Barring a serious crash or the most frequent bike accident of
all—entering the garage with a bicycle on your car roof rack—your
bicycle rims will probably last as long as you can stand riding the
same old bike. Usually made of aluminum, rims are lightweight and
strong and are hardly ever the source of trouble on a bicycle, even in
the most arduous riding conditions.
In fact, most bicycle riders probably never give a single
thought to their bicycle rims. The circular band of metal that holds in
the bike tire and connects it to the wheel hub via spokes is easily
overlooked. Unlike spokes, a bicycle rim hardly ever breaks. Unlike the
hub, it hardly ever causes problems. Unlike tires, it never goes flat
or explodes. Serious bicycle racers have some pretty fancy rims, full
of the same outrageously colorful advertising that covers their
clothing usually, but most riders really don’t need these. Even the
fanciest rims, the flattened out, wide, presumably aerodynamic rims
you’ll see on the wheels of the pros, are not certainly all that much
better. They are, however, flashier, and in the world of bicycling,
this apparently does count for something, maybe for intimidation.
Do you need to know anything special about your bicycle rims?
Not really. Most bicycles come with rims appropriate to their overall
quality. You can spend as much money as you want on a rim—like
everything else associated with the sport of bicycling—but what comes
standard on a bike is probably sufficient. Customizing your rims will
bring you fancier rims, maybe lighter rims, probably stronger rims, but
the research on what constitutes the best rim weight, strength and
shape is still largely inconclusive, and since this feature causes so
few problems to the recreational rider, you can leave this issue to the
professional mechanic who services the bicycles of world class racers.
When they’ve resolved the issue, you will know about it!
Meanwhile, if your bicycle rims are aluminum, as most are today
(steel rims being heavy, carbon rims being expensive), there is very
little you need to do for them. As with all parts of your bicycle, rims
should be kept clean of dirt and corrosive oils, wiped after long dusty
rides and examined after any crash. Otherwise, do what most riders have
always done: forget about your bicycle rims. You may not be able to
ride a bike without them, but you really cannot ride a bike better for
thinking about this vital but happily innocuous part.
