Brake Maintenance

Time to replace the brake shoes?

As you can see there are some aluminum splinters from the rims, and some pitting from road debris embedded in these brake pads. Sometimes you can clean it out, but in this case I'm just going to replace the pads. Not only does the aluminum and road debris erode your brake performance, but they dig and grind grooves into the face of the rim's braking surface further eroding brake performance both mechanically, as well as the feed back you get. You get better feed back when the pads rub the rim, rather than grinding the rim.

There are many different kinds of brake pads out there. I like the Kool Stop Salmon pads. They are recommended for wet weather, but you can use them on all conditions. I don't know anybody that changes brake pads before they go ride in wet weather, so why not always be prepared for the worst conditions? Not only are they aggressive, they also have a special tip that cleans the rim of debris.



Ahhhhh Happy Brake Pads!

Next grab some 0000 steel wool to clean the rim face.

The 0000 works the best. The wool is fine enough to get into all the little grooves to clean them out.  I use steel wool because it's a non-chemical means to clean the rims so I don't leave any chemical residues. If the rim is bad enough use some soap and water first, then finish with 0000 steel wool.

As you can see the left side is dirty, and the right side is cleaned. When you work the steel wool on the rim it will start grabbing with it is clean. It's a good idea to add cleaning your rims into your maintenance schedule. It will reduce buildup and well as any take the edge off any grooves that my develop.

Also I'd like to mention some rims have wear indictors. That's hole is not a blemish. Once the rim's braking surface wears down so the hole is gone, or close to it, then it's time to think about some new rims or wheels. Well....Happy Breaking!