How do I clean these rims?

[NeilNeilOrangePeel]

Please help, I bought a probably overpriced Muddyfox on ebay, not sure what year as the decals/paint are not original. Has a lugged seat post with paw logo, so definitely a late 80s/early 90s one.

Anyway, the rims were grey/black from grease and grime, with the brakes obviously not working well. Never mind I thought, I'll just clean them.

So far I have tried:
- Soap and water, no effect
- Oven cleaner (Cif) with Scourer, no effect
- Brillo pads, this made the clear bits shine, but didn't remove the grimy black film
- WD40 disc brake cleaner (god knows what chemicals it used, but harmful to everything), no effect
- Garryflex block 120 grit, recommended on another rim cleaning thread I found, it disintegrated used dry.
- Garryflex block with white spirit, no effect
- Wet and dry paper 600 grit, wet with soapy water, and then white spirit, maybe removed some of it?

So far very little difference, and I'm wondering if I bought such a lemon that I'll even have to replace the wheels. Front is Deore LX hub with Ringle rims, rear is STX hub with Mavic rims, so was hoping to salvage them.

Here's some pics of where I've got to, any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[sefton1275gt]

Some rims are painted (from new) even on the braking area...it could be that they have had little use and not yet worn through? Maybe

 

[sefton1275gt]

Heres my Mavic wheels after a few hundred miles (the coating hasn't been worn off yet)

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

OP Your rims are anodised, which is hard. Yours too @sefton1275gt

 

[NeilNeilOrangePeel]

Oh, didn't even think they should be any other colour than silver... The blackened surface feels slippery though, where the silver bits feel like they would grip the pads.

 

[wesmamyke]

I'm surprised the oven cleaner didn't at least eat the ano off the nipples if it was sprayed on there. The old school trick is super aggressive pads until the gray hard ano coating wears off, like something meant for Mavic ceramic rims, I've never really found it necessary. Messed around with pads and settled on some gray ones I can't recall the brand of.

More recently I just put SwissStop green pads on everything and they work great. The only time I've had the green pads get noisy or eat through the rim coating was in really heavy use all winter. I'm not sure you can even get those now, they seem to only do some inserts for rim brakes.

 

[ishaw]

That's just the rim costing. Sometimes it looks ugly as it wears, if you don't like it, spin the wheels and hold sandpaper against the braking surface until it's uniform. But what bother, it is just wearing usable rim away prematurely.

 

[NeilNeilOrangePeel]

Thanks everyone.

The oven cleaner was creme cleaner, not a spray, so I didn't put it on the nipples. I'll just try to remove the greasey film and not worry about the black parts. Should have asked earlier .

Neil

 

[wesmamyke]

Thanks everyone.

The oven cleaner was creme cleaner, not a spray, so I didn't put it on the nipples. I'll just try to remove the greasey film and not worry about the black parts. Should have asked earlier .

Neil

Oven cleaner will usually eat through colored anodizing, that is one way people strip parts to redo them or polish. Hard anodizing is another animal and the color is more a result of the process than a cosmetic thing, it is usually that dark gray color or a dull green.