[wim]

CD isn't ceramic. I have a set on my track bike (it sees no brakes). It's just grey anodizing - and very nice. But I'll bet it wears off with braking

Definitely does. I've got one of those rims left in my garage and just went out and looked. What I forgot about is the interesting wear pattern: the rub marks where the ano wore off are much wider at the spoke holes than they are between the spoke holes. All those rims wore like that.

One sticker says "Mavic Open 4 CD," which probably explains how that ceramic rumor got started. No idea what the "C" in "CD"stood for, but it wasn't "ceramic." Another sticker says "Hard Anodized Treatment."

 

[wim]

What is better????

Comparing anodized to ceramic-coated: Ano rims are much cheaper, ano allows heat from the brake pad to transfer to the rim (no melted rubber), ano brakes better in the dry.

 

[wim]

Remember all the old tubular rims from years ago Wim?

Oh yes! I had a racing wheelset with Mavic GEL 280s laced to Dura-Ace hubs and shod with the finest Conti tubulars I could afford. Those rims weighed a true 280 grams each--unthinkable today, as far as I know. At my weight (145 lbs.), those wheels held up swimmingly for years. During crits, they did give you a brief, unwanted thrill going around tight turns at speed. But I got used to it.

Sold those wheels when I quit racing to someone who was going to use them for climbing Bear Mountain, near New York City. Hope he liked them for going up and had no problems coming back down.

Thanks for the explanation of the wear pattern. I never could figure out what caused that. Thought for a while that the rim side sections between the spoke holes moved slightly away from the brake pads ("bent inwards") during braking. But your explanation makes much more sense.

 

[wim]

CD stands for 'couche dure' which basically means 'hard layer'

Thanks, makes sense.

But why do the French always turn things around? I mean, "couche dure" is "layer hard." Long ago in the Alsace, I needed to buy an oil filter once for my Peugeot 404 and the thing turned out to be a "flltre de huile" or something like that. "Filter of oil," what's up with those people? Of course, my 404's door lock buttons locked the doors when you pulled them up, I kid you not.