Do rims get worn out?
- Thread starter Maz
- Start date
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Mr Pig
New Member
- Location
- North Lanarkshire
A year! What are you doing to the poor things?? :0.
RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
I 'generally' only get a year too. It all depends on how much I get out over winter; and if I ride in the hills (constantly on the brakes) or if I go for long flat routes.
Last year I was doing 500/600 miles a week in winter (I was off work); and I was riding loads of mucky country lanes. When it was really horrible I was going through a set of brake blocks in just one ride. I think I killed the rims on a set of Tiagra R500 wheels in just 3 or 4 months.
This year i'm doing on average about 20 miles a week (quite a change) and as you would expect everything seems to be lasting a lot lot longer!
Last year I was doing 500/600 miles a week in winter (I was off work); and I was riding loads of mucky country lanes. When it was really horrible I was going through a set of brake blocks in just one ride. I think I killed the rims on a set of Tiagra R500 wheels in just 3 or 4 months.
This year i'm doing on average about 20 miles a week (quite a change) and as you would expect everything seems to be lasting a lot lot longer!
U
User482
Guest
Paulus said:
Yes, this happened to me. Mercifully I wasn't riding the bike at the time. There was a huge bang as it let go, and the rim had torn right through along its thinnest point.
Rims last for ages. Even when I was a 10,000 mile per year person on my day to day bike I never had a rim fail because of wear. In fact, I don't even know anyone who has had a rim 'blow out'. I get the feeling its one of those things you hear about but very rarely happens, like a swan breaking a person's leg.
Globalti
Legendary Member
It's happened to me twice; once it blew out at the joint and once about half the rim peeled out in a long curly sliver. Luckily both were with MTB tyres at low pressures so no bang, just a herniated tube like a python wrapped around the wheel.
I once weighed a new Mavic X517 rim and a completely worn one on some lab scales and was amazed to find that the worn rim had lost about 60 grams of weight. That's 60 gms of nasty grey paste. The weight of a new X517 is around 400 gms. Riding in Lancashire where it's gritty that took about a year.
I once weighed a new Mavic X517 rim and a completely worn one on some lab scales and was amazed to find that the worn rim had lost about 60 grams of weight. That's 60 gms of nasty grey paste. The weight of a new X517 is around 400 gms. Riding in Lancashire where it's gritty that took about a year.
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
I've worn out a rim quicker than the tyre I'd put on it when new - about 5500 miles IIRC (road bike).
I have twice had the rim start to split whilst out on a ride, but I noticed the bulge in the braking surface before it went completely, let out half the air, and took the shortest way home. I've also had two rims split whilst pumping up the tyre at home, admittedly to 150psi by way of a test.
I don't use Shimano brake blocks any more.
I have twice had the rim start to split whilst out on a ride, but I noticed the bulge in the braking surface before it went completely, let out half the air, and took the shortest way home. I've also had two rims split whilst pumping up the tyre at home, admittedly to 150psi by way of a test.
I don't use Shimano brake blocks any more.
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
I wore out a rim in about 18 months, and the first 6 months of that I wasn't doing that much riding. Admitedly I didn't know about keeping the rim clean to start with.
My LBS were very nice and told me to call in and they checked the rim every now and again, to try and get the old ones through the winter before having to change them.
My LBS were very nice and told me to call in and they checked the rim every now and again, to try and get the old ones through the winter before having to change them.
Globalti
Legendary Member
The worst damage I ever did to a rim was riding my MTB in snow. I still don't know what happened but I believe the blocks got iced up and possibly some grit was caught in the ice; whatever it was one brake pad gouged a massive trench all the way round and the rim was donald ducked within a few hundred yards.
Every time I go out now in the mud and grit I thank God somebody invented disc brakes!
Every time I go out now in the mud and grit I thank God somebody invented disc brakes!
Mr Pig
New Member
- Location
- North Lanarkshire
Do you think that maybe cheaper rims are much thicker? I've never used 'exotic' rims, or had a road bike, and I've yet to have a rim fail. A friends rim wore out but that was after many miles, I've never heard of wheels only lasting a year.
Steve Austin
The Marmalade Kid
- Location
- Mlehworld
Anyone remember Steel rims? Never wore them out, but they used to pit with rust, so corroded rendering them useless. Used to wear blocks faster than an industrial sander and i don't think i ever felt like they slowed me down!!
Mr Pig
New Member
- Location
- North Lanarkshire
Steve Austin said:
Yes, chromed ones. At one time they obviously seemed like a good idea. Which makes you wonder what we're using today that'll seem stupid in thirty years!
Mr Pig said:
I don't think that anyone actually thought that chromed steel wheels were a great idea. They were just what most people could afford at the time. Alloy wheels have been available for ages but they were not for everyone, just like cars, phones, fridges and many other things weren't. Now, everyone has these items, just like they have alloy wheels on their bikes, even cheap ones.
