I’ve just seen a flat spot on my 29 Crest and a small crack coming from one side of the spoke hole, it’s on Hope Pro2 Evo.

Have other people ridden on small cracks like this but kept an eye out for crack growth? It’s a back wheel on a full sus bike.

I need to replace the rim and learn how to build a wheel at the same time… If I buy a Stans Arch rim, the ERD is only 1mm different, can I get away with the same spokes?I live abroad, no bike shops, so this is my best option.

Yes and yes.

My rear crest rim has cracks on around 10 spoke hole have been riding it like that for 2 years now

My old mavics- er, the 719s I think, might have been the 721s- cracked to buggery around the spoke holes. I stopped using them once i noticed but god knows how long they’d been like that under the protective mud coating.

One thing is, swapping the rim on an intact wheel is pretty straightforward, But if the rim breaks, it’ll most likely demolish the spokes too. So that could be a false economy but tbh it’s just guesswork. I know my bikes are possessed by malignant imps so if I was to ride on a cracked wheel, it’d break at the most irritating time, guaranteed but if your bike isn’t evil then maybe carry on

Thanks, that’s reassuring, bike not got evil on me yet 😀

My old mavics- er, the 719s I think

I had 517s that did the same, kept riding for a while but as they were rim brakes they died a “natural” death anyway. Those were eyeleted tho dunno if that makes a difference with cracks, makes a psychological difference tho 🙂

OP if rims are same/close erd then tape the new one to the wheel, slacken all the spokes and relace 1 spoke at a time, there’s a good chance of scratching your rims but it’s a doddle to do when you don’t have to worry about lacing.

I had two cracks on my Mavic 719, one large enough to pull the spoke eyelet through a little bit. I rode it (gingerly!!) twice more while I waited for my new rims to arrive, plus however long I was riding them before I noticed them.

thanks for the tip about lacing, v handy! Now I’ve started looking at the LB website after a tip on this forum, might be time to go carbon…