Are some pads harsher on rims?

Mr Plum
Mr Plum Posts: 1,097
edited November 2011 in The workshop
Been using some relatively cheap (but 'ok' in terms of performance) pads on my commuter for a couple of months now. I noticed that the wear indicator on the front rim had a lot of depth to it when I replaced the pads, but I had a look yesterday and it's almost smooth! Have the cheap pads eaten my rim? Are some pads worse than others for this?
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Comments

  • Gussio
    Gussio Posts: 2,452
    Keeping your rims clean is a good way of extending their life, otherwise you effectively have a grinding paste between pad and rim each time you break. Am a big fan of KoolStops and they seem to get on well with my rims.
  • Cleanliness is next to godliness :)
    Ive scoured my previous Bianchi rims through not cleaning enough and perhaps cheaper pads (although i can't remember which they were)
    I generally run Ultegra pads now and havnt seen any wear on the rims. As winter comes and we're riding in grit, salt and water, i remove the pads once a week or so and inspect for flints and grit, remove with a stanley blade or sharp implement. Its surprising how much you can dig out...and that grit is grinding away your rims.

    Its not normally a summer/dry problem usually, winter and wet riding is when its most prevalent.