Kyserium elite question

[Beerboy]

I have a set of Kyserium Elites and took the wheel to be trued, bike shop called to say the spokes were seized in the nipples and that it would cost just under 1K to fix!

 

i got the wheel back and sprayed some Q10 on the spokes/nipples left it for a few hours and managed to get all but 3 spokes free. 2 of the spokes bent and i had to toss them and the 3rd nipple broke in half(luckily the second half was easy to get out the rim.

 

in order to clean and free the nipples up properly i needed to remove the brass nuts from the spoke and i did not take notice of the nut position, is the position different for the drive and non drive sides. The spokes are identical lengths but you can adjust length by moving the brass nut.

 

anyone know how i find out the correct spoke length so i can correctly set this

 

is there anywhere you can buy spares for these spokes as i just need the nuts, or do i have to buy new spokes

 

Thanks

BB

[Tumbleweed]

What was the shop's quote based on?

[TNT1]

What was the shop's quote based on?

 

Greed?

[Tumbleweed]

Greed?

 

Hahahahahahahaha!

 

Just asking because Mavic spares don't come cheap.

[Beerboy]

I guess it was most likely a quote to replace all of the spokes, at R35 per spoke 20 spokes R700

they sent it to Dragon Sports so this was the quote from dragon.

[TNT1]

I guess it was most likely a quote to replace all of the spokes, at R35 per spoke 20 spokes R700

they sent it to Dragon Sports so this was the quote from dragon.

 

Yeah, but it turns out that they could have got by with replacing just three spoke/nipples. So, I call motivation by path of least resistance and greed.

Get a new bike shop.

[ROCKITRIDEIT]

sorry to hijack but how long have you had your Elite wheelset? I have a set of 2008 Kysrium SLs and was wondering if I need to get them serviced to prevent anything like you mentioned happening. The last thing I want is for spoke/nipple to completely seize up and then break the rim trying to get it sorted.

[Wannabe]

sorry to hijack but how long have you had your Elite wheelset? I have a set of 2008 Kysrium SLs and was wondering if I need to get them serviced to prevent anything like you mentioned happening. The last thing I want is for spoke/nipple to completely seize up and then break the rim trying to get it sorted.

If you had your Sl's since 2008 and never serviced them, you might have more problems than you want. The nipple and spoke is alu, which is prone to oxidation (alu rust), especialy at sea level. What this basicaly means is that over time the two parts "rust/seize" together. Preventitive step is to at least once a month turn every nipple (USING THE CORRECT TOOL) a quarter turn loose and then back to original position. Make sure the spoke does not twist. This prevents it oxidating/seizing.

What I suggest you do now is to first buy yourself a bottle of acytone and place a drop of two on every nipple for a few nights running. After that try loosening a nipple VERY CAREFULLY, as they are prone to breaking quite easily when seized and you force it. Once every nipple turns smoothly, do it religiously every month, once you had your wheels properly serviced.

 

Or save yourself all the hassle and take your wheels to your LBS to have them looked at/serviced.

[FC&P2C]

This all sounds hectic to me! Ive been riding a set of Ksyrium Elites since 2005. Still running 100% true. Took the free hub of the other day to clean and re oil for the first time. Can only speak well of them. Awesome wheelset!

[Beerboy]

My wheels are probably the same age just under 4 years old, they're great wheels just not very service friendly when something breaks.

 

Dragon will only sell complete spoke+nipple+nut so i now need to buy 4 more spokes:( anyone in CT have any broken spokes lying around?

[Hobot]

Had a similar problem with a lbs, wanting to send my wheels to cape town because of a bent spoke, thankfully i heard of cyclesphere in Durban.

 

Took a drive over, and within 5 minutes spoke replaced, R60 incl labour.

 

I was then told that the ksyrium wheels are supposed to be serviced every 600 to 800km

I had this done, cost was R510 fro rear wheel, and R310 for front, and what a diffrence,they felt like brand new wheels.

They also poured some special oil inbetween the rim walls to lube the spokes etc.

[CAAD4]

Had a similar problem with a lbs, wanting to send my wheels to cape town because of a bent spoke, thankfully i heard of cyclesphere in Durban.

 

Took a drive over, and within 5 minutes spoke replaced, R60 incl labour.

 

I was then told that the ksyrium wheels are supposed to be serviced every 600 to 800km

I had this done, cost was R510 fro rear wheel, and R310 for front, and what a diffrence,they felt like brand new wheels.

They also poured some special oil inbetween the rim walls to lube the spokes etc.

It's commonly known as WD-40 or in Layman's terms Q20....

[Johan Bornman]

Yeah, but it turns out that they could have got by with replacing just three spoke/nipples. So, I call motivation by path of least resistance and greed.

Get a new bike shop.

 

Your view on this is pretty cynical. If you've ever worked with these wheels you'd know that it isn't unreasonable to quote a customer the cost of all the spokes plus considerable labour. Should the job then work out a bit cheaper 'cause you didn't have to replace all the spokes, then you invoice down from the quoted price.

 

To fix a wheel like this could easily take four or five hours of labour. On top of that, you can't say how many spokes will be required or how much labour, until you're actually finished with the job.

 

I once posted a workshop story here with pictures, of the labour and effort required to save a wheel like this. Look it up, you'll be surprised.

 

The spokes acorss the range are not standard and to keep stock of all the spokes in all the fancy colours for all the wheels is impractical. The agent is in Cape Town and it takes a good two days and R80 plus VAT of freight to get the spokes to you. Because you don't know how many you'll need, you overcompensate.

 

Put all of that together and you easily come to a R1 000 job.

 

These wheels are nice when they work but totally crap when they start to give trouble. And they do.

 

I hope this helped you see the bike shop's point of view.

[TNT1]

Your view on this is pretty cynical.

 

That about does it

 

 

Ok, but I do see your point.

[Beerboy]

After replacing the 4 spokes i had the wheel trued 3 times(by 3 different bike shops) after a short ride it would run out again.

 

i then sent the wheel to dragon. Was very unhappy with the service. They blatantly lied and told me all the spokes in the wheel were siezed up and they had to replace them. they could not give me the old spokes either. I had personally removed all the spokes and cleaned and inspected each one before assembling them back into the rim! the 3 bike shops would not have been able to true the wheel if the spokes were siezed!

 

They Rebuilt it using Aksium spokes as the did not have Kyserium ones in stock. it now runs true, Anyone Know if it is ok to use Aksium spokes? the nipples don't screw in as far into the rim as the original spokes?

[Johan Bornman]

After replacing the 4 spokes i had the wheel trued 3 times(by 3 different bike shops) after a short ride it would run out again.

 

i then sent the wheel to dragon. Was very unhappy with the service. They blatantly lied and told me all the spokes in the wheel were siezed up and they had to replace them. they could not give me the old spokes either. I had personally removed all the spokes and cleaned and inspected each one before assembling them back into the rim! the 3 bike shops would not have been able to true the wheel if the spokes were siezed!

 

They Rebuilt it using Aksium spokes as the did not have Kyserium ones in stock. it now runs true, Anyone Know if it is ok to use Aksium spokes? the nipples don't screw in as far into the rim as the original spokes?

 

I'll deal with the last paragraph only since the first two is you say, they say.

 

Botht he Ksyrium Elite and Aksium use steel spokes. However, the Aksium uses standard straigh-pull spokes with nipples that screw on from the outside of the wheel. The KEs on the other hand, use proprietary spokes where the nipples are permanentlhy attached to the spoke and they screw into the rim. It is thus impossible to use Aksium spokes on KE wheels.

 

My guess is that you have KE spokes in there but the wheel is undertensioned, hence the nipples that protrude a bit further. But, that's just a guess. Show us a photo and give me the note of the spoke when plucked in HZ and I'll tell you.