Crack or scratch on Turbo Vado SL 4 front rim
- Thread starter sodoff
- Start date
BEC111
Well-Known Member
I cant be certain but that looks bad and the warranty should cover it.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
that looks morel like the seam of the rim. it would be easy to check if you take the tire off and its on the inside. cranks in rims usually are around the spoke holes going around the rim.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
when I bought new wheels the rim was 50.00 for a dt-swiss rim but the same rim welded was 100.00 check your other wheel you will find the same thing.
sodoff
New Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
Yes it's the rim seam, directly opposite the valve. I can feel the seam of the rear wheel by running my finger over the same spot, opposite the valve. But the rear seam is not visible like the front one. Never seen anything like this before.
kahn
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- northWET washington
It might just be a blemish. Take it to a shop and left them check it out. You do not want a failing rim!
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
Allan47.7339
Well-Known Member
That is just the seam where the two ends of the rim extrusion are pinned together. Aluminum rims are pinned, welded or inserted sleeve. It's not unusual to see the splice especially when we used to use rim brakes. There would frequently be a smear from the brake pad at the joint. It is always 180 from the valve hole and centered between two spoke holes. It may not always be visible depending on the rim finish and I've got at least one rim where they put a label directly over the joint to help hide it.
Edited to add: Asking the shop will be best for your peace of mind.
Edited to add: Asking the shop will be best for your peace of mind.
Last edited:
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
I have seem some lectric rims with a gap there. that was normal for them
sodoff
New Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
I've heard back from the retailer;
" Basically, when the rim is made it is just one long piece of metal rolled up to form the rim. It is then joined together with 2 interference fit pins on the inside (which you cannot see) On the more expensive rims this joint is then welded and smoothed down to show no join.
The rim is perfectly safe to ride and will not cause you any issues."
I was just thinking how weird, after nearly 60 years of racing, touring, and endurance events, I've never come across this before. Then I thought, hmm, I'm sure I had............but my memory...........er...........what was I saying?
" Basically, when the rim is made it is just one long piece of metal rolled up to form the rim. It is then joined together with 2 interference fit pins on the inside (which you cannot see) On the more expensive rims this joint is then welded and smoothed down to show no join.
The rim is perfectly safe to ride and will not cause you any issues."
I was just thinking how weird, after nearly 60 years of racing, touring, and endurance events, I've never come across this before. Then I thought, hmm, I'm sure I had............but my memory...........er...........what was I saying?
McCorby
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Nothing to keep an eye on. As others have already said, that seam is perfectly normal.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
when rim brakes were around you needed welded to make them smooth. now you really need them if you want a truly tubeless rim one that doesn't to need rim tape.
Allan47.7339
Well-Known Member
It means you need to spend more time riding and less time looking at your bike.I've heard back from the retailer;
" Basically, when the rim is made it is just one long piece of metal rolled up to form the rim. It is then joined together with 2 interference fit pins on the inside (which you cannot see) On the more expensive rims this joint is then welded and smoothed down to show no join.
The rim is perfectly safe to ride and will not cause you any issues."
I was just thinking how weird, after nearly 60 years of racing, touring, and endurance events, I've never come across this before. Then I thought, hmm, I'm sure I had............but my memory...........er...........what was I saying?
kahn
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- northWET washington
Fortunately, I did look at my bike two weeks ago. We were riding and went through or near a patch of broken bottle. I decided to check my tires. When I did so, I noticed a never before seen feature in my RIM. A "drain hole!" Actually, it was a disconnected spoke. Apparently, the nipple unscrewed and my spoke detached. There was no obvious evidence. Brakes did not rub and my friend following behind said she did not notice any wobble. Fortunately, the unscrewed bit did not manage to cause a flat tire, floating around inside the rim. Six miles home and then into the shop. But as luck or irony would dictate. Repaired bike on my next ride got a FLAT!!! Unrelated to the day's earlier spoke incident. Oh, well, ain't bike riding fun - SOMETIMES!
Allan47.7339
Well-Known Member
The rim extrusion is double walled at the nipple so it would just rattle around between the inner rim and outer rim. Unfortunately one loose spoke can quickly lead to many loose spokes if not attended to. An occasional pinch of each spoke pair is a good way to check for problems.
This past fall, I found a crack in the rim of my rear wheel by a spoke in my 2020 Vado 4. I bought the bike at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The Vado has almost 10,000 miles on it and was out of warranty by 7-8 months. I took it to the local bike shop where I originally bought the bike. I figured I'd have to buy a new wheel. The LBS said they'd reach out to Specialized and see what they could work out. Specialized sent out a brand new wheel at no charge. The LBS said they didn't have to do much to talk Specialized into it. They sent a picture of the crack, a copy of the receipt and said that I was a good customer. Anyway, that's what happened with me. I'm very impressed by how Specialized took care of the issue.
Similar threads
