Water in the rims......

[TonyM]

Hi,

Whenever I ride in the rain for a few hours, I usually get some water in my rims although I always avoid all large water puddles and potholes.

I am therefore not sure how the water in coming inside the rims?? could it come when I accidentally ride over a water puddle which is higher than the tire and it enters between the tire and the rim or could the rain enter between the nipples and the rim? What do you think?

[alcatraz]

Nipples/rim and valve stem is my guess but the wheel must have been submerged, no?

Also if you got any cuts in the tire the almost non existant space inside could produce some capillary action and the water just gets sucked inside.

/a

[vanillaflyweight]

I've also had this issue purely from washing the bike (dry weather only). I think the spoke holes may add to the problem but some rims also have a small weephole which can let water in.

[misterq]

are they internal nipples, my reynolds do this.

[TonyM]

Thanks for your feedback!
I forgot the valve indeed. And maybe some tiny cuts in the tires.

[TonyM]

I've also had this issue purely from washing the bike (dry weather only). I think the spoke holes may add to the problem but some rims also have a small weephole which can let water in.

What do you mean with the weephole?

[TonyM]

are they internal nipples, my reynolds do this.

No external nipples.

Would internal nipples let more water coming inside the rim?

[Lelandjt]

I've seen a lot of rims that allow water in between the nipple and nipple hole. Washing the bike and spinning the wheels (centrifigal force) is enough to get it in. Some rims more than others, it has to do with the shape and angle of its spoke holes. Some rims come with weep holes to let this water out, other rims I've drilled holes and use a compressor to blow the water out.

Short of doing that, just leaving the bike in the sun helps to evaporate the water back out.

[ms6073]

What do you mean with the weephole?

Not sure there are many current wheels with this feature, but older alloy rims with inserts for the spoke nipple had a small hole to allow water to drain from the rim. Back when we first switched to carbon wheels, we had a set of first gen Reynolds Assault wheels that would retain water after a ride in moderate intensity rain, to avoid corrosion of the nipples after the ride, I would deflate the tires and unseat the tire beads to allow water to drain through the outer spoke holes, promoting quicker evaporation.

[charlieboy52000]

Hi,

Whenever I ride in the rain for a few hours, I usually get some water in my rims although I always avoid all large water puddles and potholes.

I am therefore not sure how the water in coming inside the rims?? could it come when I accidentally ride over a water puddle which is higher than the tire and it enters between the tire and the rim or could the rain enter between the nipples and the rim? What do you think?

Mavics cosmics are notorious for this. The water gets in thru the holes in the carbon flange.
After a rain I had to drain them.


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[charlieboy52000]

Hi,

Whenever I ride in the rain for a few hours, I usually get some water in my rims although I always avoid all large water puddles and potholes.

I am therefore not sure how the water in coming inside the rims?? could it come when I accidentally ride over a water puddle which is higher than the tire and it enters between the tire and the rim or could the rain enter between the nipples and the rim? What do you think?

A picture of the rims will help.


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[DamonRinard]

Water often gets in rims, even though they may not be submerged.
Spokes get wet. As the wheel spins, water runs toward the rim. Somehow the water gets into the rim. Maybe through the nipple seats, maybe as the spokes change tension tiny gaps open up. But by whatever mechanism, it can happen in almost any wheel.

So let the water out. Here's how I do it:

Drill 4 holes near the outer edge if the interior cavity.
Diameter 3 mm (~1/8"). (In my experience the smaller holes often found in new wheels aren't big enough to easily let water out.)
One one side: a hole at 12:00 and a hole at 6:00.
On the other side: a hole at 3:00 and a hole at 9:00.

Google "bike rim drain hole" for lots of photos.

When I was a wheel engineer at Trek, we fatigue tested wheels drilled like this and rarely got cracks at the drain holes. Usually fatigue cracks started elsewhere, typically at the normal place: the nipple holes.

[TonyM]

Hi,

Whenever I ride in the rain for a few hours, I usually get some water in my rims although I always avoid all large water puddles and potholes.

I am therefore not sure how the water in coming inside the rims?? could it come when I accidentally ride over a water puddle which is higher than the tire and it enters between the tire and the rim or could the rain enter between the nipples and the rim? What do you think?

A picture of the rims will help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fulcrum Racing Quattro LG CX

[TonyM]

Water often gets in rims, even though they may not be submerged.
Spokes get wet. As the wheel spins, water runs toward the rim. Somehow the water gets into the rim. Maybe through the nipple seats, maybe as the spokes change tension tiny gaps open up. But by whatever mechanism, it can happen in almost any wheel.

So let the water out. Here's how I do it:

Drill 4 holes near the outer edge if the interior cavity.
Diameter 3 mm (~1/8"). (In my experience the smaller holes often found in new wheels aren't big enough to easily let water out.)
One one side: a hole at 12:00 and a hole at 6:00.
On the other side: a hole at 3:00 and a hole at 9:00.

Google "bike rim drain hole" for lots of photos.

When I was a wheel engineer at Trek, we fatigue tested wheels drilled like this and rarely got cracks at the drain holes. Usually fatigue cracks started elsewhere, typically at the normal place: the nipple holes.

Good tip ! I was thinking about that but not sure I could do it

As far as I understood, drilling holes in aluminium could weaken the part (I read that about holes in the handlebar for the Di2) but not in carbon.
So that would mean that we should try to have maybe less holes in a aluminum rim or to have carbon wheels with holes having been drilled into in order to avoid water in the rims, right?

[Lelandjt]

Water often gets in rims, even though they may not be submerged.
Spokes get wet. As the wheel spins, water runs toward the rim. Somehow the water gets into the rim. Maybe through the nipple seats, maybe as the spokes change tension tiny gaps open up. But by whatever mechanism, it can happen in almost any wheel.

So let the water out. Here's how I do it:

Drill 4 holes near the outer edge if the interior cavity.
Diameter 3 mm (~1/8"). (In my experience the smaller holes often found in new wheels aren't big enough to easily let water out.)
One one side: a hole at 12:00 and a hole at 6:00.
On the other side: a hole at 3:00 and a hole at 9:00.

Google "bike rim drain hole" for lots of photos.

When I was a wheel engineer at Trek, we fatigue tested wheels drilled like this and rarely got cracks at the drain holes. Usually fatigue cracks started elsewhere, typically at the normal place: the nipple holes.

This is what I've done on all my rims that seemed to take on water. Except I make 2 holes (12 oclock on one side, 6 oclock on the other) and my holes are closer to 2mm. I use compressed air to blow water out after washing and then store the bike to let it finish drying out. Before riding I cover each hole with a small square of electrical tape.