Beware Grizzly rims!

[FrogPrince]

When I Purchased my New Raven about 18 months ago I chose Grizzly rims, standard front and CSS rear. They seemed like a good idea at the time. After a few weeks there was an ominous click when braking and I discovered the rim joint had pulled out of line creating a step. I returned the wheel to the workshop and the rim was replaced. Not many weeks later the click started again. I tried rubbing the join down (difficult on a carbide rim) and the worked for a short time. Frustrated I decided to put up with the noise. Then gradually over a period of time the back wheel started to lock as the valve went through the brake causing some dangerous skids going down hill. On investigation I discovered a longitudinal crack either side of the valve on the inside of the rim under the rim tape, causing the rim to spread at this point! I returned to the workshop again . they agreed to replace the rim with an Andra rim free of charge as the rim had only lasted a year and 5000 miles. I still had to pay £50:00 building fee. The new wheel seems much better. I will add that the standard Grizzly front rim has performed faultlessly. I feel I was ill-advised. Any thoughts?

[fossala]

50 quid seems steep as they charge 40 for a someone that hasn't already paid once but got sub-par service.
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/wheel-build-labour-with-14-15g-dt-competition-stainless-silver-spokes-per-wheel-prod5027/
In my opinion they should of not made you paid for the labour.

[brummie]

I think you may have just been unlucky to have the 2x Grizzly rims crack/ fail. Quite rare I suspect  - I've had about 3 pairs in almost daily use for over 6 years without any structural problems.

[Rockymountain]

I've had two pairs of Grizzly rims on my Nomad and Raven. The Nomad is nearly 3 years old, the Raven is 2 years old. Between them I've done over 8,000 miles - no sign of trouble at all.

I suspect the OP has been unlucky

Fraser

[Kuba]

50 quid seems steep as they charge 40 for a someone that hasn't already paid once but got sub-par service.
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/wheel-build-labour-with-14-15g-dt-competition-stainless-silver-spokes-per-wheel-prod5027/
In my opinion they should of not made you paid for the labour.

SJSC price for wheel builds depends on the number and type of spokes used, and the type of hub. 50 quid sounds about right for a black (?) Rohloff build.

As for the OP's problem in general, I'd expect to get more than 5,000 miles / 18 months from any rim. Given both failed after a relatively short period, and it didn't result from wear, I guess SJSC should raise it with the manufacturer as this indicates a bad batch. Unless yours was an isolated case, but then I agree they could do a bit better than this and sell you the wheel/rim half-price rather than charging for the more costly element of it.

Don't think I'd expect a new wheel FOC though, after all you got 5,000 miles from the original one...

Happy riding!

[FrogPrince]

My thoughts were that it was a bad batch. It was interesting when I phoned the guy in the workshop new exactly what the problem was before I said much. Perhaps they had had others from that batch fail??? Wheel build labour was £46:12 ...... I forgot that I bought some brake inserts as well :-)

[geocycle]

Very unlucky, I've got over 16000  miles out of my grizzly rims so far.  From what you say, I would have thought you deserved a new wheel FOC and SJS should chase their building costs up with Ryde. I suppose it is a grey area with 5000 on the clock but .....

[Danneaux]

Hi Colin!

So sorry to hear of your misfortune, and I hope things will stay sorted from now on.

Please, can you tell us what tire you were using in the rear, and at what inflation pressure?

Can you also tell me if the rim was drilled for presta, or if it was redrilled larger in diameter for a Schraeder valve?

Pressure and valve drilling don't sound like culprits in the rim-joint misalignment, but when I heard about the crack near the valve, it made me wonder if there might be other contributing factors to the failure itself, if the rim happened to be already somewhat marginal.

All the best,

Dan. (...who always likes to autopsy failed components)

[FrogPrince]

Hi Colin!

So sorry to hear of your misfortune, and I hope things will stay sorted from now on.

Please, can you tell us what tire you were using in the rear, and at what inflation pressure?

I am using schwalbe Dureems (sp?) At 50 psi on the rear.

Can you also tell me if the rim was drilled for presta, or if it was redrilled larger in diameter for a Schraeder valve?

Drilled for presta

Pressure and valve drilling don't sound like culprits in the rim-joint misalignment, but when I heard about the crack near the valve, it made me wonder if there might be other contributing factors to the failure itself, if the rim happened to be already somewhat marginal.

All the best,

Dan. (...who always likes to autopsy failed components)

[Danneaux]

Hi Colin!

Thanks!

Looking a Thorn's pressure recommendations on page 35 of the current Mega Brochure ( http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/THORN_MEGA_BROCHURE.pdf ), it looks like tire pressure wasn't a factor and the standard presta drilling wasn't the larger size required for a Schraeder valve.

Looks like the rims themselves were indeed the problem, rather than something else pushing an already marginal example over the edge.

I feel sure the switch to an Andra rim will signal the end of any possible problems. I've now had a lot of experience with Andras in demanding conditions, and they just keep rolling along.

All the best,

Dan.

[rafiki]

Oh dear oh dear!  I have recently replaced my Grizzly with a new one after similar symptoms to the OP. Like him I put up with it for quite some time before doing anything about it. Mine was way out of warranty and had done about 10000km. It was fitted to my new Sterling in July 2010.

I do recall a very bad crash into a Spanish pothole sometime previously. I wondered about changing to an Andra but decided it was my fault and so stuck with the Grizzly. I hope I won't be disappointed....

[Peejay]

I had a similar problem with the Grizzly rim on the rear wheel on my Sherpa - but that was due to running at too high tyre pressure. I replaced the rim and followed Jim K's advice and reduced my tyre pressures to what he recommended, and we've been OK Thanks Jim.

Interestingly like the OP my front wheel rim has been fine with no issues.

I did e-mail Ryde about the problem - but they never replied.

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=8057.0

Pete.

[Andre Jute]

That does look like a fault waiting to happen with which the rim arrived from the factory. A wheelbuilder would need a steampowered ham hand to get it that badly wrong, and I just don't believe in a pothole that could split a rim lengthways unless there was some manufacturing error already waitig for an impact that a sound rim would shrug off.

And a pretty frightening sight too. I can imagine half your rim and some of your spokes going bush while the rest of your wheel collapses under you in slow motion. All those unterminated spokes behind and below you... Deja vu for every actor who ever played Ceasar.

[Kuba]

I had a similar problem with the Grizzly rim on the rear wheel on my Sherpa

Was it CSS? I wonder if the issue is peculiar to carbide coated rims, or all of them when build up in the rear, i.e. heavier load.

Anyhow, three months ago I was choosing between Sputniks and Grizzlys, and Spa recommended the former. Now glad I took their advice!

[Peejay]

Kuba - Yes it was a CSS.

Pete.