I borrowed a wheel off a mate and have had a bit of a problem! It's a brand new 819 on Pro II from CRC, about 2 rides old. The wheel is already buckled and on inspection about 5 non-drive side spokes have unscrewed at the nipples. There are more that are loose. All on the non-drive side.

Anyone else have this problem? Is it just a bad build? What's the solution… locktite?? I'm going to re-true it and tension the spokes equally but I'm worried about giving it back to my mate and him having problems in the future.

I'll be out for a few hours but all help will be gratefully received.

If you're going to name where you got the thing from it might be best to give them an opportunity to comment/rectify the problem 'in private' first?

If you true and tension it properly you shouldn't have a problem. Certainly there's no need for Loctite!

I've seen it said on here that one should think of CRC wheels as a cheap kit of parts, not a properly built wheel! Which is a bit harsh really, but I understand the sentiment of it….

I had some which were OK, but after a while they went all loose and flexy on me. I sorted them out myself. Merlin tended to build better wheels than CRC, IME, but I've not bought some for a while now (I build my own) so they may be better

come on, I'm hardly slating CRC (I spend a lot of money there!) and even if I was they are more than big enough to stick up for themselves! I'm asking for some advice on how to fix the problem.

Cheers PP though. Any other experience / advice appreciated.

Not sure it's just CRC. A friend's set of Hope Hoops (also 819's on Pro II's) has just done exactly the same thing. Turns out to be some of the cups that hold the nipples were working their way loose, throwing the tension out. All has been retorqued and tensioned, and they now seem to be holding up.

Phone (don't email) CRC and have a conversation with them. My long term experience of CRC is extremely positive in these situations. It won't matter that you aren't the original owner if the wheel is only 2 months old and the damage/failure isn't related to 'user error'.

Be sure to let us know how you get on.

A CRC wheel went wobbly on me as well, never used them for wheel builds since.

Just to clear things up, is this a Hope Hoop or a wheel built by CRC? Either way, both have proven to do what needs doing, plus more when it comes to customer service.

As for a solution, that should be pretty straight forward. Retension evenly and away you go. No need for spoke prep, thread lock, linseed oil or anything similar.

In fact, when I build my own wheels, I use copper slip in the nipples and a little drop of chain lube between the nipple and the rim.

just true it properly. apply some threadlock if you like, just make sure it's the lighter weight stuff – 222 or something like that.

The nipple retaining widgets should be loctited in.

Sounds like the wheel was not tensioned sufficiently, oil on nipples and spoke threads makes it easier to get higher tension.

Thanks guys. It was built by CRC but I'm not worried about blame and, for what it's worth, I'm sure CRC would sort the problem, however sending it back isn't an option for me. I'm just seeing if it's a common problem and if there's a known solution because I don't want to return the wheel to my mate and find out that he's had further problems.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll true it up properly and see what happens. I'll have to remove a few of the retaining nipples so I'll locktite those back in. We'll see how I get on in a few weeks eh?!