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I have an ~20 year old Mavic Cosmic Elite rear wheel, which has a relatively deep cross section: Mavic Cosmic Elite

The spoke holes in the rim have "collars", which the spoke nipples rest in: "collar" in spoke hole in rim

One of these is totally destroyed, I'm not sure how: enter image description here

The spoke, rim, nipple etc. seem fine. I can't find any info on the "collar" online -- is this a replaceable part, or is the wheel toast?

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    You will have to speak to the Mavic service centre. Parts may well be available but almost never publicly so. A shop that has registered as a Mavic technical centre will also have access
    – Noise
    Commented Jul 14, 2022 at 6:20
  • The part number will be in the documentation at tech.mavic.com
    – Noise
    Commented Jul 14, 2022 at 6:21
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    Is this collar secured at both the top and bottom? or just one? Is its function to stop the spoke nipple falling into the rim or does it transfer load from one side to the other? I've seen these on a mavic tubular rim but can't remember how it was secured.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Jul 14, 2022 at 9:20
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    I have the recollection that these were available in the 00s as replacements and were called something like nipple inserts. I think there were some different depth rims that had them and what I don't know is whether there's more than one length of insert.
    – Nathan Knutson
    Commented Jul 14, 2022 at 16:34

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I’m kind of guessing that the “collar” doesn’t serve a structural function and is instead just a fancy washer which makes wheel building easier because the nipple can’t drop into the inside of the rim.

It probably failed because of galvanic corrosion which makes it likely that the others are in a similar state.

You could probably replace it with a simple, normal washer (or the fancy DT Swiss PHR washers), but expect the others to fail soon too.

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  • I tried a normal washer, which seems to be working OK so far! This wheelset will be strictly a backup from now on so hopefully it holds up.
    – JoshuaF
    Commented Jul 22, 2022 at 3:01
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I would have to lean toward "toast" here.

At 20 years old, you are looking at some deterioration due to some corrosion and/or stress cycles that have done in the spoke well insert. Also, at 20 years old, you would be hard-pressed to find a replacement part, if it even exists.

It may be worth a search to be sure, and it is possible that someone has some spare parts ferreted away, but even then, when one part like this goes, the other spoke well inserts will likely follow soon.

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    If one's gone, there's a fair chance that more are about to break too.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Jul 14, 2022 at 9:18
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    @Criggie yep, that has been my experience as well. If a part is damaged due to a one-off event such as a crash, it can be fixed by replacing the one part. If the damage is chronic wear or exposure, then all the similar parts are in the same or similar state.
    – Ted Hohl
    Commented Jul 15, 2022 at 12:59

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