Gentlest, softest (to anodized rims) brake pads?

[ishaw]

If you use your brakes (advisable), wear is unavoidable. Soft compound pads are only going to prolong the inevitable and necessary.

The uneven wear/wear pattern is what makes a rim look undesirable,so If you are looking to keep the rims looking good from the get go, what I'd probably do is take off the anodised layer completely and create a uniform silver braking surface on each rim by using a light abrasive pad or paper on the surface while spinning each wheel until you get to the desired finish. Sounds crazy in theory, but you end up with a nice silver hoop on the outside and avoid that ugly period where the finish is wearing off.

 

[frkl]

If you use your brakes (advisable), wear is unavoidable. Soft compound pads are only going to prolong the inevitable and necessary.

The uneven wear/wear pattern is what makes a rim look undesirable,so If you are looking to keep the rims looking good from the get go, what I'd probably do is take off the anodised layer completely and create a uniform silver braking surface on each rim by using a light abrasive pad or paper on the surface while spinning each wheel until you get to the desired finish. Sounds crazy in theory, but you end up with a nice silver hoop on the outside and avoid that ugly period where the finish is wearing off.

I have this uneven wear problem and was thinking about taking a fine sand paper to it. I was a little worried that this might be one of those things where the fix looks worse than the problem, though.

But you have had success?

 

[Magpiegifts]

Use your feet for a gradual slow down. You'll go through a lot of shoes but your rims will look ace

 

[Max P]

Err, thanks for the *sensible* answers.

 

[Magpiegifts]

Sorry mate,on a serious note though.
As said before either have two sets of nice wheels and keep the flashy ones new.
Or if you could pick up say a second hand rear wheel with same rims maybe you could just use the one brake and swap out the rear wheel when you go out on it for a spin. Not ideal but will work

 

[ishaw]

I have this uneven wear problem and was thinking about taking a fine sand paper to it. I was a little worried that this might be one of those things where the fix looks worse than the problem, though.

But you have had success?

Yes, works well as you create a uniform braking surface all round rather than the wear marks that never fully cover the brake track. Many manufacturers of coloured rims ended up doing this, I've got a lovely nos set of 717s in black with a silver brake track so no need to worry about it.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Could try Winwood Polybrake, I don't remember them stripping the ano of 230TIBs, but then the sooner you get the ano off the better the surface to stop with.

 

[hookooekoo]

In my opinion, it's the grit that becomes embedded in brake pads that does the most damage to rims. Certainly the average piece of grit is a lot harder than the average polymer brake pad. And that's where it gets complicated. Do brake pads with hard polymer compounds pick up more grit or less grit than brake pads with soft polymer compounds? And do grooved brake pads pick up more grit than ungrooved brake pads?

Interestingly, if you look at Mohs hardness scale, you'd expect an anodised coating (Corundum Al2O3) to not wear very much when rubbed with a particle of grit/sand (Silica SiO2). This is because the scale is constructed so that higher numbers are harder than lower numbers, and a higher number can scratch a lower number, but not the other way around. On Mohs scale, Al2O3 is 9, and SiO2 is 7. However, I suspect that there are other factors in play on bicycle rims. For example, Al2O3 (anodising) is relatively brittle, and so a pointed piece of grit embedded in a brake pad can probably do damage due to the lack of toughness in the anodised coating. This lack of toughness could cause small pieces of anodising to continually fracture off until there is none left.

Many people will have noticed that their brake pads often contain what looks like areas with silvery dust. I have always assumed that these are places where a particle of grit is embedded in the brake pad, and has been slowly scoring and grinding its way through the rim. If you have some pointed tweezers or a similar tool you can try to dig these particles out. Sometimes you can also hear material rubbing against the rim when braking.

 

[hookooekoo]

1. Don't ride when it's wet and muddy, because that's when the mud and grit will do the most damage.

2. Only ride on road. And preferably only ride in dry conditions, because when the roads are wet is when grit tends to get flung up, stick to tyres and rims, and end up embedded in brake pads.

 

[hookooekoo]

swissstop bxp blue. Brilliant braking without high wear rates or ripping rims to bits. expensive but work and you can get short or long pads. cartridges are required.

I've got swiss stop blue for my CSS ceramic rims. They are quite a hard compound (ceramic rims can eat through regular pads very quickly). Maybe the harder compund helps stop grit from becoming embedded in the pads.