Originally Posted by
JohnDThompson
N.B. in all the decades I've been riding, I've never actually had to replace a rim due to wear on the brake track.
The last rim I replaced due to brake track wear was an Open Pro which had maybe 10K miles on it. Started pulsating when braking and I measured it with a micrometer and it was substantially worn. I don't remember the number but it was surprising.
I'm over 200 pounds and do a lot of mountainous riding.
I have been with riders twice when the brake track blew off their front rims. The first one I was close and it was quite loud. I have seen other rims with the brake track collapsed.
When I used rim brakes on my mtb I rode in the wet a lot and I could tell when the front rim was gone because there would be a bad low spot which would thump through the bars when braking. I wore out several rims on rim braked mountain bikes.
I'm not anti-rim brakes, both my road bikes have them. There are times when I wish for something stronger, however.