzAk4xqTcZhqnGxhNm7nb3i73_V?usp=drive_link showing images of rim after impact. Pothole was obscured by water due to rain. Pic of pothole taken a few days later
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https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ac-FVFzAk4xqTcZhqnGxhNm7nb3i73_V?usp=drive_link showing images of rim after impact. Pothole was obscured by water due to rain. Pic of pothole taken a few days later
Wow the rim disintegrated! The pothole looks huge given the size of the wheel on the picture. When you take such a picture, put a known object for size, because without the wheel, the pothole could look tiny.
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Hi everyone. New here.
I'm just looking for some light on a small issue and this might be the thread. I bought a pair of Elite Wheels through their store in alixpress. The front wheel came with a very small dent on the rim. This is something to ask for replacement? What you guys think?
I talked to Elite through alixpress and they said to me there is no problem riding it, but i don't know.
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Those are the Panaracer Agilest Duro TLR right? Hopefully not contributable by the tire in any way.
I have the Agilest Clincher and its sidewall blew a huge hole 3km into its maiden ride. I went on Amazon to read further reviews of the Agilest in general and found that I was not alone with blown sidewall off a perfectly new Agilest.
BTW I am using a DRIVE 45D.
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Hi everyone. New here.
I'm just looking for some light on a small issue and this might be the thread. I bought a pair of Elite Wheels through their store in alixpress. The front wheel came with a very small dent on the rim. This is something to ask for replacement? What you guys think?
I talked to Elite through alixpress and they said to me there is no problem riding it, but i don't know.
Very strange, it's small, but also, it's not small. it's probably fine. If you press on it with your finger, does it feel different than on the rest of the rim? If so, then i'd worry.
I've handled quite a few carbon wheelsets, never had that issue. rim moulds are a super basic shape on the outside, there's no good reason why you'd have such a depression there that i can think of.
Maybe email carbon experts? there are several who're featured a lot on YT, i suspect they get such emails all the time.
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Very strange, it's small, but also, it's not small. it's probably fine. If you press on it with your finger, does it feel different than on the rest of the rim? If so, then i'd worry.
I've handled quite a few carbon wheelsets, never had that issue. rim moulds are a super basic shape on the outside, there's no good reason why you'd have such a depression there that i can think of.
Maybe email carbon experts? there are several who're featured a lot on YT, i suspect they get such emails all the time.
Thanks!
Yes it is a little different when i press with my fingers. I also made the coin test and it is different. I'll try again with Elitewheels if they replace it.
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Thanks!
Yes it is a little different when i press with my fingers. I also made the coin test and it is different. I'll try again with Elitewheels if they replace it.
Yeah, i'm no expert but it would be a bit sad to hit a pothole at 70kmh and for the rim to disintegrate because of this point of weakness. if you take a video where you can show that there's material missing / it sounds different, you should get aliexpress to take your side even if elite is reluctant.
If they're being unfair / trying to hard ball, you can tell them you will leave negative comments with your experience on the last 20 GCN videos to expose them as crooks or something. Their reputational risk is very high if they refuse to replace stuff when their QC misses material defects in stuff.