Doing a race 2 hours from home tomorrow - and it’s a bit late to head back home tonight -
Anyways - my wife and I are racing and I only have cork break pads for one bike (both my wife and I are racing) - the other set is on my kitchen table 2 hours away.
So one of us has to go without - or run the race wheels (Black Wheel reseach/Planet X) - with normal pads.
Should I send my wife on her way with the race wheels and:
A> Run my training wheels
B> Run my race wheels w/ normal pads?
It’s a 15 mile - hilly course - I’m mainly concerned about ruining the wheels - and mildly concerned about stopping power.
Do what the first guy said. I’ve run carbon wheels with normal pads and AL wheels with carbon pads. Neither is horrid. One thing check to see how worn the normal pads are. They will wear quicker on the carbon rims, but not real fast.
If you decide to both run cork pads on the front and use regular pads on the back wheel, make sure you check the braking surface of the regular pads for aluminum filings. This is what will tear up the brake track on your race wheel and potentially cause damage.
I have been running regular brake pads on a cheap pair of Spinergy wheels for 3 years… still no sign of abnormal wear… I think you will be fine with the regular pad… just sand them a bit to remove any aluminum.
Cork on the front set of both bikes, and try to not use the rear much?
This is a great idea. You could also loosen up the rear brakes all the way so that squeezing the lever doesn’t grip as hard. (If you and your wife can ride safely this way!)
So the regular pads will wear quicker - what about the rim - other than grinding it down with wayward AL bits - how much is the rim going to suffer because of heat disappation issues?
This is a hilly course - much like the triple T - i foresee a fair bit of braking.
It wont, I’ve run carbon wheels on the TTT course with regular pads. Your front takes the vast majority of braking on downhills. Don’t do what one guy suggested and disable the rear. You wont hurt it as long as you don’t continually drag it, and if you do absolutely need it better to damage a rim (which wont happen) than not be able to stop.