Originally Posted by
phughes
Why are people braking so much downhill? The only time I brake going downhill is when the cars ahead of me are going too slow and I have to brake to slow to their speed. At the same time I am muttering about stupid slow drivers. I live in the Pittsburgh area, and we have plenty of hills. I also commuted in the Ozarks, which also has lots of hills. Both places gave me speeds of up to 45 mph on downhills if I wanted to push, and in the Pittsburgh area, that is coupled with nice curves. You can keep the speeds down more by sitting upright, using wind resistance to slow you down.
Oh, and rims last a long time. If you are wearing rims out in two years, you are doing it wrong. See above.
If you live and ride in the Pacific northwest, especially in the mountains or in the rain, you can wear out rims fast. Mountains - lots of descents that require real braking if you intend to stay on the pavement (and enjoy waking up tomorrow). The issue here is that the dust, sand, grit is almost entirely volcanic and
very abrasive. In my commuting days, I'd kill rims in one and a half winters riding 3-4 days a week, 10 miles each way with some stops at hill bottoms. City traffic about half the ride. (Most of Oregon is hundreds of feet deep in volcanic material. This isn't going away fast, even on a planetary scale.)