Bontrager x lite rear wheel prob - plz help!

DON'T RIDE THEM! It's only one spoke, but once it goes the rest will follow. Contact the seller right away and demand a refund. If that fails you'll need to replace the hub. You can't buy one yourself, but if you take the wheel to an authorized Trek/Bontrager dealer they can get it done for you.

One of my buddies just had his fail on a new Madone 5.2. The bike is about a month old, about 600 miles on it. He's 6'/160 lbs, and does a lot of steep climbing at a fairly good power output. He said the Trek dealer confirmed it's a problem which will be corrected quickly for him.

Opinion: This kind of stuff would shake my confidence in a >$2500 new bike. Certainly quality issues like this don't help Trek's image. They need to make sure wheels (and all other parts of the bike) are right before shipping rather than sending out questionable hubs and letting the customers find the bad ones for them.

lighty said:

Have just made the mistake of buying some Race X Lite wheels off ebay which are cracked , crack is on rear hub from spoke hole through to flange (edge of hub, see pic), its only 1 spoke and I'm tempted to just ride it - im only 75kg and would think wheel is built to deal with allot more.

My question - can you buy replacement hubs (cant find any) or can I use a different hub with the wheel? (does anyone make compatible wheels) or any advice! 🙁

Don't ride it. When the flange breaks, and it will, you will not be able to ride the wheel. The wheel needs to be replaced.

I've seen this happen on quite a few race x lite wheelsets. Here is what I recommend...

Take them to a Trek dealer and see if they can warantee it for you. This shouldnt be a problem and they can get a replacement for you. But since you are not the original owner Im not too sure, but at least try.

[quote="lighty"]

Contact the ebay vendor and get your money back, unless they expressly mentioned the crack in the ad, you have grounds to get a refund. Also if you used paypal to pay for it I understand there is some sort of insurance, to cover issues like this. Also stay away from this seller, if they can sell this sort of stuff which potentially could cause you getting hurt, I would have them blacklisted to protect other innocent buyers.

Take it to a Trek dealer and see what they will do. I think they will be able to get Trek to warranty it for you; Then you will have a brand new wheel for the good price. I would also put a negative comment on ebay about the seller if they didnt say anything about the crack in the description.