How to tell when Wheelsmith wheels need replacing?

Dizeee

Hi all

I have a set of Wheelsmith Aero 50's I purchased in Spring 2015. The have had a fair amount of use but always just dry road rides. At a guess I would say 2500 miles? I can't remember what my mileage was on Strava when I put the wheels on.

The brake track is within the carbon rim and I have noticed that it looks like some of the black is turning brownish. The brake pads look brown too. They are on the first set of brake pads still - have I got loads of use left in the rims and potentially another set of pads? How do you tell when the brake track is no good and the rim needs attention?

Thanks

Moonbiker

I use a iwanson gauge to measure rim thickness

<1mm rims are worn out.

Thats alloy rims though not sure about carbon rims.

napoleond

How about emailing or phoning Wheelsmith?

sungod

2500 miles is nothing

it's heavily dependent on conditions, rims, pads, braking style and amount, imho you should get at least 20-30,000+ km, even with lighter rims, depending on conditions it could be much more

are the pads the ones recommended/designed for cf? it might be contamination, try cleaning rim with acetone or isopropyl alcohol

Dizeee

The braking surface is still fine no signs of curvature.

Pads are just dirty I think with a few summers dust on them.

cycleclinic

My own set (not wheelsmith) have over 10,000 miles of all year round use on them. There is slight cureture on the front brake track. The surface resin layer is gone but braking is still very good. I am sure wheelsmith rims are similiar so you will be waiting a very long time to wear the rims out. You can almost argue they are worth it from a longevity point of view.