I've had two Crests develop cracks around the spoke holes and two Arches that have had the same problem. All in the space of 2 years which have bee replaced under warranty. I'm well under the recommended rider weight so not sure what's causing this. Anyone else had the same problem with these rims?

Spoke tension?

Don't think so. I've had them built by different mechanics and initially thought that. The spoke tensions have been under and at the recommended torque but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

jameso wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:24 pmSpoke tension?

That'd be my first port of call aswell. Stans due their weight were always recommended to ensure lower tensions and I remember building my first set years ago was a bit 'nervy'... but not by much. Might be time to invest in a tension meter and get on their site to ensure you're sticking to appropriate 'pulling power'...

[Edit: ignore my above statment as I just seen yours. One thing to note though, wheel building isn't always best done by bog standard mechanics... not saying your builders were rubbish btw... just adding the thoughts )

I know what you mean but all the mechanics I've used have good reputations in wheel building and have been recommended. I've read on other forums that it is a common problem with Crests and Arches. I've emailed Stans HQ to see if they can offer any advice. If all else fails I'll try another make of rim.

Could well be a duff rim then. I'm always suspicious of very light rims - FWIW I had some Pacenti rims built by a good mechanic that failed at the spoke bed after some reasonable use in 18 months, they seemed really thin-wall in that area.

I've had an Arch go yes, that one had multiple cracks on almost all drive side spokes, and also returned a brand new wheel with a tiny crack.

Returned to building my own wheels after that, even though the build wheels were cheaper than the parts separately.

The spokes in said wheels felt tighter than I build wheels with the finger twang completely unscientific feel test.... I have one wheel left with a stans arch, I loosened the spokes when that arrived and re-did it. Its lasted ok so far.

Theres plenty of internet evidence of cracked stans rims, but as someone pointed out previously, there must be tens of thousands of stans rims out there.

I've got a pair of Arch MK3's that I built in 2016 and are going strong. Another pair built in 2017 by a shop developed cracks on the rear within 6 six months. I got the replacement rim and built it myself, it's been fine ever since. I always build using a tension meter.

It's a known issue with Mk3's. I've had the cracks develop on an Arch on the rear, drive side only but just about every spoke hole. I build my own wheels, with a tension meter, and I'm meticulous about both the tension and getting even tension on all the spokes on each side.

I never had any problems with Arch EX and they had the same treatment as the Mk3. Mine lasted over 10,000 km before failure. The fact that crc sent out a replacement rim under the 2 year warranty after just sending them a picture of the cracks would indicate they have to do this on a regular basis. I was expecting them to say the wheel was badly built or abused or ask about weight limits but there was none of that. After contacting them all they asked was the delivery address for the replacement.

Had some Stans Flow crack on many of the eyelets, seems to be a theme here.

Standard stans functionality imo!

Had 3 mk3 crests do as above, never had one fail catastrophically though if that’s any consolation.

All built by a reputable wheel builder to recommended tensions. think they just went a bit light with the mk3 crest design

Yep. Mk3 failures seem to be too common. OTOH I have some EX that have been fine.

I had a reply from Garett at Stans. He reckons even reputable wheel builders are over tightening the spokes on Arch rims and said he has seen this a lot. He recommends a maximum of 105 kgf which is 20 less than what's listed on their website.

That's ironic! I came here to post this after finding similar with a WTB rim (goes out of true/loses spoke tension when a tubeless tyre is fitted) and the conclusion of this thread is 'over tighten Stans rims in order to be able to make them reliably rideable'!

https://forums.mtbr.com/wheels-tires/ti ... 77704.html