Check you rims

Dave Cox · Post by **Dave Cox** » 02 Mar 2010 21:45

Just cleaned winter bike. Examined rear rim and noted little black spot -query hole. Small screwdriver investigation created much larger hole. Foil thin. 3000 miles 3rd winter. Clarkes brake pads from Halfords probably a mistake. There were nice roval wheels with stylish large flange hubs !

Last rim that went was a Mavic, similar mileage but that shattered, shedding aluminum shards and jammed the wheel 20 miles from home.

You cant be too careful.

Missiles · Post by **Missiles** » 03 Mar 2010 15:31

Only 3000 miles? That doesn't sound much. I struggle to know how many miles I get out of my equipment because I don't keep careful records, but I'm guessing I got a minimum of 10,000 miles out of the last winter wheels I retired.

Ruth

Post by **CakeStop** » 03 Mar 2010 15:48

That's the trouble with snow tyres Dave - they encourage you to go out in all sorts of silly winter weather. My rims are in nearly as good condition as they were last November (although the same could not be said about my legs and waistline).

Dave Cox · Post by **Dave Cox** » 03 Mar 2010 17:34

They weren't the snow tyre wheels Steve!

Ruth I think the cantilevers and Clarkes pads make a difference but the fancy Specialised wheels probably aren't that good. Where do you get your winter wheels? Were they ready made or custom build?

Anyone else got any advice on what to get next. Cheap wheels and throw them out every two years or are there better quality ones out there?

Philip Whiteman · Post by **Philip Whiteman** » 03 Mar 2010 19:26

What sort of material was the rim made of? I know that the quickest way to wreck aluminium wheels such as Kysriums is to use in wet and grimy conditions, hence it best to stick to alloys.

Post by **CakeStop** » 03 Mar 2010 19:30

Koolstop salmon pads seem to be much gentler on rims.

I wore Mavic open pro rims down to 1mm in 6,000 miles with standard pads then did another 1 or 2 thousand with hardly any further wear from salmons before I bottled out and replaced the wheels. I reckon if I'd have used salmons from the outset I'd still be using the same wheels now.

AlanW · Post by **AlanW** » 03 Mar 2010 21:12

Crikey, and I was moaning that my Open Pro rear rim had gone after 8000 miles.

I have read that Shimano blocks are not recommend as they cause a lot of excessive rim wear?

Needless to say, I have just bought some new Open Pro CD rims, but I will be trying the SwissStop 'Green' blocks as they seem to get a good review.

Missiles · Post by **Missiles** » 03 Mar 2010 21:38

Dave Cox wrote:Ruth I think the cantilevers and Clarkes pads make a difference but the fancy Specialised wheels probably aren't that good. Where do you get your winter wheels? Were they ready made or custom build?

They were hand-built wheels on Mavic Open Pro rims and they came from the shop which is now the Coventry Cycle Centre though I'm not sure it was called that at the time when I bought them.

Ruth

George · Post by **George** » 04 Mar 2010 15:48

On my winter bike, I have the very cheapest wheels in the Campag range (Kamsin? ... cost me about £90.) I've had them two years, and used them all year round, but with more miles in the winter. I don't record how many miles I do on each set of wheels, but I'd guess they've done about 3k. They are still dead true and don't look as though rim wear is going to be a problem any time soon. What's more they have a wear-monitor line, so you don't have to rely on poking them with a screwdriver to see how far the wear has progressed. I'm sure you can get much 'faster' and prettier wheels, but I think you'd have to look pretty hard for better value for money in an everyday training/winter wheel.