NoWhammies

Can anyone estimate how much mileage I can expect from a front and rear Shimano Ice Tech rotor? Figure 1,500km a month with hill climbs and flats thrown in there. I was planning / thinking 10,000km for the front and maybe 12,000km for the rear rotor before needing replacement.

Is anyone tracking the mileage they are getting on their rotors? Thank you.

DrIsotope

I run 180F/160R with 6-bolt RT-86 IceTechs. Just replaced front and rear in November of last year, as they were installed together when I built the bike in February of 2017. The rotors were retired with 17,286 miles on them.

The rear 160mm RT-86 on my previous bike lasted 17,209 miles. I only got 12,900 miles out of the front 160mm (which is part of why I went to 180 in the front.)

Cyclist0108

I have to replace mine at least once per year (~5000 km), and it sounds like I put on far fewer miles (or km) that you do. There are many other factors, including off-road riding, and how much of a wuss I am going down hills.

WhyFi

Yeah, I'm running 160s, front and back, and they're at around 10k miles with lots of life left. Not much descending for me to do in MN, but I'm big by cycling standards and deal with the stop and go of livin' in the city.

DrIsotope

Also, running exclusively organic pads makes a huge difference in rotor life. I probably go through three sets of pads per rotor. But pads are cheap, and IceTechs not so much.

PoorInRichfield

I don't think you can guesstimate the life of a brake rotor based on mileage. If you're not applying your brakes and the pads are properly adjusted so as to not be touching the rotors when the brakes aren't applied, you could ride infinite miles and not need to change the rotors or even the pads.

If the real question is, "Will ICE Tech rotors last longer than less expensive rotors?", the answer is a solid "it depends".

NoWhammies

Thanks everyone. I tend to be a granny on descents. Love the climb, the down not so much. I have a caliper that I use to check the rotors (180 front, 160 back) so I guess I'll just keep that up.

Brake pad wise, I've only been using Shimano L0A2 pads. So far so good.

August West

Way too many variables to even guess based on mileage. I do 8,000-10,000 feet of climbing per week but due to the roads I'm on I rarely, if ever, use the brakes while the descending so by brake and rotor life is through the roof. My current bike has 1553 miles & 149,072' of descents on it and the rotors show no wear. At the current rate the rotors will outlast the rider.

Tacoenthusiast

So it looks like rotors need replacement more often than rim brake rims?
theyre way cheaper and easier to replace, that's a good thing