I have a pair with somewhere between 10-15k miles on them, and the ceramic coating looks great. On average once per week I climb and descend our local ~3000 ft climbs..so they see some hard braking on the descents. The rear rim has a single spot that has worn, but to be fair, that rim was damaged (bead bent) on a pothole and I "massaged" the sidewall back into place...but, it's not quite perfect, so on that small high point, the ceramic hasn't held up (and it probably didn't help that the coating was "stretched" in that area. Everywhere else on the brake track of that wheel, and the entirety of the front rim looks basically brand new. I can take pics if you think that would help.

Just be sure to use the SwissStop BXP blue pads and all should be well. You'll REALLY appreciate the braking performance of the ceramic coating combined with the BXP pads. The pads will wear fast initially on the new, clean, and rough ceramic surface, but once a thin coating of the pad material is put down (just like bedding in a disc brake pad, in many ways) the pad wear slows down quite a bit.

Here's another anecdote. Just last year a buddy of mine who usually climbs (and descends) one million feet per year (freak) was looking to replace the rims on his road wheels due to him wearing through the bare aluminum brake tracks. After seeing my wheels and looking into it, he decided to replace the old rims (DT Swiss, IIRC) with a set of Altamont Lites with the ceramic coating. So far he's loving them...and I don't think he quite believed me on the improved braking, since his first comment to me after the maiden voyage was "You weren't kidding on the brakes! Wow."

Anyway...I can't recommend them highly enough.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

1,000,000 per year... wow.

I live in Denver and ride in Boulder frequently. I have a few thousand on mine (at least), and they look pretty good. Unfortunately, if you get a little bit of gravel lodged inside the brake pad, say goodbye to the uniform black track. Mine look fine overall, and are fantastic training wheels (saved my ass more than once coming down Lookout and Flagstaff). I have an all blacked out Emonda, so the aluminium brake track would look hideous.

Just avoid gravel, and you'll be fine.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

I know, right?. He's done it like the last 3-4 years running. If I climb a lot in a single year, I'm lucky if I get half that.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Tom, that is quite the endorsement for the altamont wheels. Thanks for the thorough write-up and your experience. I'd expect some level of wear but hopefully later than sooner, which it sounds like you've had. And your friend, my word. Talk about legs of steel.

Front ranger unite ha! Glad to hear the wheels have held up relatively well. Thanks for your input.