Mavic wheel help

[ishaw]

I have acquired a set of Mavic wheels recently knowing they had an issue I hoped I could sort.

So, the issue was described as a twisted spike. Simples, get a replacement right? Not so simple.

The rims are the ones with the nipples that screw into the rim bed, still not a problem, but there's something rattling within the rim.

Due to the design of the rim, there's no spoke holes on the inside so I can't even get the early bit to move much around inside the rim. I'd assumed they had a ust rim strip that I could remove but it's all metal.

What to do?

Remove spokes and see if I can get the rattly bit out through a spoke holes?

Drill a hole in the rum bed and remove via that?

Not keen on the latter as they are nice wheels with the zicral blades spikes.

What options do I have?

 

[bikeworkshop]

Those captive alloy spoke cups break easily, so the rattly piece is probably a part of it, maybe just a turn of thread.
They also seize into the rims quickly, in some cases a single broken spoke writes the wheel off.
It will be worth soaking the joins with penetrating fluid.

You need a special tool - we call it the goosefoot. There is more than one size too! The cups are m7 left hand thread iirc, and if you take I've out, you'll have a hole to extract the loose thing, except it will probably be the same size if it's a turn of the m7 thread.

Last time I did this, I was able to break the fragment in half and pull it out with a steel spoke with a blob of grease on the end.

The valve hole also gives access, but it's a little smaller overall iirc.

 

[wynne]

Many of these wheelsets (and others like them) are of an age where components have seized up and importers no longer stock spares. I work as a wheel builder and we no longer take in wheel sets with proprietary aluminium nipples and spokes. You can very easily do more damage in trying to adjust them - sometimes making them unrideable for lack of spares. My strong advice would be to try and straighten the twisted spoke as best you can and generally leave well alone.

 

[bikeworkshop]

But if you need one, pm me the length and a photo of the spoke.
We've probably got spares and still fix these wheels

 

[iveto1983]

Not helpful to Ian, but I just bought the tool for these nipples and the fore eyelets to take some wheels apart to reuse the hubs. It’s a faff. I get that it makes running tubeless easier but it takes twice as long to build and strip, and you’ve twice as many parts to seize. The eyelets were ok but 2 nipples broke off.

 

[ishaw]

I've got the tools already in various sizes and the spike is fine. Will see if I can get the loose part out when I have time. The plastic rim insert was a much better, well less of a hassle on some crossmax I have.

 

[Suprachrgd82]

Not uncommon to have the aluminum tab (where the ends of the rim are fused) come loose and rattle around. A gob of silicone adhesive to secure it is a common fix.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Fill er up with expanding foam

 

[ishaw]

Fill er up with expanding foam

Someone did that to a to frame I sent off for a bottle boss replacement. I expressly asked them not to leave anything in the down tube, happy to pay more to avoid. First off they tried to scam me by glueing the metal in but it came loose as I inspected the frame on collection. Sent it back, they said they'd removed it but they'd just filled the down tube with expanding foam but it still rattled round. It also came back with new scratches and lots of paint marks and lacquer.

They didn't care and flat out refused to right their wrong.

Do not use colourtech for any of your biking needs if you value your bike. This was all arranged through De Ver cycles who I stress were not accountable for any of the issues and tried to help resolve.

Thanks for reminding me of such a painful experience.

The good folk at Enigma sorted it properly.

Back on topic, I've managed to get the rattly bit to the location of the spike that's nowhere near in. When I find the tool I will try to extract.

On the note around spokes and nipples breaking, I rebuilt a wheel as the hub bearing area got damaged and didn't have any issues unlacing or re-lacing it, and I've replaced spokes on similar crossmax in my time so hopefully I won't have an issue with this solitary spoke assuming I can get the metal out.

 

[ishaw]

Not uncommon to have the aluminum tab (where the ends of the rim are fused) come loose and rattle around. A gob of silicone adhesive to secure it is a common fix.

I had that on some 217s bitd. Though easier to solve as you can see inside the rim. I ended up using a punch to make an indent to hold the wedge bit where it should be and rode the wheel for many a year without further issues.

Hopefully I can do the same with this wheel, whatever is rattling inside. I suspect it's spoke related due to the single spoke not being screwed in properly. I hope it's just a bit of broken nipple and nothing rim related.