roadies and XC's that use rim brakes

[FyrFytrRyn]

yesterday i was thinking... have any of you guys seen a rim blow out due to someone wearing the rim down from rim brakes? maybe a rock got stuck in the pad and created enough of a stress riser to blow the lip right off the wheel? figured it would probably be bigger in the roadie community due to the higher pressures. seen it?

[2wheel_lee]

Actually, the bigger concern is wear. Over time, the braking surface of the rim wears out. Most people notice that before catastrophic failure. Back when ceramic rims were more common, people would swap over to regular rims leaving the brake pads designed for the ceramic rims in place. These pads are very abbrassive, which causes rapid rim wear.

[ericfoltz]

Haven't seen a rim blow but I have seen people melt tubes for some pretty spectacular blowouts.

[Rascal]

Same here, just wear from time, particularly when riding in the rain. The sand/dirt/mud would just file down the sidewalls in a hurry and destroy the pads.

I have a dedicated night time/wet roadbike and you can feel the abrasiveness in the sidewalls from the debris that sticks due to the wet.