Dirty Rims

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

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Andy Chequer
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