Ripping the Rim

Ahh.. Bike Parts. They all fail some time. Some just don't seem to last as long as they should, my 10 mile vittoria clincher tire come to mind. This last week, for the third time, in about two years, I had catastrophic failure from my rear Velomax Orion II rear wheel. Before I go into my unlucky experiences, I would like to say, that I do really like how the wheels never go out of true and are fairly light. But then again maybe these great traits have contributed to my troubles.

First Failure: Snapped a spoke at the nipple a few months after purchasing them, sent back they fixed it no questions asked.

Second Failure: Spokes ripped the rim apart, faulty rim drilling, had caused the spokes to exert a force on the rim over time separating the rim, like a can-opener, fixed again totally brand new wheel hub and all no questions asked.

Third Failure: A couple of weeks ago I was on my rollers, when all of a sudden the bike started make a sound like a train zipping down tracks the way classic trains used to sound ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk. Well, I looked down, and hollysmokes batman, the rim had separated at the seam! This third failure occurred approximately 1 year after the second failure. Yesterday, I got a phone call from them. The call went something like this..

Them: So, you ride a lot?
Me: Yeah, I guess you could say that..
Them: Well it looks like you wore through the breaking surface...
Me: You can do that in a year?
Them: Yeah, you can if you ride alot.

So, the crazy guys down at Easton are fixing my wheel for a third time. I hope the third times the charm.