Rim wear due to brakes?

jefferee

Greetings.

I'm planning on buying a new commuter,most likely something of the 'cross persuasion to allow adequate fender clearance with studded tires for the day it becomes the 'old' bike and I take it out to play in the ice and snow.

My commute tends to have a fair amount of stop and go traffic, so I'm on the brakes fairly frequently. I currently ride an MTB with rim brakes, and the rims are noticeably worn (although much of the wear was due to a less-than-optimal maintenance schedule in the first couple years of the bike's life :oops: ).

Do any of you experience significant wear on your rims due to the brakes (presuming you keep up with regular pad changes)?

Ngalbrai

Yes, but as with most things bike, the satisfaction that I have worn out a component through use rather than sitting on public transport or in a queue of traffic outweighs the expense of the new bit...

jefferee

I guess there's a certain amount of satisfaction, although I usually just tend to grumble about the dollars fleeing from my wallet in such instances.

What I'm really after is the approximate # of miles a typical commuter can expect from a set of wheels before the rims would be shot due to brake wear, I'm considering the economics of disk brakes, which should render the wheels immune to that sort of wear (although metal fatigue in the rims and the spokes would still be an issue, of course).

Belv

Only ever worn out one rim in this way. It took 4 years and over 10,000 miles.

Matteeboy

Jeff - My 1997 Stumpy must have 10,000 miles or more on it and the rims are still fine.
I think rim manufacturers like to make us think they wear through, but I beg to differ.

However, the bike has got through a huge number of brake pads (Avid V brakes), has bent a set of calipers through wear, needs frequent adjusting and is compromised in the wet - well set up disks get through pads very very slowly and need very little looking after once set up - however they are more of a fiddle when changing a tyre/wheel, and cannot be abused as much as V brakes.

I have one Stumpy with V brakes, one with disks and both have pluses and minuses.

Reckon you'd be fine with V brakes.

cupofteacp

Jeff,

I ride approximately 6500 miles and year and go through a set of rims in about 18 month's using V brakes.

If I cleaned the bike they'd last longer however the bike only gets cleaned 2 / 3 times a year which isn't enough, I have a young family and I feel I don't have the time at the weekend.

I went into a bike shop this morning and asked if they did any road bikes with discs as I'm thinking about crossing over to the dark side, but unfortunately they didn't.

I’ve been thinking about a Kona Sultra

rdaviesb

Rims do wear out. I reckon on about 10k miles max, before they get thin enough to become a hazard. Consider them as disposable. rather like brake blocks. One thing of the other has to give way to slow your down.

El Gordo

How fast rims wear out kinda depends of much you brake, how clean you keep them and how heavy you are. I got 30000 miles out of my rims on my road bike but only about 10000 on my MTB.

The v-brakes on my tandem chewed through a pair of extra thick Sun Rhynos in only 5000 miles of touring.

Since the consequences of a rim failing are quite severe it's worth keeping an eye on them.

Random Vince

i wore my rear rim on my mountain bike out in the space of a year

jefferee

Sounds like 10k miles is a good average, then...
In my case that would work out to a new set of rims every three years or so.

I've been looking at a Kona Jake (rim brakes) and Brodie Ronin (disks)--specs seem similar as far as I can tell otherwise (Tiagra bits in both cases, for example), but I prefer the looks of the Ronin and the local Brodie dealer is by far my favorite LBS.

As the price difference is about $250 CDN, I'm trying to rationalize the extra cost of the Ronin in part by arguing that the disks will prove cheaper than V-brakes in the long run by not chewing up rims. I think I have the data required on that front--thanks!

cupofteacp, if you can find a Brodie dealer in the UK (Brodie, like Kona, is a Canadian company), I think they do some road bikes with disks as well.

afctumike

cupofteacp wrote:

I went into a bike shop this morning and asked if they did any road bikes with discs as I'm thinking about crossing over to the dark side, but unfortunately they didn't.

Look at the Orbea Diem Drop Disc. As close to a road bike with discs as you'll get.[/url]