Ron has a trusted Trek touring bike which is 13 years old and he is worried that the wheels need replacing? He needs to have a good look at the rims on the wheels to see if the are excessively worn or damaged in any way. We give him some pointers as to what to look for
Question: I know this is kinda basic, but. . .I have 13 year old Trek Touring Bike.
Would age by itself be a good (for safety) reason to replace the wheels? The wheels are in good condition, true and good shape. I know I can replace them with lighter weight wheels, but is a higher priority because of their age or can I wait until the end of the season? Thanks.
Hi Ron,
13 years is a long time for wheels to last for, but you are probably a light rider and a careful one who looks after his equipment. If you are not rough with your bike you can expect to get many years of trustworthy use from them. 13 years is a long time for the life of a set of wheels.
Here is what you should be looking for to make sure that your wheels are safe. First the rims, feel along the brake surface to see if there are any grooves that have worn due to grit that may have got caught in the brake blocks or any cracks in the side of the rim. Feel how thick the rim is, it may have worn to a dangerous thinness, normally the top edge of the rim is still the same thickness as when it was new, so run your finger up and down the side of the rim, from top to bottom, to feel for wear.
On the top surface of the rim look for cracks around the spoke holes, this is caused by the tension of the spokes keeping the rim straight. Now to the spokes, have you had many spokes break recently? If not they are probably OK. As spokes get worn its normal for them to break at the head, the end at the hub, if you are having lots of spokes break then they are getting worn.
Look at the hubs for cracks, especially around the spoke holes and on the inside of the flanges, well anywhere. Are the bearings stiff or are they nice and smooth or as normal for old wheels they could be loose. If you have any of these problems then its time for new wheels, other wise you should get a few more miles out of them. Good luck, you might need it with 13 year old wheels.
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I'm about 180lb and do mostly urban riding.
thanks
To me, wheels are like shoes, they can make or break the outfit!
I would recommend new zipp, Mavic, shimano, bontreger or shimano, pick
one??
cya
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I an not stupid and when decending I take into account the age of its riders,the age of the tandem and of course the wheels.
It is not the age of the wheels but rather the size and depth of the pot hole......