SRAM S40 wheelset

[rikaguilera]

I guess I should start at the begining.. I purchased a set of Sram S40 carbon wheels, for the purpose of being a training wheelset. Not exactly a light set, but they did prove to be fast and free spinning. The bike that they were on ( previously pictured here) is pretty light, and is built with Sram Red parts. Now the problem.. I had the wheelset for less than a week, rode 115 miles and "pop", a spoke on the rear wheel literally pops off. This is the first spoke I have actually ever broken, and I have ridden some very "delicate" wheels. Srange to me, but I take the wheel to the LBS, they are a pro shop so i know they will do a proper job in repairing. Second ride on the wheel, and 180 more miles. Put the bike on the roof rack and "pop"! Another spoke on the rear pops off!! Non drive side rear, different spoke.. Back to the shop. This time they repair and contact Sram. This is not the shop I purchased the wheels from, as I have now moved, and I don't have the time to drive to another town to get back to the original shop. SRAM tells the new shop that I would have to return the wheel to the original shop for warranty... I'm a research doctor working in Pediatric Cancer research, and I spend most of my life in a lab. I can't drive out to the other shop, nor feel as if I should have to. The new shop repairs the wheel and I feel that maybe it will now be ok. A couple of weeks go by and I'm finishing up my morning ride. The wheel now has 803 miles on it. I'm in my office, bike is sitting in the corner, and that terrible "pop" sound again!! I've had it! I call Sram myself, but they say they can't help me, the bike shop that I purchased them from is "only" who they will talk to. Three different spokes on the same wheel in 803 miles?! I have written a letter to their customer service, the CEO of Sram and to their "road rep" listed on thei site. That was 4 weeks ago. No response. I don't know if anybody else has had the same issue with these wheels, but if you own a set you might soon. If you are considering purchasing them, DONT! They are crap, and Sram has proven their lack of attention to the matter.
Sorry if this is too long of a posting, or if it is old news to some, but I've never had so much frustration with a bike part or company. Now these wheels are for sale. I don't even care if I get anything for them as I consider it a 1200.00 dollar loss at this point.
Thanks for reading, and sorry for the rant.

[shadwell]

Don't apologise for venting, you have every right.

I am sure you have recourse through the original store to return them and refund you, or replace with new??? Not sure how US laws run.. .
At least then you can sell a new wheel as opposed a used one and get some financial return.

If not suggest using small claims court... geta letter drafted to SRAM, its unusal for comapnies to ignore this.

I must say i am surprised as I have heard and experinced good support from SRAm with groupset issues...

Re Wheels going forward, i have had fantstic results with HED products, both technically and with the support they provided when we did experience a problem.

Either way i hope you get a resolution.

[Mr.Gib]

This is complete garbage on the part of Sram and they need to be called on it. A year ago I moved 3000 km and brought about $20,000 worth of gear with me. Does Sram expect me ship stuff 3000 km time I need to make a warranty claim. Utter and complete bullshit. Totally defeats the purpose of dealing with a nationally distributed company. If I was a shareholder of Sram I would be furious.

Just remember that Sram owns Zipp so maybe we should stop buying Zipp as well.

Waiting for Sram to make an apology......

Still waiting.....

[rikaguilera]

Thanks, and I agree on the BS excuse given about having to travel (or ship the wheels) back to the original shop. Does not feel like proper customer service. I am just wishing they would at least respond at this point..
I have been looking at a set of HED wheels, as I have heard good performance and quality comments. Still looking for now.
Thanks for the response and suggestions.

[legs 11]

Have you spoken to the original shop you bought them from?
If they are any good at looking after their customers they may well organise getting your wheels picked up and get them back to Sram for you?
That's what I would do for an unhappy customer?
It's not realistic for Sram to communicate directly with you on this as it's the responsibility of the original dealer to sort it out for you.
Get on that phone and explain your problem to them and ask them what they can do about it?

[rikaguilera]

I have spoken to the original shop, and yes, they are not near by. I have to ship the wheels to them, and they said they would handle the rest through Sram. Then once they recieve the wheel back from Sram, as Sram will only send back to the shop and not my home address, they will then UPS the wheel to me. Not impossible to do, but really a pain in the A$$. This is just not the way to have to handle the matter, and the wheel (any wheel) should not be so poorly constructed. I have recently searched the net for other wheels meeting with such a failure, and wow,.. I should have researched before purchasing. This is apparently VERY common. Makes me understand why there is such a delay in responding to me. They are probably overwhelmed with complaints at this point..
Im repairing this wheel, then selling them. Best way to rid myself of the headache and frustration. Shame really, my RED parts seem perfect..

[rikaguilera]

I wanted to update this post, as I just completed a phone call with Sram's warranty office. Thing is, as soon as I posted here on "Weight Weenies", I started to recieve phone calls from Sram. This morning I was told that a replacement wheel (with improved spoke design) is being sent to the shop I requested. Once recieved, I can send back my wheel in the packaging of the new one. They apologized for any confusion, and did go further to make me happy.
I don't understand why it got to this point, but I am glad that it will now be fixed. Not sure if I will sell these wheels and move on to another set, but I guess I will have to ponder that a bit.
I did recieve some direct emails from this posting, and thank you for the assistance. I hate that the product could become such an issue, but I guess it is done now.
Thanks Again guys.

[sq225917]

Sorry to drag this one up from the depths but i'd be interested to hear exactly what if anything SRAM said they had changed about the wheel.

I have a rear S40 which has fired off spokes since I bought it, I've gone through 3 packs of spokes in under six months. Always the LHS spokes, (which is the 2x drive side, even though it's not the cassette side). The snapped spokes vary, sometimes the same spoke goes, sometimes different ones. My rear wheel is a mass of small blue stickers indicating which spokes have snapped.

Here's what I've learnt about the wheels and the design.

The spoke lacing in radial on the cassette side and 2x on the none cassette side, ( i'll refrain from 'drive side' and 'none drive side' as they are actually flipped due to the lacing). Interestingly this is exactly the same lacing as my Mavic Kysirium ES. My Mavics have over 15k miles on them. I've been through three sets of bearings, 2 new freehub bodies and am on my 2nd rim on the back wheel of my Mavic Es's. My S40 didn't laast 300 miles before it started playing up.

Anyway, I digress.

The spoke drilling on the Mavics is differential, the 2x and radial spoke holes on either side are not drilled it at the same angle, the 2x are slightly offset. Offset so that the spoke enters the rim, under load, at exactly the angle that the spoke holes are drilled. It's not very different, about 10 degrees or so, but the spoke holes align with the spokes perfectly.

On the S40, the spoke holes are all drilled directly into the rim at 90 degrees, ideal for a front wheel laced radially- not so hot for a back wheel with a mixed ply lacing. So what happens is that under load the 2x spokes are pulled super tight against the small spoke hole in the rim, and they are cranked over under load right at the edge of the spoke hole. And what do you know- this lines right up with the weakest point of the spoke- right where the thread tapers out. So you have the weakest point of the spoke being bent over the edge of the spoke hole and it only happens on the side of the wheel that transfers all the load.

I understand that in the race to save weight that they trimmed the spokes back to the max. I can also understand that life is easier if your front and back rims share the same spoke drilling. I also understand having a big pile of frotn and rear rims when lacing them up, and having to make sure that you put the first spoke in the right side of the rim and the right spoke hole is a production pain in the ass.

I just don't expect it from Sram on a £500 wheel.

Here's my suggestions to Sram to remedy this.

1. Use a differential drilling on the rim.
2. Use a slightly thicker spoke head, we'll forgive you the extra 20grams.
3. Dril the hole in the rim just a little bit bigger so the spokes don't hit the spoke hole and then can't be bent under load and snap.
4. Test your gear fully.

I'm hoping my shop will come for me with some help from the UK distributor.

[sq225917]

Well finally after much back and forth we have some action.

SRAM have stepped up and offered to replace my old wheel with a new 2011 S40. That is more than i expected I thought they might step up with a new rim or maybe a wheel at cost, so I'm overjoyed with that result.

They have made a few changes to the 2011 wheel, new unidirectional carbon on the rim, new black spokes and stealth graphics- and one feature change that they don't tell you about- differentially drilled spoke holes in the rim.... So they have fixed the design fault but didn't tell anyone...

[Lars K. P.]

I am having the same problem at the moment for my Sram S40 rear wheel; broken four spokes for less the 1000 km. This time my local shop offered to send the rear wheel to Sram Nordic (covering Denmark) even I have purchased them in Germany. Now I can only wait and see the result from Sram Nordic if they try to repair the wheel or I get a replacement. I got good service from my local shop, but don’t know yet in terms of Sram as I have not heard anything yet.
Does anyone know if the same problem occurs on the front wheel? Until now I had no problems, but I am actual not very confident going to the Alps later this summer with this problem in mind!

Lars
(Denmark)

[Lars K. P.]

The question is why do Sram not recall such wheel like Mavic did with R-SYS?

[Lars K. P.]

Update: After getting the spokes replaced one of them broke again after approx. 150 km. After great support from my local shop Sram have now shipped a brand new set of wheels.

Br
Lars

[GaryEves]

Hi

can sq225917 on the group provide me with the SRAM contact perosn who helped you out? I have the same failure now and need some help

thanks
Gary

[Cento]

@sq225917,,so how's the new design s40? still any issues? I guess by now you have more miles on your set,,I just bought a set yesterday and I will test ride this week-end,your feedback is much appreciated,,,thanks

Well finally after much back and forth we have some action.

SRAM have stepped up and offered to replace my old wheel with a new 2011 S40. That is more than i expected I thought they might step up with a new rim or maybe a wheel at cost, so I'm overjoyed with that result.

They have made a few changes to the 2011 wheel, new unidirectional carbon on the rim, new black spokes and stealth graphics- and one feature change that they don't tell you about- differentially drilled spoke holes in the rim.... So they have fixed the design fault but didn't tell anyone...

[decs11]

I had exactly the same problem this morning.
Riding along a flat road, all of a sudden, POP. Rear spoke on the drive side.

Thanks for all the above posts, I will be contacting the bike shop and Sram.
Pity, because I liked the wheels before this happened.