Clifton CC

Posting in desperation all over the internets, but no one seems to know, are my wheels going to break? One guy reckons it is corrosion and it looks very bad and my rims may crack

Anyone any idea what it is, and if it is indeed corrosion are my wheels screwed?

I cleaned the wheels twice and then the following morning the white substance is back!!!



My Aksiums are on my commuter and I never clean that bike and the wheels are still fine :\..

Thanks
Will.

I'm no expert but here's my take on it:

Probably electrolysis as spokes and rim made of different material and salt/water solution from roads (steel spokes/aluminium rims??).

It's corrosion more than anything - they won't crack for some time I wouldn't have thought but the nipples could pull through eventually if the corrosion gets substantially worse.

Ideally clean your bike - at least wash down with clean water to wash off salt from roads whilst they're gritted/salted.

I always clean the bike, in this pic the bike is shiny, wheels are clean, day after this the wheels had white in the holes and spoke holes, I've took tyre and tube off, I'm going to take rim tape off too.

Would flushing the rims with anything help? How water and washing up liquid??

Scuffy bugger, cant believe you have put a bike on a surface you prepare food on!!

Andy! You're suggesting students "prepare food"?!?

Back to your original question Will, Ive some wheels exhibiting similar corrosion around the spokes as your wheels. They have been like that for 2 years now, so I would keep an eye on them but keep riding as normal at least for the time being.

Here seems a good case for naming and shaming! Too many expensive bike compoments just don't last!
Ones beginning with Shhhh.......are a case in point, wheels in particular. You expect eraser rubbers to wear with use, but £150 wheels in 3 months??? And putting wear indicator grooves just aims to makes the scam acceptable.
What were the others called? Aksium? I can live with those!

Hi Will, i'm not saying this is a possible cause just a caution that washing up detergent is slightly corrosive to metals, we used to check for gas leaks with a mixture of this and water which used to be acceptable, but now the gas regs state that you have to use a leak detector liquid which is non corrosive.

Until I found this out I have been washing cars and bikes for years with the stuff, in the past I sometimes used to wash my hair with it if I had no shampoo and look at it now.

I now wash the car and my bikes with a car wash and wax liquid which is not very expensive to buy from all motor accessory shops.

I've done between 4000 and 4500 miles on these Shimano Wheels, despite the rear wheel have slightly bent spokes from an accident a while ago they're still solid, and Manchester roads give em a good regular battering with the awfull state of the pot hole infested roads.

I gave the wheels a clean again last night, I also took tyre and tube off, and pulled rim tape up to have a look, and I notice how there is actually no corrosion in the rim, and looking at the spoke end inside the rim there is also no corrosion on it there, so it seems like it's only on the sides of the spoke holes.

Also, at the time, my bike was cleaner than the kitchen work surfaces , I'm really the only one who cleans up you see.

I have some cleaning stuff I got from home, it's called Carnauba wax:



I rarely use washing up liquid, only recently have I used it as it took less time than dry washing the bike.

willyh wrote:Here seems a good case for naming and shaming! Too many expensive bike compoments just don't last!
Ones beginning with Shhhh.......are a case in point, wheels in particular. You expect eraser rubbers to wear with use, but £150 wheels in 3 months??? And putting wear indicator grooves just aims to makes the scam acceptable.
What were the others called? Aksium? I can live with those!

Is your saddle level ? It looks like its pointing down ?

Will, I think that you have salt corrosion which is breaking down the anodised finish/coating that the aluminium section is finished with;in order to provide a degree of protection. It usually starts where there are holes in the section, as the thin wall of the section is not anodised & has therefore no protection, we have the same problems in the window industry in marine environments with the salt laden atmosphere in coastal locations creating exactly the picture you have shown. Eventually the section will break down & collapse, when this happens will depend on how much wear & tear the wheels have suffered in normal use, causing a thinning of the rims on the braking surface first & then spreading to the rest of the rim as the stress increases. So sorry but you may need new rims,
Bernard