Fulcrum 5's - Throw Away?

[Enw.nigel]

Just removed my Fulcrum 5's for the winter and noticed that the rim wear indicators have disappeared. On checking I worked out that they have covered just over 4500 miles. Now I know the amount of braking will reduce the life of a wheelset but is 4500 miles about average? I thought that I would get a lot more use out of them.
The Fulcrum's are in excellent nick otherwise and still running true. What do you do with your wheels when the rims are worn because it goes against the grain to just throw them away.

 

[Herzog]

I'm guessing replacement Fulcrum 5 rims are prohibitively expensive...?
I thought about rebuilding my RS80s until I realised new rims would cost around 200 quid... Instead hub went on ebay, and I got some tubs built (with easily replaceable rims). ..

 

[Koga]

I have Fulcrum 5's and the rear wheel is pretty worn (I did a lot more miles on them, but of course it depends on the terrain, weather conditions etc). I am trying not to use the rear brake to much in order to get some more live out of them.
Just out interest where are the rim wear indicators ?

 

[HLaB]

I personally would have expected more but everybody is different, there's too many variables. Wear checkers are premature IME though and if its a rear rim I'd run it a bit longer and keep an eye on it, if its front though too I'd be a little more cautious and look for replacements.

 

[Brandane]

Don't know what kind of pads you have been using, but to increase rim life next time you might want to try something with a softer compound. I use Koolstop Salmons after reading recommendations on here a few years ago. Good stopping power and they last well too. Should be much kinder to rims; it is nice to brake without hearing that horrible grinding noise.

 

[Dusty Bin]

The Fulcrum's are in excellent nick otherwise and still running true. What do you do with your wheels when the rims are worn because it goes against the grain to just throw them away.

How much do you want for them?

 

[Big John]

Unless you use the same replacement rims or rims with a similar diameter then you'll need a new set of spokes. The effective rim diameter (ERD) may be shown on a label on the rim somewhere. If you can find some decent rims with the same ERD then you might be able to use your existing spokes. Then either roll your sleeves up and re-build the wheel yourself (with the help of Youtube or do a wheel building course like I did!) or, for a pittance, get a decent wheel builder to do it for you. I'm always reluctant to throw stuff away if any of it can be re-used and those hubs look pretty decent. Good luck.

 

[Paul.G.]

I have fulcrum 5's on my cross bike come winter hack, have to say these too are just about worn out (the wear indicators are grooves in the braking surface) and once you wear past them the rim is shot. I've had these for about 4 years and they have seen some serious abuse including several long hard cyclocross sportives. Added to this, imagine the amount of grime and mud turning the pads into black gloopy grinding paste that these have had over the years, I'm surprised they have lasted this long, and they are still fairly true. I won't hesitate in replacing like for like. The other great thing about the 5's and 7's is how easy and cheap it is to replace the bearings.