Does dropping off a 4" kerb damage wheels? Every day I ride off a kerb from the pavement onto the road (about a 4" drop) on a pretty standard commuter bike with 26" tires. (I could get off, or ride around, but it's a pain…)


Is this a good idea? Is it going to damage the tire or wheel?
If I am going to do this, is there a way of doing it to minimise any problems it might cause? (e.g. riding faster/slower, applying brakes/not applying brakes.)


I'm hoping the details won't make much difference, but just in case, I'm 85kg/185lb, the tires are 1.15" wide, and going by the price of the bike (~$800), the wheels are average commuter quality.
Riding off a curb is not necessarily going to damage the wheel or tire. I do this pretty frequently on my road bike with narrow 23mm tires with no issues.

However, if you are a heavy rider, have cheap wheels, have under inflated tires  or use poor technique you could run into problems. If you can feel the rim hitting the ground then definitely don't do it.

Good technique is to approach reasonably slowly, stand up on the pedals and bend knees and elbows, shift you weight back onto the rear wheel as the front wheel goes over, the shift weight forward onto the front wheel as the rear wheel goes over. you can probably find some instructional YouTube videos easily.

If you have been doing this for a while and there are no obvious problems with your wheels, chances are they are fine. Check that the rims are true by spinning the wheel and watching the passage of the rim near a fixed point near the rim - brake pads for instance. Check the spoke tension by pinching pairs of spokes. If the rim is untrue or you have loose spokes get a local bike shop to true them up.