How to tell when carbide rims are worn out ?

[swayzak]

Hi

I have Grizzly carbide rims / Shimano Deore V-brake / Swissstop Bluesky pads combination on my Thorne Sterling.

I'm new to this - what sign should I look for to tell me the rims are wearing out ?

Also, is normal for the front wheel to judder when coming to halt in the rain ?

thanks

[pdamm]

I have asked myself the same questions. 

So far I have done about 16,000 km on my carbide rims.  If there were parts where the carbide had worn through exposing the aluminum or if there was significant indentation in the rim surface then you could say they were worn out.  So far there is no evidence of either on my rims and I am still on my first set of pads.

I also get the front wheel juddering when I break in the wet.  But only if it has been wet for some time and I have had the chance to break a lot in the wet.  Since it doesn’t rain much where I am I haven’t worried about it.

Peter

[swayzak]

Thanks

[il padrone]

The Rigida Andra 30 CSS have a wear gauge built into their section. When they are worn they will develop a warning split like this:




 Not so for the Grizzly  .

The good thing about this is that, despite the shock value of it, the rim is still essentially sound to continue riding for a while, due to the position of the thin wear gauge area.

With regular rims (and I'd assume the Grizzly too) the first signs are a concave brake surface. This will continue OK for some time, then the rim will develop a brake pulse effect - this is not a buckle but a bulge in the rim sidewalls each side. This is the warning to scrap the rim - soon after you may have a split (more severe grabbing) or worst case, a sidewall blow-out