Hey,

This is a question about the rim design on a bike I saw while looking. It's not about damage -- this is by design, on a brand new bike. The area where the caliper brake pads make contact on the rim has raised ridges and grooves, parallel to the circumference, all the way around. This seems kinda goofy and like it would cause excessive pad wear. It might also be a feature, slightly increasing the area of contact between the pad and the rim. Anybody know about this? Is this "a thing", done on purpose for good reason, or just some goofy manufacturer's design decision?

Thanks.