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Rim Brakes on Carbon Wheels

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Rim Brakes on Carbon Wheels

Old 05-22-19, 04:35 PM
  #26  
Elvo
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What about iron and bronze? We skipped a few ages here.
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Old 05-22-19, 04:35 PM
  #27  
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Who needs to stop?
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Old 05-22-19, 04:52 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by mantis
Have hydraulic discs with my carbons. Stop good.
I hear the juice brakes do indeed stop good.
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Old 05-22-19, 05:09 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Sojodave
Who needs to stop?
This. The point of riding a bike is to go fast, not to stop. Brakes are for fakes.

Ok, maybe that last bit was a little too much. We use freewheels and derailleurs in here.
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Old 05-22-19, 05:23 PM
  #30  
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Hi! What’s this thread about?
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Old 05-22-19, 07:05 PM
  #31  
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Ben riding on Metron 40’s for 2 years now. Despite what the internet says, I stop just fine and am somehow still alive.
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Old 05-22-19, 07:33 PM
  #32  
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Hi! What’s this thread about?
How many slices of pizza are best? 32? 24 if you're skinny and it's your first pizza? Is one slicing pattern better than another?
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Old 05-22-19, 07:42 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by caloso
I regularly switch between alloy training/commuting wheels and carbon race wheels. I use good pads and switch alloy and carbon specific when I'm changing wheelsets. It hasn't been a significant issue for me.
I think I'd like to try a pair of cf wheels, but the brake pad swapping has me less enthused (Campy pad swaps are somewhat a pain). What is it about the materials though that a pad that works with both rim materials doesn't exist?
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Old 05-22-19, 11:41 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by MinnMan
Yeah, I know that you veterans think that this is a redundant thread, but I am appreciating the constructive contributions here. There continue to be lots of people buying carbon rims for the first time and I'm one of them, and I would like to read what people have to say in this discussion. Pointers to older threads would also be welcome. But not too old, as developments in brake pad materials make those less helpful.

So yeah - long descents, wet/dry, emergency stopping power when something unexpected happens, yellow king vs. black prince. Do tell.



Fake news.

I've been riding several different set of carbon rims for years (all tubular, 'tho), Reynolds blue pads, mostly.

No problems- wet, dry, hot, cold, mud. Better than the Cx bike with cantis for sure.

All the cool kids have steel gravel bikes with alloy wheels & disc brakes now, so it's pretty much moot.
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Old 05-23-19, 07:52 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by MinnMan
Yeah, I know that you veterans think that this is a redundant thread, but I am appreciating the constructive contributions here. There continue to be lots of people buying carbon rims for the first time and I'm one of them, and I would like to read what people have to say in this discussion. Pointers to older threads would also be welcome. But not too old, as developments in brake pad materials make those less helpful.

So yeah - long descents, wet/dry, emergency stopping power when something unexpected happens, yellow king vs. black prince. Do tell.
Textured brake track with Black Prince pads, no problems stopping, wet or dry. Did a century on Sat with 9,300ft of elevation, 45+mph descents, no issues at all.
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Old 05-23-19, 08:12 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by Sy Reene
I think I'd like to try a pair of cf wheels, but the brake pad swapping has me less enthused (Campy pad swaps are somewhat a pain). What is it about the materials though that a pad that works with both rim materials doesn't exist?
Blue Reynolds pads stop alloy wheels just fine. The switch is primarily to protect the carbon rims from any metal that gets embedded in the pads from the alloy set.
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Old 05-23-19, 09:07 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by caloso
Blue Reynolds pads stop alloy wheels just fine. The switch is primarily to protect the carbon rims from any metal that gets embedded in the pads from the alloy set.
Swiss Stop yellow work well on aluminum, but they should be swapped for the same reason.
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Old 05-23-19, 09:15 AM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Brakes are for fakes.
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Old 05-23-19, 09:42 AM
  #39  
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If you are above 200lbs by a good amount, all carbon wheels might not be the best choice. At those weights, bike equipment is not really designed for you. Things like skill definitely have a lot to do with equipment choice, some guys just don’t brake that much on a descent. , but if you are not that guy, go with aluminum brake tracks.
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Old 05-23-19, 10:04 AM
  #40  
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It has a lot to do with the riders' weight and riding style.

For example, I climbed ~400k ft every year and I was able to used the same brake pad for two years. I don't have to brake a lot when the average grade less than 8%. I do become extremely uncomfortable when the grade exceeds 10% (since you're also located in SoCal, such as Baldy Ski Lift, Laguna Beach Sisters, PV Big One/Crown View, Newport Beach Ridge Park/Vista Ridge....).
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Old 05-23-19, 11:19 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by Sy Reene
I think I'd like to try a pair of cf wheels, but the brake pad swapping has me less enthused (Campy pad swaps are somewhat a pain). What is it about the materials though that a pad that works with both rim materials doesn't exist?
I don't swap pads. I use Swiss Stop black prince pads and I interchange carbon and allow wheels with no issue. Don't even notice the change hardly. I just make sure there are no metal slivers in the pads but I've never seen one. I've been doing this for around 10 years or so. Just get a set of carbon specific pads and try them on your alloy wheels. Cheap way to see if this works for you.

J.
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Old 05-23-19, 04:45 PM
  #42  
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Old 05-23-19, 07:00 PM
  #43  
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Rim brakes....yes
Alloy clinchers...yes
Alloy tubulars...yes
Carbon tubulars...yes
Carbon clinchers...nah
Disk brakes...nah

But I wanna try wood tubulars
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Old 05-23-19, 07:08 PM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by BengalCat
Thinking of buying a road bike with rim brakes and carbon wheels? Do you already have a road bike with rim brakes and you want to switch from alloy to carbon wheels? Stop and consider the following:

Bikes are lousy at stopping quickly at speed or steep descent no matter what the situation is. But you have rim brakes on your current bike and you want to go from alloy to carbon wheels you may regret the choice when you try to make descents that require slow speeds down steep descents. The difference as I found about between carbon and alloy after switching is greater than I had participated. (The heavier you are the greater difference with carbon than alloy.)
The bottom line the carbon wheels are much less effective than alloy for breaking the situations I describe

Many carbon wheels come with a braking track on the wheels for a better grip by the brake pads. Those wear out in a month or so.

Anyway, a factor to consider if you are considering going from alloy to carbon for whatever reason.
I bought a nice tandem with front and rear discs. I immediately got rid of those. I mean we were only 360#. I put a hybrid hydro on the rear. The hydro is great for drag, but will not stop nearly as well as the carbon smooth rim did.
Last Sat another tandem, a mag one, had the same setup. He did the same on his Ti tandem, his Carbon and that mag (yea ~ $30K in tandem running rim brakes)
Well setup rim brakes in DRY conditions are fine. They are preferred by some.

I buy a lot of stuff for junior. MTB, cx is disc. Road is rim brake. We think it works better. BTW - he is going on season 6 with the same carbon rims.
If you ride in wet, dirt rim brakes can be an issue, otherwise not.
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Old 05-23-19, 07:13 PM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by jsigone
better brake pads? toe your pads? late brake into hairpins and don't ride your pads? don't white knuckle the downhill

210#s I'd climb GMR/Baldy and Palomar on Carbon wheels. Used swiss stop yellows and they are nice and hardly showed signs of wear

What this guy says...he is a complete beast up GMR. I know, I was riding hard just trying to keep within sight of him, up and down.

Last edited by eja_ bottecchia; 05-23-19 at 10:31 PM.
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Old 05-25-19, 10:06 AM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by MinnMan
Yeah, I know that you veterans think that this is a redundant thread, but I am appreciating the constructive contributions here. There continue to be lots of people buying carbon rims for the first time and I'm one of them, and I would like to read what people have to say in this discussion. Pointers to older threads would also be welcome.
Unfortunately, some people get all upset over everything.

All I stated was that carbon wheels with rim brakes, (and proper pads), do not stop as well as alloy wheels and with rim brakes and proper pads. Also, the carbon wheels cannot withstand the same degree of temperature build up as that alloy wheels can, although this last point isn't a factor for me as I am never riding in a situation that requires an extended heavy use by my rim brakes.

The real world situation where I notice the difference between my alloy wheels and carbon wheels is on steep technical descents and or those that have very steep double-digit grades combined with road design that mandate heavier braking than normally required. (Best example is a 1.3 mile descent that on one mile of it the grade is 12-14 percent with three extremely sharp turns. On the other had a nearly five-mile descent I don't break at all except in one double S blind turn that's about 7 percent.

Last edited by BengalCat; 05-25-19 at 09:38 PM.
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Old 05-26-19, 10:01 AM
  #47  
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Originally Posted by noodle soup
No kidding, eh?

Geez...my Mad Fibers, +10,000 km's later, no issues - rolls true, zero tension loss. No appreciable wear on the brake track. From the wet Pacific Northwest. Lots of descents. Even did Haleakala. Bonus that it's 1043g.

Tip: buy reputable quality carbon wheels, to the degree your wallet can afford it.

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Old 05-26-19, 12:43 PM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by mpath
No kidding, eh?

Geez...my Mad Fibers, +10,000 km's later, no issues - rolls true, zero tension loss. No appreciable wear on the brake track. From the wet Pacific Northwest. Lots of descents. Even did Haleakala. Bonus that it's 1043g.

Tip: buy reputable quality carbon wheels, to the degree your wallet can afford it.

Judging by the size of your frame, you weigh nothing. Any wheel you use will last forever. Even in the PNW
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Old 05-26-19, 01:26 PM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by mpath
No kidding, eh?

Geez...my Mad Fibers, +10,000 km's later, no issues - rolls true, zero tension loss. No appreciable wear on the brake track. From the wet Pacific Northwest. Lots of descents. Even did Haleakala. Bonus that it's 1043g.

Tip: buy reputable quality carbon wheels, to the degree your wallet can afford it.

I wouldn't be convinced that they are a good wheel. A friend of mine has 2 sets and of the 4 wheels only one is still usable. They didn't get a lot of use either.
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Old 05-26-19, 01:59 PM
  #50  
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Originally Posted by Dean V
I wouldn't be convinced that they are a good wheel. A friend of mine has 2 sets and of the 4 wheels only one is still usable. They didn't get a lot of use either.
You didn't mention that the company also went out of business years ago.
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