Who else likes Ceramic Rims?

[bunn]

My Kona unit currently rides a Mavic 217 ceramic rim on the front wheel, and I love it. I like the stopping power, but I also love the feel of ceramic brakes - you can feel all the scraping and griding in your hand, and I like that.

It seems ceramics have been on a slow path to extinction except for just a few models.. and I'm worried they'll be near impossible to find/afford soon. my guess is due to the surge of disk brakes.

thoughts / feelings?

[bdee]

I like 'em but now I mostly ride disc. I have 2 Mavic x517ceramic rims hanging around right now. I also have one old 217 built to an older Xt hub that was ridden forever with little signs of wear and tear. They last a looong time - maybe that's why they're being phased out :confused:

[FastandFurriest]

you can feel all the scraping and griding in your hand

This drove me crazy. Pads designed for ceramic rims seem to get rid of this, but seem to wear fast and not brake any harder than standard pads. But that grinding:mad:

[bunn]

Fast&Furry - I guess I should also specify that I ride a fully rigid bike, so bike-to-hand feedback is a plus in my book :) also, this is with ceramic pads. I steer clear of using anything else - I imagine rubber pads would get pretty carved up by ceramic rims.

bdee - the only complaint I have about my ceramics is that they are very on/off when wet. It's a bit unpredictable as to whether the bike will keep sliding along or lurch to a halt when I squeeze the break. Sometimes it shudders a bit in the rain. Have you noticed this, more than with rubber pads?

bunn.

[bdee]

I have noticed the inconsistent stopping power from cermaics as well. I usually try to remove some of the pad build up with really fine sandpaper. I think in all the years I rode the last set of rims I maybe "cleaned" them that way a few times. It worked pretty well. One thing you don't want to do is use them with normal pads for too long. I did that for a while one dry summer. I needed brakes and all I had were normal pads. Everything was fine while it was dry - especially after they gummed up with pad gunk. First rain ride and I couldn't stop at all. They had built up a layer of normal pad material that was useless when wet. I had kept telling myself I'd go get new ceramic pads but I'm a master procrastinator...

[Jahnov]

If Cyclecross keeps growing in numbers as it has I don't see those ceramic rims going away. They do require care, but when they are clean, and you have the right pads, you can't beat em in the wet with canti brakes.

[Tman]

Have had ceramics since 95, the front on my SS is an old Trek/Matrix Voodoo. I use red Kool Stops and never have issues.


Hit up your local Trek dealer and see if they have any stashed away. I bought a bunch for mtn and road on a blowout years ago. I think I paid $9 a piece for them.

[FishMan]

It seems ceramics have been on a slow path to extinction except for just a few models.. and I'm worried they'll be near impossible to find/afford soon. my guess is due to the surge of disk brakes.

My friends and I were never willing to pony up the extra cash just for a little extra stopping power in wet conditions. Now people are paying twice what a ceramic/v-brake set up costs on disc brakes and not even batting an eye. Hmm....

[hophead]

I have Bontrager Valiant ceramic rims on my Vintage Surly 1 x 1. It has no disc brake mounts at either end so rim brakes are the only option. With the green Avid pads, they are damn near as strong stoppers as many disc set-ups. Not quite as good when wet though.

Ceramic rims are definitely getting hard to find. Last time I checked, only Mavic was offering anything ceramic. I don't think the Valiants are being produced anymore.

[lizzard21]

noise grind wear through and that cake up at the pad my last good idea is to replace my discs with ceramics.

[bunn]

I use red Kool Stops and never have issues.

I've seen green Kool Stops on ceramics - I'm currently using green Avids. What's different about the red Kool Stops?

[Tman]

I've seen green Kool Stops on ceramics - I'm currently using green Avids. What's different about the red Kool Stops?

They were cheap and worked.