Rims flaking, silicone sealent?
 

One of my rims looks fine from the outside but inside under the tube it's flaking. Reading up on flaking rims people have suggested using silicone sealent as a temporary measure to stop it getting worse but these suggestions were all from car forums to cover up it up aesthetically. I'm just a bit worried because I can't see it so wouldn't be able to easily notice any further deterioration. Didn't have any camera with me so sorry got no pics of it. I'll have to check the other wheel now anyway so will take a pic of that when I get a chance. The rim is solid, it's just such a critical part I'm a tad nervous about it!

I just sand them smooth and and then wrap the inside of the rim with electrical tape ...

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hi there if your rim is flaky its alloy yes , my 1985 43f xt had the same problem . i wire brushed them on the inside where the tube sits then some thinners on a cloth to clean them , then a light coat of hammirite smoothrite paint paying attention to where the spokes go through let it dry as per on the tin them one more light coat . i let mine dry for ONE WEEK then refitted the rim tape/ tube / tyres . i fitted more tyres some two years later and all was ok but i did lightly wire brush them and gave them a light coat of smoothrite just to keep on top of the job . the only bad part is to wait one week for the paint to harden before refitting the tyres . if your rims are steel use the same methard but get a wire brush that fits in a electric drill and get ALL the rust off, use goggles over your eyes . good luck zigzag

Hi Preachan - are these D.I.D. rims by any chance? And have you been out in the winter salt? Don't want to scare you but if they're DID's then bin them and buy new rims.
I bought an XTZ 660 from new and the same thing happened mine. I remember shortly after the first tyre change I had a blow out. I took it back to the tyre fitter and we looked at the tube together. It had a big cut from a sharp bit of flaky metal on the rim. All I could do at the time was wire brush and emery it smooth.
Towards the end of that year the rear wheel felt wobbly. I checked the spokes and a number where loose. Taking the tyre off this time showed the rims had got a lot worse inside. The more you poked at them with a screwdriver the more flaky bits would break away.
I rang James Weildon in England and talked to him, he more or less told me those rims are pure sh*te. Salty water gets in past the nipples and eats away at the aluminium. He built my hubs into Morad rims with stainless spokes. That was 12-13 years ago and the bike has been in constant use every winter. The rims only get a clean when I'm putting tyres on but they are absolutely fine inside. No corrosion whatsoever.

They're the rims that came with the bike, don't remember ever seeing DID written on them but then again I wasn't really looking so that's not to say it isn't there. I won't be able to get to the bike to check til sometime next week - I'm presuming it'll say DID on them somewhere?

I've got/had loads of bikes with DID stocks rims over 20 years old and still going and looking strong.

It's more a case of poor maintenance than poor rims in my experience.

However, I'm sure there are more variants of DID than anyone can really count... And I can't decieper the serial numbers on them .. (if still visible)..

I agree though, I nice set of quality rims (Excel etc) on HD stainless spokes is always preferable if you can justify the expense to yourself.

Sounds a lot like you may have the dreaded rim rot. Is usually caused by salt from the roads eating away at the alloy from the inside out due the water and salt getting trapped inside the rim.

Funnily enough the earlier rims fitted to my 1vj are like new, whereas my xtz660 3yf rims needed replacing at 4 years old.
The 1986 1vj rims are excell rims by takasago as standard.

I would give your rims a thorough checking over with a sharp screwdriver they can get as thin as a bean can quite quickly.

Cheers Sam.

I've been up the walls recently but finally got around to getting some photos of the rims and uploading them. I've put up the pictures of the worst parts of the rims, not pretty... I've cleaned them all now with wire brush and have put a layer of silicone sealent on them, will check them again in a couple of months to see how they're going but looks like I'll be getting new ones sooner than rather than later. Oh, and yes they were DID rims.

Yeah that's pretty much the way way mine went. They would crumble into powdery dust when you poked at them with a screwdriver, or big flakes would lift away. I remember mentioning it to 'yer man' Neilly who used to write for the Belfast Telegraph, he put an article about it in his weekly column.
If your going to keep the bike I would go for a good rim and stainless spokes, then you've no more worries, but its expensive. If not look out for a complete wheel on ebay it would probably be better than what you have.
Ralph

Dont worry, when you take away the rust and give them some rust eater and then you can prime it with epoxy and then a coat of paint. The rims will last forever!

Whatever you do don't use "acetic" cure silicone sealant, it will create more rust.
If you're going to use silicone sealant it must be the "neutral" cure type.

The best preventative would be to take each spoke out(at least the nipple) and put some silicon under them to seal the water/salt out in the first place. Sealing over the nipples still allows water to get under the nipple and have access to the rim where it will spread out under the silicon . The couple corroded rims I have I took a wire wheel on a die grinder and polished of the corrosion and painted the entire area with a good corrosion inhibitor. Still no cure, just slows it down. Will be slowly replacing the rims with better Excel or similar and SS spokes with brass nipples(plated nickel). Will put a dab of sealer under the nipples and hopefully have it laced up before it cures so it can turn with the nipple till I'm done.