Cheap Gauge for Rim Wear Check

[NetworkMan]

Some time ago someone on here mentioned using a gauge like the one shown but they were rather expensive. I just bought this from Amazon Marketplace for £3.99 postage paid, made of stainless steel. Seems to agree with my Aldi digital caliper. My rim measured 1.3mm just below the hooked part so OK for a little while yet since CJ advised changing at 1.0mm, I read, with failures occurring at 0.5-0.7 mm.

[andrew_s]

The usual term to search for is "Iwanson gauge".

The other gauge worth looking at is the "Boley gauge", a vernier caliper with hooked jaws

Both are cheap if you know what to look for, but an un-focused seach on gauges might well lead you to relatively high prices for the same thing from a jewellery or dental supplier.

[Brucey]

Aldi verniers cost £7.99 last time round and are a much more versatile tool than an Iwanson gauge.

BTW Most new mavic rims are 1.35mm but I measured a set of new type Open Pros at 1mm. Not impressed with that at all.

cheers

[thelawnet]

what's a good tool to measure rotor wear?

edit: I just bought one of these https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Outside ... 89774.html

[NetworkMan]

Aldi verniers cost £7.99 last time round and are a much more versatile tool than an Iwanson gauge.

BTW Most new mavic rims are 1.35mm but I measured a set of new type Open Pros at 1mm. Not impressed with that at all.

cheers

I find it much easier to use than my Aldi digital caliper and a piece of rod or spoke, also the tips are slim so you can see exactly what you are measuring. My rim was an old Alesa Endeavour at over 700g when new so probably much thicker than a Mavic. I was concerned because they are rather concave now.
Do you have an Aldi vernier? Mine has a strange defect. Every so often the digital readout over-reads by a consistent 5+mm (something like 5.08mm IIRC). I took the first one back because of this fault and it was replaced but the new one is just the same! It's manageable since there is an analogue scale too. Looks to me like a firmware bug in the electronics. Weird...

[NetworkMan]

The usual term to search for is "Iwanson gauge".

The other gauge worth looking at is the "Boley gauge", a vernier caliper with hooked jaws

Both are cheap if you know what to look for, but an un-focused seach on gauges might well lead you to relatively high prices for the same thing from a jewellery or dental supplier.

Do you know what dentists do with these things - the mind boggles!

[gxaustin]

My Open Pro rim collapsed at a thickness of 0.9mm.
My Aldi caliper eats batteries, and therefore I'd prefer a vernier because I can't rely on it. Luckily I have a Rabone plastic dial caliper which has given good service for years and is calibrated to 0.1mm. It has been used with care but has been remarkably hard wearing

[NetworkMan]

It's not just me or Aldi. A review on Amazon for a Draper caliper reports the same +5mm defect.
Also reports rapid battery discharge because the slightest movement does an auto. switch on. I've noticed this too.

[Brucey]

the ~5mm error is shared with a lot of electronic Vernier calipers. Even Mitutoyo ones will do it occasionally. Comparing notes with a chum of mine recently (between us we own about eight different types, some in multiples) it seems that there are at least two important factors

1) speed of movement and
2) any moisture there might be

Even sweat from your fingers is enough to make the readings noticeably more erratic in some cases. Some calipers need to be bone dry to work reliably and one set (that got rained on, ahem) took months to start working properly again afterwards.

The current Aldi ones seem better than many in this respect; if I move the slide as fast as possible (on the calipers I use most often) I sometimes get a 5mm error but I really have to try to get this to happen (just now I tried and couldn't get them to misbehave at all). If I stored them in a damp shed I am sure it would be worse.

With electronic calipers it is good practice to check the zero after every measurement anyway (there may have been some grot in the caliper jaws when they were zeroed before, or the zero button may have been pressed inadvertently) and this goes double if you are often subject to the 5mm error.

Battery life varies a lot between calipers, and there are seemingly variations within each type too, as well as duff batteries. NB some calipers definitely need an SR44 battery (silver oxide) rather than the commoner LR44 battery because the voltage is slightly higher with a silver oxide cell. The worst I have had is a caliper that ate a battery every three months whether I used it or not. Cheap LR44s (from the pound shop) made this less painful.

BTW my chum has a special problem; his teenage son is getting interested in this sort of thing so there is a requirement for a set of calipers that is both cheap (they are, uh, a 'consumable' in his household) and good.

cheers

[iow]

My Open Pro rim collapsed at a thickness of 0.9mm.

that's food for thought. I'd settled on 0.7mm as a safe minimum

[Samuel D]

My Open Pro rim collapsed at a thickness of 0.9mm.

Do you recall the particulars about the tyre width and pressure?

[gxaustin]

Do you recall the particulars about the tyre width and pressure?

Yes, I had a 25mm tyre (Michelin Lithion 2) and I pumped it up to 7bar (100psi) - which is a bit more than I'd generally use on the rear. The brake track was noticeably concave and I'd decided to change it over Christmas. However, I thought I'd get away with one more ride before the festivities
Fortunately it was near home and my wife fetched me back to swap wheels.

[Sweep]

Some time ago someone on here mentioned using a gauge like the one shown but they were rather expensive. I just bought this from Amazon Marketplace for £3.99 postage paid, made of stainless steel. Seems to agree with my Aldi digital caliper. My rim measured 1.3mm just below the hooked part so OK for a little while yet since CJ advised changing at 1.0mm, I read, with failures occurring at 0.5-0.7 mm.

Do you have a link for this please?

[NetworkMan]

Some time ago someone on here mentioned using a gauge like the one shown but they were rather expensive. I just bought this from Amazon Marketplace for £3.99 postage paid, made of stainless steel. Seems to agree with my Aldi digital caliper. My rim measured 1.3mm just below the hooked part so OK for a little while yet since CJ advised changing at 1.0mm, I read, with failures occurring at 0.5-0.7 mm.

Do you have a link for this please?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Iwanson-Measur ... ntal+gauge
You'll probably find more there too, perhaps even cheaper.

[Cyril Haearn]

Aldi verniers cost £7.99 last time round and are a much more versatile tool than an Iwanson gauge.

BTW Most new mavic rims are 1.35mm but I measured a set of new type Open Pros at 1mm. Not impressed with that at all.

cheers

I find it much easier to use than my Aldi digital caliper and a piece of rod or spoke, also the tips are slim so you can see exactly what you are measuring. My rim was an old Alesa Endeavour at over 700g when new so probably much thicker than a Mavic. I was concerned because they are rather concave now
..
. .

The weight! It is hard to measure wall thickness, but to gauge overall wear one might simply dismantle the wheel and weigh the rim alone, just makes a little more work
If a new rim weighed 700g+ one could replace it at 600g maybe
Would weighing the complete wheel be accurate enough? I think not, one doesnae know what a part-worn tyre weighs

BTW I still think rims that wear away and can explode are scandalous
Rims should last many years, don't mind changing brake blocks regularly
Anyone agree?