Cracked rear rim

[frodo25]

Hello

I'm currently in my 7th month of a cycling tour through the Indian and Nepalese Himalaya's, after 7000km of cycling up and down enormous mountains passes and hills I've noticed my rear rim has been worn down so badly that it is beginning to crack in places?

This is a major concern for me as i still have another month or so of touring left and in India it is next to impossible to find decent bicycles parts!

How long do you think the rear rim will last? I basically only have one more day of cycling in the hills and then it will be flat plains for the final months, so I'm planning on not using my rear brake at all! Just one last 30km descent left.

I have no option other than to continue cycling and pray!

What is worst case scenario? I wont be flying along one day and suddenly the entire wheel disintegrates or something equally as bad?

Thank you for your time
Matthew

[xerxes]

This happened to a friend of mine a while back, the sides of the rim had worn so thin where the brakes contact it that the tyre blew the side of the rim off. He came off the bike and broke his collar bone.

Is there nowhere you can get a new rim/wheel? Even if it's not top quality it will probably be safer than your existing one. Failing that is there anywhere you could stop for a few days and order one delivered from overseas, possibly sent by a friend or relative. Probably expensive, but I think it's very risky to carry on.

Also, if you've worn through the rear rim, what's the front one like? I would have thought that would wear out first. It might be worth replacing both, if at all possible.

Sorry to be so negative, but I think it would be foolish to run the risk of getting injured somewhere remote and possibly miles from any medical assistance.

[tbrowne]

Just wondering, doesn't someone planning this sort of trip bring along spare parts like wheels, tires, tubes, spokes and other parts that are likely to be damaged or worn out? That's a long ways to go on one bike without needing replacement components.