Forever cleaning my wheel rims & B blocks to prevent abrasion “damage” .

[night cycler]

After going out when the roads are not dry (even if it is not raining), before the end of my ride I will hear the inevitable grating noise of brake blocks on soiled rims during braking. It concerns me enough to always ensure the rims are kept as clean as possible before the next ride. (I never hear this noise at the start of my ride when all is clean and dry).

Although aluminium is a light metal, it is not a hard material. I already have a slight groove around one rim from before I realised what was happening. Not deep, but visible when inspecting the rims. Not only do I clean the rims, but I also put a damp cloth behind the brake block with a back & forth motion to ensure they are free from any abrasive bits that may have adhered to the rubber from the wet road surfaces.

I removed the blocks in respect of identifying how the groove may have occurred. Two of the blocks (one front & one back) had two tiny sized metallic particles embedded in the rubber. I removed these particles with the end of a paper clip. I`m still not sure how the groove occurred but I have only done less than 350 miles. I’m now extra vigilant, but it’s a bit of a chore to keep faffing with.

Anyone else had similar issues on the rims?

 

[steveindenmark]

All the time at this time of the year. It must be the salt.

 

[PK99]

Anyone else had similar issues on the rims?

I had one mtb rim split and the strip of rim wrap itself around the brakes = immediate STOP. fortunately pushing the bike across Kingston bridge at the time!
A mate on a CTC ride had the same thing happen on a road (iirc touring) wheel, again fortunate to be going slowly

I've recently swapped ultegra hub/mavic open pro for hope hub/Mavic OP (because of a cracked rear hub), i was very surprised to see and feel the grooving on the old rim, I'm going to be cleaning my brake blocks regularly ib future

 

[screenman]

Rims are an item that wear and will need replacing at some point, apart from discs there is very little you can do about it. Put 2p in a pot for each mile you do and when they need changing you should have more than enough. Unless of course they are expensive one's.

 

[RoubaixCube]

why cant Btwin do a Triban with Disc Brakes?

 

[Tim Hall]

To some extent the 'grooving' is to be expected. Each time you apply the brakes a smidgeon of the rim surface is worn away. You can't really avoid this although you can affect it by careful choice of brake block. Softer blocks wear the rim less but wear out quicker. Checking the state of the blocks on a regular basis for embedded debris is a good idea, although doing it after every ride is a bit much. Many rims have wear guides built in to help you decide when to change them.

 

[Diggs]

I tend to give rims and blocks a quick wipe with a babywipe after each ride with eveything in situ, feeding the wipe between the rim and block, if it feels rough or tears, I'll inspect the block more closely.
Periodically, I'll take off the wheels for a better clean. Considering they are Shimano R501s on the winter bike, at just over £60 a set, they're pretty much consumable anyway

 

[jay clock]

This reason is why I changed to a disc brake bike for the winter. The faces of caliper pads get lumps of aluminium embedded

Biggest issue is for me is the filthy black ink that used to drip over the floor

 

[Yellow Saddle]

After going out when the roads are not dry (even if it is not raining), before the end of my ride I will hear the inevitable grating noise of brake blocks on soiled rims during braking. It concerns me enough to always ensure the rims are kept as clean as possible before the next ride. (I never hear this noise at the start of my ride when all is clean and dry).

Although aluminium is a light metal, it is not a hard material. I already have a slight groove around one rim from before I realised what was happening. Not deep, but visible when inspecting the rims. Not only do I clean the rims, but I also put a damp cloth behind the brake block with a back & forth motion to ensure they are free from any abrasive bits that may have adhered to the rubber from the wet road surfaces.

I removed the blocks in respect of identifying how the groove may have occurred. Two of the blocks (one front & one back) had two tiny sized metallic particles embedded in the rubber. I removed these particles with the end of a paper clip. I`m still not sure how the groove occurred but I have only done less than 350 miles. I’m now extra vigilant, but it’s a bit of a chore to keep faffing with.

Anyone else had similar issues on the rims?

Keeping the rims clean to the extent you are (and the guy with the baby wipes) is futile. The type of damage you are describing is due to a type of rubber in the brake block that picks up aluminium from the rim and embeds it in the block itself. No amount of cleaning will solve this. You have to change brake blocks. We have written about this before. If you search for words like "embed", "pick-up" and Koolstop you will find some useful information about the phenomena, including some photos of experiments done to demonstrate the difference between Koolstop and other pads.

 

[vickster]

why cant Btwin do a Triban with Disc Brakes?

Plenty of other 'brands' do

 

[RoubaixCube]

Plenty of other 'brands' do

Unfortunately for me I cant afford another bike

 

[Sharky]

Never have the sort of problem you are describing. I just use cheap one piece moulded rubber brake blocks and rarely clean my winter bike either. If I hear a grating noise, might inspect and wipe the blocks with a rag, but this is rare. Was a bit more frequent when I was using half mudguards, that stopped short of the calipers, which used to fling grit onto the brakes. No I don't have to go out when it's raining.

 

[vickster]

Unfortunately for me I cant afford another bike

Sell the one you have then if you want disc brakes

 

[RoubaixCube]

Unfortunately for me I cant afford another bike

too much hard work involved

::EDIT::

I'll get around to it at some point. Maybe in a few years after ive had time to really enjoy the 540

 

[Drago]

Never had a real problem with this, though my regular cleaning routine involves attacking between the rim and brake block with a paintbrush in soapy water. I'm a big fat heiffer and I've not yet worn a rim out, and my oldest bike in regular use is 20 and has alloy rims.