A pitfall of many wood rims is that they have been incorrectly stored in an overly dry environment and the wood thereby becomes very brittle and prone to shattering. If I know the rims have been stored in an environment with acceptable humidity, I would not have any qualms about using them on even the roughest roads and they do ride very nicely.
You used to have brake pads made out of leather, as well as rubber pads with cloth inbedded, both of which seem to work well with wood rims.
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Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ