Water in my rims



C

cyclingturtle

Guest
Hello everybody,

I have a nice Bianchi road bike with fancy (well, now they are more
standard than fancy) rims. These rims have an aero-shaped profile which
extends around the spokes and the valve for about 2-3 cm. When I ride for
a while in wet conditions, I end up with water in this hollow "aero"
cavity, and this water cascades in the rim when the wheel turns. It makes
a gurgling noise, and also to some extent wastes my precious power. The
real trouble is I can't really get this water out unless I fully dismount
the tire !
Any similar experience, advice ?

Jacques
 
"cyclingturtle" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I have a nice Bianchi road bike with fancy (well, now they are more
>standard than fancy) rims. These rims have an aero-shaped profile which
>extends around the spokes and the valve for about 2-3 cm. When I ride for
>a while in wet conditions, I end up with water in this hollow "aero"
>cavity, and this water cascades in the rim when the wheel turns. It makes
>a gurgling noise, and also to some extent wastes my precious power. The
>real trouble is I can't really get this water out unless I fully dismount
>the tire !


That's really the only realistic way to get the water out. That
shouldn't really pose a problem, since you shouldn't be getting that
much water IN the rims unless you're riding through VERY deep standing
water (which is always a bad idea, especially when riding high-zoot
wheels).

I suppose you could drill one small "drain hole" above the braking
surface to get rid of most of the water a bit easier - but in the end,
it shouldn't really be a huge problem unless you're riding through
rivers regularly.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame
 
Mark Hickey wrote:

> "cyclingturtle" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>I have a nice Bianchi road bike with fancy (well, now they are more
>>standard than fancy) rims. These rims have an aero-shaped profile which
>>extends around the spokes and the valve for about 2-3 cm. When I ride for
>>a while in wet conditions, I end up with water in this hollow "aero"
>>cavity, and this water cascades in the rim when the wheel turns. It makes
>>a gurgling noise, and also to some extent wastes my precious power. The
>>real trouble is I can't really get this water out unless I fully dismount
>>the tire !

>
>
> That's really the only realistic way to get the water out. That
> shouldn't really pose a problem, since you shouldn't be getting that
> much water IN the rims unless you're riding through VERY deep standing
> water (which is always a bad idea, especially when riding high-zoot
> wheels).


I think the water gets in the rims by slinging down the spokes and into
the tiny space between spoke and rim.

Wayne
 
> I have a nice Bianchi road bike with fancy (well, now they are more
> standard than fancy) rims. These rims have an aero-shaped profile which
> extends around the spokes and the valve for about 2-3 cm. When I ride for
> a while in wet conditions, I end up with water in this hollow "aero"
> cavity, and this water cascades in the rim when the wheel turns. It makes
> a gurgling noise, and also to some extent wastes my precious power. The
> real trouble is I can't really get this water out unless I fully dismount
> the tire !
> Any similar experience, advice ?


Yep. So much so that Bontrager began drilling small holes in many of their
rims so the water could escape. I'm not sure I understand the mechanism
whereby water can get into a rim so easily yet not get out, but experience
tells me it *does* happen, and the small holes definitely help to remove it.
If you want to see examples, go to a Trek dealer and look at a Bontrager
RaceLite wheelset (found on many of the $1800-$3000 road bikes). They might
be on others as well, but I just physically verified their existence on the
RaceLites.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

"cyclingturtle" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:p[email protected]...
> Hello everybody,
>
> I have a nice Bianchi road bike with fancy (well, now they are more
> standard than fancy) rims. These rims have an aero-shaped profile which
> extends around the spokes and the valve for about 2-3 cm. When I ride for
> a while in wet conditions, I end up with water in this hollow "aero"
> cavity, and this water cascades in the rim when the wheel turns. It makes
> a gurgling noise, and also to some extent wastes my precious power. The
> real trouble is I can't really get this water out unless I fully dismount
> the tire !
> Any similar experience, advice ?
>
> Jacques
 
Mark Hickey wrote:

> "cyclingturtle" <[email protected]> wrote:
> ... The real trouble is I can't really get this water out unless I fully dismount
>>the tire !

>
> That's really the only realistic way to get the water out. That
> shouldn't really pose a problem, since you shouldn't be getting that
> much water IN the rims unless you're riding through VERY deep standing
> water (which is always a bad idea, especially when riding high-zoot
> wheels)....


Yes, you never know what is at the bottom of the puddle (such as a
sharp-edge, pinch-flatting, rim-bending pothole).

One could seal the wheel in a large polymer bag with reusable desiccant
to dry it out, or heat it at a moderate temperature for several hours
(after partially deflating the tire).

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island
 
On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 23:47:40 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain
Reaction Bicycles" <[email protected]> wrote:

[snip]

>Yep. So much so that Bontrager began drilling small holes in many of their
>rims so the water could escape. I'm not sure I understand the mechanism
>whereby water can get into a rim so easily yet not get out, but experience
>tells me it *does* happen, and the small holes definitely help to remove it.
>If you want to see examples, go to a Trek dealer and look at a Bontrager
>RaceLite wheelset (found on many of the $1800-$3000 road bikes). They might
>be on others as well, but I just physically verified their existence on the
>RaceLites.
>
>--Mike Jacoubowsky
>Chain Reaction Bicycles
>www.ChainReaction.com
>IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member


Dear Mike,

If a wheel is submerged in water, water pressure will force
water into the rim through any holes, such as the valve
hole.

If a wet wheel, spoke, or valve is spinning, the film of
water is thrown to the outside--right down the spoke or
valve and into the hole.

But once the water is inside, there's almost no wheel
position in which gravity will force water back out. The
clearance is so small that surface tension encourages most
of the water to drain down to the bottom of the rim as drops
too big to slither out between the valve and the rim or the
spoke and the rim.

Designs that encourage water to get into the rim might
benefit from small but well-placed holes to let it back out.

Carl Fogel
 
You can get water out of deep rims (My experience is with Rolf.) by deflating
the tires and putting the bike in the car, assuming it gets warm in the car.
It's never very much water.

LDLide
 
cyclingturtle wrote:

> Hello everybody,
>
> I have a nice Bianchi road bike with fancy (well, now they are more
> standard than fancy) rims. These rims have an aero-shaped profile which
> extends around the spokes and the valve for about 2-3 cm. When I ride for
> a while in wet conditions, I end up with water in this hollow "aero"
> cavity, and this water cascades in the rim when the wheel turns. It makes
> a gurgling noise, and also to some extent wastes my precious power. The
> real trouble is I can't really get this water out unless I fully dismount
> the tire !
> Any similar experience, advice ?


Ride down a long, steep hill at about 10mph with the brakes on. That
will steam it out!
 
begin quoting Zog The Undeniable <[email protected]>:
>cyclingturtle wrote:
>>I have a nice Bianchi road bike with fancy (well, now they are more
>>standard than fancy) rims. These rims have an aero-shaped profile which
>>extends around the spokes and the valve for about 2-3 cm. When I ride for
>>a while in wet conditions, I end up with water in this hollow "aero"
>>cavity, and this water cascades in the rim when the wheel turns.

>Ride down a long, steep hill at about 10mph with the brakes on. That
>will steam it out!


This is why tandems use concave rims; so that in wet conditions - when one
wants to brake more downhill - they will fill up with water and provide a
valuable heat sink to absorb braking energy safely.

Lrf, V nz ylvat.
--
David Damerell <[email protected]> Kill the tomato!
 
David Damerell wrote:

> This is why tandems use concave rims; so that in wet conditions - when one
> wants to brake more downhill - they will fill up with water and provide a
> valuable heat sink to absorb braking energy safely.


Latent heat being absorbed by the water boiling would get rid of the
heat even quicker. I hope Jobst has checked his rims are dry before the
tyre blowoff test. It would be tedious to make it to the bottom with no
bang, only to find that snow had got into the box section at the top.