Carbon spokes shredded at the hub flange – not a crash, not a chain drop. How does this happen?
Hey r/bikewrench, I’d really appreciate some collective wisdom on this one.
The wheels: Elitewheels Drive Helix CS (carbon spokes, ceramic bearings, open-flange hub). Rear wheel is the one with the issue, front looks fine. Used as intended – road riding, no crashes, no impacts.
The damage: Multiple carbon spokes are heavily abraded right where they exit the hub flange. The resin matrix has worn through and individual carbon fibers are exposed and sticking out. Both leading and trailing spokes are affected, on both drive and non-drive side. Photos attached.
What it’s not:
• No crash, no impact damage. No fall, no transport mishap.
• My LBS mechanic floated the theory that the chain had dropped behind the cassette at some point and chewed up the spokes. I can rule that out – it never happened, and the damage pattern is also not consistent with a chain-on-spoke event (no single localized gouge; it’s symmetrical fiber abrasion at the hub interface, not the spoke center).
• Not braking-related (rotor side and non-rotor side both affected).
My current working theory:
This hub uses an open-flange design where the carbon spokes pass through cutouts in the flange. My guess is some combination of:
- Spoke flexing against the flange edge under load (acceleration/braking torque), eventually wearing through the resin
- Spoke-on-spoke contact right next to the hub at the crossing
- Possibly insufficient spoke tension from the factory contributing to micro-movement
Noteworthy: Elitewheels has since moved away from this open-flange design on newer generations, which suggests they recognized something wasn’t right.
What I’m asking:
• Has anyone seen this exact failure mode before? On Elitewheels or any other carbon-spoke wheelset?
• Does my analysis above make sense, or am I missing something obvious?
• Anything else that could cause this pattern that I should consider?
Warranty claim is already in progress with the manufacturer. Mostly looking to understand the root cause better and sanity-check my reasoning before they come back with their assessment.
Thanks in advance!