Dirty Rims

"Muskie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just put new brakes on my bike and my stopping power still stinks. I
figure that it has to be the rims. They have a kind of smeared black
mess all around them and I think that it must be stopping the pads from
gripping well. Is there any way to clean the rims and get this gunk off?
It's on there pretty good.

I just use wire wool and dishwash liquid, give 'em a real good scrub, then
hose off. Can use a plastic fibre dishwash pad instead of wire wool, if you
like - works too.

HTH!

Shaun aRe

"Muskie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just put new brakes on my bike and my stopping power still stinks. I
figure that it has to be the rims. They have a kind of smeared black
mess all around them and I think that it must be stopping the pads from
gripping well. Is there any way to clean the rims and get this gunk off?
It's on there pretty good.

I use Scotchbrite. Works like a charm. Marvellous stuff.

Andy Chequer

clean them with a green pad and water.

I MTB 2004

Muskie said:

Just put new brakes on my bike and my stopping power still stinks. I
figure that it has to be the rims. They have a kind of smeared black
mess all around them and I think that it must be stopping the pads
from gripping well. Is there any way to clean the rims and get this
gunk off? It's on there pretty good.

Also, try smearing some fine mud on your brake pads/rims and ride around
holding the brakes for a minute or two at most. I find that this method
takes care of the rims and pads in one go.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

"ZeeExSixAre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Muskie said:

Just put new brakes on my bike and my stopping power still stinks. I
figure that it has to be the rims. They have a kind of smeared black
mess all around them and I think that it must be stopping the pads
from gripping well. Is there any way to clean the rims and get this
gunk off? It's on there pretty good.

Also, try smearing some fine mud on your brake pads/rims and ride around
holding the brakes for a minute or two at most. I find that this method
takes care of the rims and pads in one go.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

I learned a long time ago that there's nothing wrong with a little mud to
smooth down your rims.
But you still have to clean them at some point. Lots of good advice on
cleaning in the other posts.

Sniffinvinyl
----------------
Remain sane, cycle your brains out . . .

Andy Chequer said:

I use Scotchbrite. Works like a charm. Marvellous stuff.
Andy Chequer

Scotchbrite works great. Steel wool works as well, but I feel
Scotchbrite is better because it's not as likely to wear down your rims
if you're overzealous in your scrubbing.

Ken

--

Okay the verdict is out! Thanks to all the posts telling me how to clean
off my rims. First I followed the most common line of advice and
scrubbed down my rims with a Scotchbrite pad and some warm water and
dishsoap. This removed some, but not the majority of the black gunk. So
then I made some fine mud and smeared it all the way around my rims and
on the pads and rode around for about 1.5 minutes with the brakes partly
on. I rinsed the mud off and lightly cleaned the rest of the gunk off
with my fingers. About 99% of the stuff came off. I just took it for a
test ride and when I applied the brakes it came to the quickest stop
I've had since I bought the thing!

So I have to say that the mud is the best, but it sure didn't hurt to do
both. Thanks again!

- Muskie

Muskie said:

Just put new brakes on my bike and my stopping power still stinks. I
figure that it has to be the rims. They have a kind of smeared black
mess all around them and I think that it must be stopping the pads from
gripping well. Is there any way to clean the rims and get this gunk off?
It's on there pretty good.

Thanks,

Noel

Quoted message said:

So then I made some fine mud and smeared it all the way around my
rims and on the pads and rode around for about 1.5 minutes with the
brakes partly on.

Good technique.

I rinsed the mud off and lightly cleaned the rest

Quoted message said:

of the gunk off with my fingers. About 99% of the stuff came off. I

You can also use a brush to get it nice and loose and really really clean so
it doesn't leave grey dust on your rims.

Quoted message said:

just took it for a test ride and when I applied the brakes it came to
the quickest stop I've had since I bought the thing!

Sounds like the mud technique works the best.

Quoted message said:

So I have to say that the mud is the best, but it sure didn't hurt to
do both. Thanks again!

Oh, as I suspected! I'm glad to have been of assistance!

The mud technique actually cleans off your pads, too, as opposed to all the
other techniques. The only other real way to clean your pads is if you take
your wheel out and use a file to file down the pads, but this generates
uneven faux wear and makes it hard to get full contact between the pad and
rim. Too bad it's a little messy, although if you spray it down soon after,
you should be fine.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training