Forum menu
So my wheels had their first proper dark Peak outing and as it was the first time my Tracer has also ventured into the rocky stuff I gave it some welly on the descents.
However, I was a little disappointed to find I'd managed to stick a great big dent in my front rim and without blowing the tyre either. Personally I blame the 170mm lyrik rc2DH's for sucking up everything so well.
However, having only ever dented one front rim before I can't help wondering if they're particularly soft rims?!
I'm just annoyed at making new stuff look old so quickly..
The Flows reputation for strength and durability is well deserved, but they are not indestructable and while they hold up pretty well, it's more than easy to dent them or even destroy them.
I've dented Flows quite a few times in the Peak and Messiah will be along shortly to tell you how he managed to destroy one!
Interesting, I was quite surprised that I'd managed to do it to my front rim without blowing the tyre though. A rear dent would perhaps be more likely?
little more tyre pressure maybe?
Probably!! :-S
Hard luck. I'm a big fat heifer and I've ridden some pretty rocky stuff in the Lakes with low tyre pressures on mine without denting so far - could happen to pretty much any rim though.
stay loose through the stuff.
pick yer lines
lift yer front wheel.
😀
I ride the peaks and my flow rims are covered in nicks and little dings. I think this works in their favour though. It's a fine balance between too soft and they mark at nothing up to too hard and they become brittle and lose all resiliance.
I think they've got the balance about right and they still hold air no problem with lots of little battle scares.
A regular thing for me - denting Flows.
Sometimes I can straighten the dent with pliers / grips / jiggery pokery and sometimes it's needed a new rim. Rarely does the wheel go out of true, and even more rarely does the tyre loose it's seal. On occassion I have carried on with the dent until something more severe happens and tyres have remained sealed and wheel remained true.
As per previous posting, tough wheels but definately not dent proof - guys in my LBS much prefer Mavic rims for this reason alone.
Ride it, until it really busts
Why do folk think its the rims fault?
Tyre, pressure, riding, fork set-up etc...
Why do folk think its the rims fault?
Because people on here are a bit simple
like what geetee said.
For me, they're a decent tough trail rim.
My rear one did go, after 3 years, riding the Snowdon Ranger path in April - I split it, but even then my yellow tape and ordinary tyre tubeless setup still held air, and I rode it for another day and a half.
Now, my crests on the SS - They were new at xmas, and I've had to true them three times and the rear has a small flat spot already.
As per previous posting, tough wheels but definately not dent proof - guys in my LBS much prefer Mavic rims for this reason alone.
...because they're more dent-resistant?
Mavics are more dent proof.....you just get pinch flats instead!Used to be really bad on DT rims when they were made of cheese.
Not at all convinced Mavic are tougher, my 819s are covered in bruises even though they're not as hard used as my Flows.
low walls on the rim maybe allow the tyre to move more laterally under cornering, so easier to bang the rim on rocks but harder to pinch flat ?
I think from what gets said on here maybe people go for pressures that are too low when using "normal" tyres (I don't just mean non-UST, I mean lightweight/narrowish). Great for grip I'm sure, less great for tyre stability ?
(Since I'm not a big [i]actual[/i] rider of bikes, this is all speculation)
Loads of people recommended flows to me when I built up my DH bike.
However, they are, in fact, definitely made of cheese.
My flows have far more dinks in than my Mavic 325's which have been abused for longer and harder.
And how much do the 325s weigh compared to the Flows?
That's some comparison though don't you think? 325's an absolute monster, and 715g vs 470g for a Flow- a rim with 2/3ds as much metal in is going to be weaker.
But if you're using trailbike rims on a DH bike and they're surviving at all, they're not made of cheese.
Jonnier uses Flow's to race. I am sure she gets them rebuilt and replaced BUT they are strong enough to race on DH and that lady shifts.
Just about to order some Flow's myself. Wheels dent and die. Fact of life.
And how much do the 325s weigh compared to the Flows?
Quite - 476g for the Flow versus (drum roll please) 708g for the 325!
[url= http://www.sicklines.com/weights/rims/ ]Verified Rim Weights on Sicklines.com[/url]
I'll get a reputation for repeating myself... I don't think Flow rims are actually that strong a rim. What they are good at though is making big tyres even bigger which protects the rim. If the impact gets past the tyre the lack of metal in the rim does mean they tend to get damaged easier than heavier rims. Hourses for courses of course and for me I'll take the risk since the benefits of the light wide Flow rim makes for a lively playful feeling bike - but don't expect full on doonhall strength from them and be sure to use big tyres.
Hmmm, I was using 2.35 high rollers with a reasonable amount of air in them. Surprisingly I only ever dented my old DT5.1's the once and only when flatting just before launching a drop off..
Sometimes things just happen. I bent my front Flow on it's third outing, neatly bent on a heavy handed poorly angled landing off a 6ft high wallride. Jumped on it to get it straight and carried on... A heavier duty rim would probably have survived better.
I was looking at my two year old Flows the other day - they are well battle scared but are holding up. I'm planning to replace them this summer to be on the safe side.