Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
Carbonfibreboy - How many people ride 30,000 miles in a year ?
That is 82 miles a day, every day for a year.
I think rabbit and I agree on the Mavic A719 as being an excellent rim but would choose a disc over a drum on the front as you will have much better braking power.
Rear wheels do pick up more crud in bad weather and another part of this is due to the chain and cassette throwing off small amounts of lube which acts as a dirt magnet for your rear rim which will usually be dirtier in nicer weather because of this.
This in itself is a good reason to make sure you are very conservative when you lube your chain and makes sure it is wiped completely clean and kept wiped down.
I only know one person who rides that much. He does a 20 mile commute each way, does another 20 urban miles at noon, and then only has to do a quick 40 in the evening to get his 100 for the day. He runs Conti 4000 tires now. So I have to laugh when people say you can't commute on a good road rim or run good road tires. No, instead you're supposed to run a heavy, wide rim, put on wooden tires that don't hold worth a **** in the wet, and make the experience a lot less fun.
Besides perhaps being just a trifle curious how his wheels last so long in the PNW under this usage, I would think people might be a trifle curious about his drive train. Most of the serious LD riders in this area run ceramic rims. Discs are nice, but are expensive, heavy, put more strain on the wheel, need special fitments, and aren't foolproof either. In any case, no one I know runs them here except for the occasional tandem.
Our area is known for its crappy streets and the propensity to spread grit on the roads in winter, then not sweep until spring.