R-Sys Explosion

Jun 10, 2009
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Mar 4, 2009
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Those other carbon spoked wheels aren't really subject to the same failure mode as the R-Sys. In general, carbon fiber offers its biggest advantages and can be phenomenally strong when it's employed in tension, which is how it's used on wheels such as the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate and Cosmis Carbone SLR and all other carbon spoked wheels that I'm aware of.

The R-Sys spokes see both compressive and tensile loads, which is the main reason why they're tubular and not bladed. I don't have any firm engineering data but a number of user reports (including Ben's) suggest that the spokes might not have enough hoop strength to withstand some of the compressive loads that the wheels see in real world use and there also may not be enough redundancy built into the wheel to withstand a few broken spokes.
 
Mar 11, 2009
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BroDeal said:
I posted a pic of a crash caused by an R-SYS failure in the "Giant warranty" thread.

Mavic's 'response'..("it wasn't my fault")

-http://www.velonews.com/article/93240/mavic-responds-to-wheel-collapse-article
 
Mar 11, 2009
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Wines of WA said:
The Editor in Chief of Velonews had a horrifying experience with Mavic R-Sys POST-RECALL wheels: http://www.velonews.com/article/93054/a-shattering-experience---a-post-recall-r-sys-wheel-failure

Wow, I wonder if this is the final nail in the coffin of these ill-conceived wheels. Tubular carbon spokes seem like such a bad idea for so many reasons.

Mavic also uses solid flat spokes in the Ultimate and Cosmic Carbone SLRs. Are these too prone so such failure?

Balls-ey

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