A customer brought in the rear wheel of a Mavic Allroad Elite for me to work on.
The "Allroad" is a series of wheels designed for gravel riding.
The rim was in a condition where replacement was unavoidable.
It features isopulse (radial lacing on the freewheel side) with flat aero spokes, so the construction is similar to a 24-hole Ksyrium Elite,
but the rim is a wide rim with an internal width of 22mm.
The bead hooks were deformed all over the place, and at the most noticeable spot
the customer had filled in something,
apparently trying to fix a crack that had developed in the bead hook.
Even beyond that, there were several spots where the bead hooks were bulging outward.
To be blunt, this is a rim defect.
For some reason, only the freewheel-side bead hooks were severely deformed, and since it's an offset rim, even when disassembled down to just the rim itself,
it's easy to tell which side was originally the freewheel side.
I replaced the rim with a new one.
↑This is the rim after replacement.
As for the rim before replacement,
I found a spot on the bead hook with almost no deformation and marked it with tape.
When I measured the thickness of the non-freewheel-side bead hook (which, by the way, is hookless) with calipers, it was approximately 2.1mm.
I'm holding it straight and firm.
After recording this measurement and applying it to the freewheel-side bead hook,
you can clearly see it's thinner.
When I measured it, it was only 1.1mm—about half the thickness of the non-freewheel side.
There's no way this thickness can withstand buckling. This is clearly a defective product.
The bead hook doesn't change thickness just because it's bent, and of course there's no wear from rim brakes.
There's no anodize peeling on either the inside or outside of the rim, so there's zero possibility it was shaved down thinner after manufacture.
The abnormally thin thickness of the freewheel-side bead hook was the same all the way around the entire circumference of the rim.
If it were me, I would have stopped building the wheel the moment I saw this rim
(or rather, it's pretty impressive in its own way to build a complete wheel without noticing how thin the beads are),
but the fact that this passed inspection and made it to market means I can no longer say with certainty
that wheels in a similar condition from Mavic absolutely don't exist
(all crows are black—but this is a white crow carcass).
So for those of you who own Mavic aluminum rim wheels, or who are considering purchasing one and have the opportunity to see the actual product,
I'd like to say you should check on this sort of thing... but in the latter case, due to the Wheel Tire System (WTS),
the wheels come pre-mounted with tires, so even if you have the product right in front of you at the store,
it seems impossible to check the bead thickness.
So to Mavic wheel dealers out there (though we're not one of them),
even if you can't manage proper pre-sale inspection and servicing,
I think you can at least do this much—
I recommend 100% inspection of all units, and don't skip the hassle of deflating the tire first.
The "Allroad" is a series of wheels designed for gravel riding.
The rim was in a condition where replacement was unavoidable.
It features isopulse (radial lacing on the freewheel side) with flat aero spokes, so the construction is similar to a 24-hole Ksyrium Elite,
but the rim is a wide rim with an internal width of 22mm.
The bead hooks were deformed all over the place, and at the most noticeable spot
the customer had filled in something,
apparently trying to fix a crack that had developed in the bead hook.
Even beyond that, there were several spots where the bead hooks were bulging outward.
To be blunt, this is a rim defect.
For some reason, only the freewheel-side bead hooks were severely deformed, and since it's an offset rim, even when disassembled down to just the rim itself,
it's easy to tell which side was originally the freewheel side.
I replaced the rim with a new one.
↑This is the rim after replacement.
As for the rim before replacement,
I found a spot on the bead hook with almost no deformation and marked it with tape.
When I measured the thickness of the non-freewheel-side bead hook (which, by the way, is hookless) with calipers, it was approximately 2.1mm.
I'm holding it straight and firm.
After recording this measurement and applying it to the freewheel-side bead hook,
you can clearly see it's thinner.
When I measured it, it was only 1.1mm—about half the thickness of the non-freewheel side.
There's no way this thickness can withstand buckling. This is clearly a defective product.
The bead hook doesn't change thickness just because it's bent, and of course there's no wear from rim brakes.
There's no anodize peeling on either the inside or outside of the rim, so there's zero possibility it was shaved down thinner after manufacture.
The abnormally thin thickness of the freewheel-side bead hook was the same all the way around the entire circumference of the rim.
If it were me, I would have stopped building the wheel the moment I saw this rim
(or rather, it's pretty impressive in its own way to build a complete wheel without noticing how thin the beads are),
but the fact that this passed inspection and made it to market means I can no longer say with certainty
that wheels in a similar condition from Mavic absolutely don't exist
(all crows are black—but this is a white crow carcass).
So for those of you who own Mavic aluminum rim wheels, or who are considering purchasing one and have the opportunity to see the actual product,
I'd like to say you should check on this sort of thing... but in the latter case, due to the Wheel Tire System (WTS),
the wheels come pre-mounted with tires, so even if you have the product right in front of you at the store,
it seems impossible to check the bead thickness.
So to Mavic wheel dealers out there (though we're not one of them),
I think you can at least do this much—
I recommend 100% inspection of all units, and don't skip the hassle of deflating the tire first.