Rim brake wheel wear vs Disc brake wheel wear...any feedback?

Arequipa

Hi,

I hope you are all well.

I was riding a disc break bike recently and thought the braking was incredible, particularly in our regular, wet weather.

I currently have x2 roadbikes, both with rim brakes and alu rim wheels.

They are fine...I change the brake blocks and every 1-1.5 years (i think!) I get new wheels built with the same hubs.

I would like to compare this process to a mid range disc brake roadbike. If it is ridden regularly in Irish weather at what point do the wheels / spokes / hubs need to be replaced? (without wear on the rims)

So how much longer do disc brake wheels generally last compared to rim brake wheels?

I appreciate your feedback,

A.

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058344845/rim-brake-wheel-wear-vs-disc-brake-wheel-wear-any-feedback

Disc brakes wheels technically shouldn't need to be replaced. Hubs may need to be serviced, but unless you break a spoke, they shouldn't need to be rebuilt.

Arequipa

thank you for the reply... ah wow .. that is great.. they sound like a no-brainer now.. especially in our climate!

monkeyslayer

You do need to change the brake discs btw, not as often as the pads but they don't last forever.

Iv a set of zipp carbon rims that are pushing 25,000kms and probably have the same left in them, if you look after them wheels last ages. Unless you live somewhere particularly hilly like the alps, commute on suburban roads or ride in groups often you probably don't brake as much you'd think.

Arequipa

One of my roadbikes has carbon wheels and rim brakes...feels zippy and light but brakes like sh1t*... particularly in wet weather!

Wishbone Ash

I'm astounded you can get 1 -1.5 years out of a set of brake blocks. When I rode on rim brakes, I'd be lucky to get a couple of months out of a set. In one very wet 300k Audax I wore a new set completely out on that ride and had to do the last few kms with metal on metal,

at1withmyself

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121971417#Comment_121971417

Jeez you'd be horrified with me and rim brake pad life. I've had them on my current bike for nearly 5 years. I cycle solo and mainly country roads so don't brake much at all!

saccades

My old, old commuter got to 27k km (open pro rims laced to disc XT hub), of commuting. At about 21k the spokes started snapping. Had the wheel relaced by revolve in gorey and did another 6k before selling the bike. New owner was still commuting on the wheels 3 years later. Rims were still perfect apart from some crash damage on the front.

My next set of wheels are 6 years old with ~18k on them, hope five20. The anodised writing is more grey. Look mint and was surprised how old they are (can do bike to work again!).

Arequipa

sorry.. i meant the actual rim wear... from riding and braking on long daily commutes through all weathers,. the rims do wear relatively quickly …

my rim brake blocks wear after a few months!

Dr_Colossus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121971417#Comment_121971417

Holy sparks, what pads were they? Haven't heard of a set of pads ever wearing so fast in just 300km.

I've two road bikes, the original rimmed braked is on it's 3rd set of wheels and there isn't much left on those and it's all down to rim wear. Got about 30k km from the first set of Mavic Ksyrium wheels and they were excellent all round without an ounce of bother so got the same again but only got 10k km from those before the sidewall cracked and disintegrated (both front and back wore fairly evenly). 3rd set are DT Swiss and have about 20k km on them. All along have used good Swisstop pads (green years back and the blue bxp pads in more recent years) with one set of Koolstop Salmon pads.

The 2nd bike has hydraulic disk brakes and nearly used exclusively now for commuting a 28km round trip each day in all weathers. The rim brakes (Dura Ace) are good but the disc brakes (105) are more consistent especially in our perpetually wet weather. The disc brake pads are quicker to wear and don't have much material before the return springs start to touch the disc and need replacing. Have probably nearly 20k km on that bike now and the discs themselves fairly worn so have a replacement set due to arrive this week, cheap and quick fix instead of rebuilding or replacing a full set of wheels.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121971769#Comment_121971769

Mine last at least two years possibly longer, I'd be economical with my breaking, as in only when needed. Just like driving I start slowing long before i might need to stop, timing merges and junctions etc. mainly to conserve energy rather than brakes though. That would be on a reasonable amount of commuting and racing.

Wishbone Ash

"Holy sparks, what pads were they? Haven't heard of a set of pads ever wearing so fast in just 300km."

They were Swisstops (the dark blue type). Perhaps they were a dud set. I rode 350k in continuous rain on a lot of crappy back roads and near the end was wondering what the grating sound was.

07Lapierre

I wore out a set of rim brake pads on a 150k Amstel sportive a few years ago. It was raining all day and a lot of the route was on roads that had a sandy/gravel surface.

We’re heading over to do the same event next week and I’ve fitted new pads this week.

Arequipa

thanks for all the replies...

so a rim break wheel is generally replaced, when the braking surface is worn off the wheel and the rim is essentially too thin to ride...

with a disk brake wheel, what signs are there or when do you know when to replace a wheel or components of the wheel?

do spokes and hubs have to be replaced/serviced after a few years.....or does the extra force generated by the disk brakes wear the strength of the wheel over time?

Geeky question... but i'd be interested to know?!

thank u!

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121976469#Comment_121976469

As you said, its keeping an eye on truness, spoke tension and then the hubs. Two riders last night in Corkagh had hubs fail on disc bikes, one Mavic Askium, the other was what came with the bike. Nothing to do with brakes, it can happen. They weren't that old though and never seen it happen in two bikes at the one location before (in fact have only seen it twice before over 30 years).

This said, you can replace the rim on a rim brake bike, for a pricey wheel, it's often worth it.

ednwireland

Replaced my stock fulcrum wheels when I got fed up of changing bearings and I had changed 3 rear spokes. Rims are still 100 %. Barely a mark on them .

Got some low end mavics for the winter and already had 50mm deep section bontrager which are normally on in the summer.

Arequipa

Hi! were those fulcrum wheels disk brake wheels?

ednwireland

yes the fulcrum were disc. worn through zondas, ksyrium sls etc etc on rim brakes and bent more wheels than I care to remember.

tomasrojo

I don't know how many km I'd done, but when I was insanely broke I had to keep going with rim walls that were so thin I had to take the wheel off when I got home every time I hit a pothole and straighten the rim wall with an adjustable wrench, because the wall would have deformed so much it would rub off the brake pads once per revolution. Think it was probably 30 000km or so.

Anyway, that wouldn't happen with disk brakes, I guess. If I'd had anything more than subsistence money , I'd never have ridden on those wheels, but I couldn't afford to change them and couldn't afford to get around any other way.

Arequipa

jaysus Tomas, that sounds sketchy as hell.. but needs must eh?

I get wheels built often, mavic open pro rims or Hunt rims with dt swiss hubs... but as i commute every day through the winter etc.. the rims do wear relatively quickly .. and when they get concave it does make u uneasy... u can look at wear indicators to see if they are worn out..but otherwise u can place a ruler against the braking surface to measure the wear... but it is still not always an easy decision...

i have a roadbike with carbon rims and measuring the wear on it is different again... have to watch for the braking surface being worn through and the carbon surface behind being uncovered and worn... and they brake really bad... in rain.. braking is negligible..but they do feel light and zippy going uphill!!