Originally Posted by
thebulls
Is that a "2-3000" a typo? With 4200 miles on our tandem in the last year, we'd be either on our second or third rim of the year! We're on A719 in front and either Dyad or Deep V in back, depending on which wheel we're using. No noticeable break wear on the rims so far. I would expect them to last close to 20000 miles. Both rear wheels have Arai drum brakes, which are really nice for long, steep descents. They keep the speed down enough that I only have to brake hard for tight turns. I seldom check rim temperatures, but as it happens I checked the other day after slowing 400 pounds down from 40 to zero for a stop sign at the bottom of a 400 foot descent. The rims were fairly warm, but I could hold my thumb on them indefinitely so not hot, really. Shimano cantilevers with Matthauser pads (bought from R+E Bicycles last month).
I agree that ceramic brake tracks would be nice, and I wish they were more widely available.
If you're shopping at R+E you must be riding in the PNW . . . In winter, too?
Road grit here really eats mine up. I used to seldom get more than one season out of an aluminum rim on a single, if I rode it all year with salmon pads. I've put two new rims on the CoMo and I've only had it three years, and only since the first of this year has it been my default ride. And I do wash and clean the pads after every wet ride. But I can't stop to wash during. Sometimes it sounds like one of the RR track grinding machines, and I can see the aluminum paste quite clearly. Avid 7 with Travel Agents. I have recently changed to the dual material Koolstop pads and they seem to help. I'll look for those Matthauser pads, if they make them for V-brakes too.
Ceramic OP rims are very popular here among the rando crowd, and I now have them on my rain single, which I haven't ridden in months!
Our rides tend to go up and down every steep hill around and I've cooked the brakes a bit here and there: The Old Owen descent to Hwy 2, the golf course road down to Hwy 9 in Woodinville, and last Sunday, NE 122nd St. down to 124th in Woodinville. So I'm a little nervous about Sunrise and Stevens Canyon. I don't brake much there on my single, but I think I will on the tandem: I won't want to dice with the minivans in the corners and the thing is just so fast.
You ever ride with John and Margaret?