>>2006069not him but
>A rubber pad will never wear a metal rim.dude most newer rims have wear indicators
it's a little divot or groove in the surface, and when the rest of the rim wears down to that level they disappear and the rim is (conservatively) dangerous.
They do wear down. It's not occasionally, it's almost most old wheels. It's absolutely something that happens.
Wheels without wear indicators will go concave to show they're badly shot.
You're thinking that rubber is softer than metal, therefor it can't wear it down. That's correct, but what happens is that sand and grit get on the rim, especially from riding in the rain and create a kind of grinding paste, also shards of metal imbed in brake pads. Those will wear down aluminium.
There are obviously lots of high mileage old wheels that are fine, but if you ride in the rain, don't regularly clean your rims and pick the metal out of your pads, and do big descents or just brake hard a lot, they will wear out. It is honestly not unusual for some roadies to go through rims every season or two.
It's also not unusual for rims to last practically for ever. It depends on how you ride, how much you ride, and how you maintain your bike.
