Rim Wear

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twentysix by twentyfive

Clinging on tightly
Location
Over the Hill
I ride in all sorts of grotty mucky road conditions in the winter as I prefer the lanes. I have been routinely putting new rims on my hubs on the winter bike for some years. They wear down as I use caliper brakes (discs weren't a thing when I got this bike). I idly wondered how many miles I was getting between rim replacements so I noted down my ODO readings after I'd fitted a new rim a while ago. The results are now more or less in. Not long before Xmas I replaced the front after 6800 miles. The rear rim is looking very dodgy now after 6300 miles. They are Mavic Open Pro 700C clinchers.

I have the same rims on my summer bike and they are still looking good after 48,000 miles (I know this as the bike and the computer were new 48,000 miles ago) although the rear is starting to show a bit of wear. This bike doesn't go out in the wet (no mudguards) unless I get caught out so roads and lanes are generally quite clean of any winter muck.

So it seems rim wear is quite serious when riding in the crappy winter lanesy conditions. Indeed I've just replaced a rear tyre on the winter bike after 5600 miles so the rims don't last much longer than a hard wearing tyre.

Anyone have better winter miles on a different rim?

Next N+1 winter bike I think has to be discs - unless you chaps know better.
 

DSK

Senior Member
Interesting results!
 
Location
Loch side.
Rain and traffic are the two things that wear out rims. I used to live in a place where it seldom rained and I had a pair of Mavic Open Pro rims that lasted 200 000 plus kms. In fact, they're still going strong but I have no idea how much mileage they've put on since, because I sold the bike and the new owner didn't keep a record. Here in the UK, rims are consumables, hence the move to disc brakes.
 

Heigue'r

Veteran
I got just over 3000 miles out of a rear zonda rim,c17 version,it blew mid ride.I like the wheels so I bought another set.The new set probably has close to 4000 miles on them but are starting to show signs of wear.Ill probably change them to something else soon enough but the replacement set will be something cheaper this time around for sure.This is on my daily commuter so all weathers...your figures look quite good from my perspective.Ive just bought a few bits to keep it running smooth(drivetrain) but thats it now moneywise for this commuter..it will be N+1 later in the year commuter wise..discs,tubeless and di2 I think.
 

Will Spin

Über Member
I managed to wear out Mavic Ksrysmiun rims in less than 2000 miles. Just got some wheels built with Mavic Open Pro, so I'm hoping for something over 5,000 miles.
 

Jenkins

Legendary Member
Location
Felixstowe
Approximately 8,000 miles on the main commuter, Superstar Component base model wheels, mix of cheap & koolstop pads in all conditions resulted in this wear...
Rim wear.JPG
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
My winter bike is my Genesis Flyer fixed with Planet X wheels, they are coming up for five years old and close to 10000 miles and the front is just starting to look a bit thin, the back is OK. I've always got good mileage from rims, usually over five years and 10000 miles or more.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I'm sure that I could get a much longer life from my wheels if I didn't live somewhere so hilly but with local freewheeling downhill speeds of 50-80+ km/hr I don't have the option to not brake hard at times and the sound of eroding rims in the winter is pretty obvious.

I made the mistake of riding my best bike one winter and in less than 3 months put the amount of wear on an expensive wheel in 3 months that @Jenkins reported above in 8,000 miles!

I am doing a 100 km ride tomorrow on my best bike (my winter bike is out of action) so I have just put a cheap front wheel on it instead of (what is left of!) the expensive wheel.

If I ever replace the best bike, the new one will have disk brakes!
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Back in my mountain biking days I was regularly replacing rear rims and did have a couple blow apart on me, amusing when the tube escapes and wraps itself around the back of the bike like a snake but not amusing when you see the thin sliver of sharp alloy that peels out and could stab your legs.

Then I got my first bike with disc brakes and the wheels of course lasted for years. In fact the rims got damaged by bashing and scraping against rocks, which you don't normally see on short-lived rims. I discovered sintered brake pads, which last longer though the friction isn't as good and they are noisy.

Now after years of enduring the grey sludge and mess on road bikes I've gone over to Shimano hydraulic discs so I'm looking forward to enjoying the same quiet, sure performance and immortal rims.
 
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