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Just had to retire a sputnik rim on the cross bike - worn down and concave looking. Reckon it did about 2000miles, ballpark, mostly city commuting so plenty of braking. Is this about par for the course?
Seems like it's been a really wet winter - not sure if this is just Manchester or is generally true of the UK. The rims on my current commuter are getting a spanking. Do people take action to reduce the wear, like moving the brake pads around or something like that?
and this is why i want disc brakes on my road bike(s).
my 'new' wheels are less than a year old, have done around 1000km, and are noticeably worn.
i really don't brake THAT much...
Disc brakes for commuters. You know it makes sense.
I'm less fussed about having them on a bike which will be used on the "open" roads as there's less braking involved than when riding in traffic.
Disc brakes for commuters. You know it makes sense.I'm less fussed about having them on a bike which will be used on the "open" roads as there's less braking involved than when riding in traffic.
he knows his onions.
[s]Disc brakes[/s] Brakeless fixies for commuters. You know it makes sense.
FTFY
No disk mounts on both my CX bikes unfortunately (have a disk on the front of one of them). Now if only the frames would erode so I needed to upgrade them.
There's 'feelable' wear on my rear rim which I'm keeping half an eye on, would replace if I was selling the wheel, but I'm happy to keep using it a bit longer. That's been on just under 2 years, so probably 10000 miles, plenty of commuting, all weathers. I'm happy with that! Fronts last far longer.
May also depend on what brake pads you are using. Some brake pads (eg Shimano) seem to pick up a lot of grit, which wears away the rims quicker.
Kool Stop pads seem to be better for not picking up grit.
Disc brakes are a solution, brake less or move to the countryside where riding is not stop start.
2000 miles of stop start riding sounds reasonable to wear a rim out particulaly if the a wet griding paste on the pads.
As with most things bike treat em nice, ride in dry weather and they last, treat em mean, subject them to rain and they'll die quick.
done around 1800miles on a rear wheel on my commuter that I rebuilt last year, bit left in it yet but not much. My geared road bike that I only take out in nice weather is several years old and rims are hardly worn
Done over 2000 miles on my road bike rims and there's no noticeable wear on the rims. Both my parents bikes did 3 times as many miles before new rims were needed. All of our riding has been in the countryside where you don't use the brakes all that often. Guess it depends where you're riding, the conditions and how much/hard your brake.
forever ? four years on my road disc pads, probably about 20,000 miles and still plenty material left, discs on road bikes FTW
I'm about 5000 miles on my current rims, ride in all weathers
I'd be pretty annoyed to only get about 2000 miles. Koolstop or swiss stop pads + cleaning the braking surfaces will make a difference to longevity
My commuter eats parts. I've been getting two winters out of a set of rims. Normally about 4000miles. Sometimes it's much less than this. I've thrown one rear away at 2000miles when it was scarily concave.
My road rims on the other hand, used for summer riding have had about 4000 miles and look brand new.
Change your pads regularly, clean them and your rims and things seem to last longer. I just buy cheaper wheels these. Current set are Mach 1 off Merlin and have been just as good as more expensive rims bought in the past.
I keep thinking about getting a disc commuter but rim brake stuff is still fairly cheap
I'd be pretty annoyed to only get about 2000 miles
+1, that'd be about 4 months!
oh yeah that old chestnut, begone with your namby pamby bike pampering ways!cleaning the braking surfaces
🙂