Am I sidelined?

A rogue screw pierced my 10 week old mavic ellipse this morning. Is it safe to assume this is now an accident waiting to happen, or could I get away with a few weeks riding until I can afford a replacement rim?

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ride it, keep an eye on it.

If not on or next to the rim joint/weld/sleeve/weakpoint i would ride.

Keep an eye on it for cracks spreading out.

I am not qualified to make health and safety assesments via internet images :)

I didn't choose the best photo either - here is another

It doesn't appear to be on any weak points. I'm keen to try my luck and not replace it, but evidently luck doesn't appear to be on my side at present

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I would look at it like this:

theres a bigger hole next to it

there are no cracks

it hasn't damaged the wall of the rim

that's not really a structural part of the wheel

if it hasn't caused anything more than an annoying hole, just ride it.

you could fill it with chemical metal or something like that if it makes you feel more confident in it

I might be tempted to drill it with a sharp metal bit, to "clean up" the edge of the hole. That should help prevent cracks starting, as I understand it.

Ask @mdcc_tester for the gospel answer.

I don't think making the hole bigger would help. Inevitably, no matter how careful you are with a drill bit, if you do this, the hole size will increase.

I would clean the sharp edges off with some fine sandpaper across the top side of the rim. This would allow the rim tape to sit flush and not puncture the inner tube from the rim side. It should be okay for a few weeks but I wouldn't be doing the TCR on it.

Yep, the hole would get bigger but be more uniform and smooth edged, like the valve hole.

I believe it is that case that that would be safer as there would be no areas of high curvature where flexing would cause cracks to initiate.

It seems counter intuitive, but I read an article about it once.

Punching a hole is stronger than cutting a hole. Don't drill it as the screw is doing a mixture of both and the drill will just be cutting?

Kind of makes sense, I don’t own a drill though. Do you remember where you read the article?

The hole is quite clean actually. I turned the rim tape around so it’s covered, and I got home on a new inner tube without the wheel collapsing on me.

However I am conscious that if it does eventually go wrong, it will probably go very wrong, and I’m not too comfortable with that. I was hoping someone else on here might have been through this already!

Unless @mdcc_tester has some wisdom..?

Do you remember where you read the article?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_concentration

I am conscious that if it does eventually go wrong, it will probably go very wrong

It might, but it's unlikely to go very wrong very suddenly

I don’t own a drill

A fine pitch rat-tail file is the only tool you need

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That’s encouraging, thank you

That’s brilliant, I will give that a go

Much appreciated!