carbon wheel braking surface wear

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Permalink Reply by wood booger on November 24, 2009 at 8:57am

For cross it is much more dependent on the mud/dirt conditions you ride in than brake pads. Carbon rims are definately not designed to be used in muddy conditions and will get destroyed quickly. Carbon and abrasive mud don't mix very well. If you have an alloy wheelset, run them in the mud fests. The extra weight won't really matter when your bike has 10 lbs of mud packed in it.

When you start going through multiple layers of carbon, it will begin to delaminate and the rim can fail. When? That all depends on how thick your specific carbon rim section is. Just keep and eye on it. If you can push on the rim sidewall and hear a cracking sound, that is odviously not good. If the braking groove gets deep enough that you can see the individual layers, that is not good.

I have yet to do a mud race in the 3 years I have been cross racing, so my rims are pristine.

Just don't use your brakes and they will last forever!