How long do wheels last?
 

I have a 2008 Madone 4.5 with the original Bontrager Race wheels on it. Approaching 8,000 miles on the bike. About how long can I expect the wheels to last? What are the signs that they're wearing? BTW, I weigh about 200 lbs. if that makes a difference.

Friend of mine rides much more than me. He goes through a set of wheels every year (10,000 miles).

I think it depends on how hard you ride them and how hard you brake. If you service the bearings every 10,000 miles I would suspect you could/should get 20,000 to 30,000 miles out of them.

My current wheels have a little more than 27K miles. I took them to the shop last year and was told, "they've lived an honest life". I'm not sure but I think he meant that I've hit every pothole possible.

Check the braking surface. If it starts to wear through, get new rims.

Rim wear because of braking is usually the limiting factor. If you ride a lot in the wet they will wear faster because the grit from the road gets ground into an abrasive paste.

Many rims have wear indicators, usually indentations in the rim surface. When they have disappeared, the rim is finished. If they aren't present, you can still tell if a rim is wrn by examining the braking surface. If it is badly worn you can usually feel that it has become concave.

I agree wit 20-30,000 miles depending upon rim material, brake pad material, weight, speed, etc. But fortunately it is not a guessing game. You inspect the braking surface for a significant depression indicating too much wear and the spoke holes for deformation or cracks. Any of the three defects means replace. But just the rim and spokes. Hubs should be reusable after overhaul. Cracks on hub spoke holes changes that. Then they would have to go too. if you reuse hubs, try to lace them back the same way as originally. You don't want mutiple scarring on the hub flange from different lacing patterns if you can help it.

Good info guys, I was pondering the same question just the other day. Thanks.

Hundreds of thousands of miles.

Rims wear out sooner. They can make it 40,000 miles when they start out beefy and don't see much rain or might be gone in less than 1/4 that time if you live someplace like Seattle and still rely on rim brakes.

Bearings wear out too.Cup and cone bearings go longer with periodic service (you tighten them when they get loose instead of replacing them) than cartridge bearings.

Obviously using wheels built around commodity components (like an ubiquitous Mavic or Velocity rim and Shimano or Campagnolo hub) makes replacing those worn out bits more practical. When you do that you spend a lot less than you would on new wheels. Even with inflation and over-priced French rims I'm paying less than $70 a wheel for rim replacement after I wear out brake tracks or crash one.

Some rims have holes which serve as wear indicators - once the braking surface wears down enough for the hole to disappear you need a new rim. Otherwise you just wait for them to become too concave.

The last front rim that I replaced due to brake track wear had gone a little over 60,000 miles. I use the rear brakes much less so my rear rims last over twice that long. Hubs and spokes are usually good through several rim replacements.

But that's for riding in a rather dry climate and with most of the miles on rural roads where there's less braking than on city streets.

If your wheels are the paired spoke design, you're on borrowed time. They usually start getting cracks around the spoke nipples after about 5,000 miles. The rear will go first.

They are the paired spoke design. Maybe it's time to start doing some research on wheels.

[QUOTE=Drew Eckhardt;14395521]still rely on rim brakes

This is the road forum. Virtually all road bikes have rim brakes

Yes, beefy wheels made with quality components can last a very long time if you are lucky. But how many are riding expensive but heavy wheels? Most are pushing the envelope... on cheap wheels.

I put near 15k miles on a paired spoke 2008 Race wheelset. Other than being a heavy, low-end wheelset, they performed fine and held up well. Never needed truing. No sign of stress at spoke holes. Brake tracks showed no noticeable wear, appearing flat from edge to edge. The wheels still spun and looked near new when I sold the bike.

I'm sure I could've put many more miles on them. Other than keeping the pads and brake tracks clean, I didn't baby them, since I really didn't care if I had to replace them. Dry weather, 160lbs, mostly flat and low gradient miles, KS salmon pads.

Your wheels have cartridge bearings. Nothing to maintain. Just ride them until the bearings wear out then replace with new. I believe the hubs are rebranded Formulas: nothing special and not worth relacing. Ride the wheels until your brake tracks are too thin or until you see a stress crack at a spoke hole...then dispose.

Er, yes, you babied them. Wet weather riding and hills is what wears brake surfaces. Having said that, even riding in my local conditions, through the winter, I'd still expect to get 15000 miles out of a set of rims.

Your statement only addresses sidewall wear. The concerns over abbreviated lifespans of Bontrager paired spoke wheels are always associated with stress cracks and spoke pull-through. Riding in a dry climate is no guarantee against the multiple reasons for wheel failure.