Originally Posted by
79pmooney
Celticgirl, rims wear out from caliper brakes over time. Fact of life. It's part of the stopping process. (Discs do too.) How fast depends on a lot of factors mentioned above. Riding in the wet speeds up the wear a lot. Likewise riding in abrasive dust, sand and gravel.
+1
If the OP is a fair-weather only type of rider, don’t worry about it.
All-Weather, high-mileage riders can benefit from regular inspections.
I’ve had two rims fail catastrophically, and some merely flare out in a less spectacular manner.
About the only realistic way of reducing wear that I can think of is pad choice, and regular cleaning of pads and rims. The stock pads on a Merida I have were nothing short of AMAZING WRT picking up debris.
It’s possible that brake technique might matter too. Dragging the brake is poor descent technique WRT heat build-up. Perhaps it also accelerates wear.
One expensive option is to go for ceramic coated rims. As far as brake wear goes, they last ”forever”.
With that said, they need to outlast a standard rim 3-5 times to make up for the higher price.