Brake blocks for chrome rims.

[mattsccm]

Its raining so it's fettling time. The Campag Ergos have been put in a box to teach them a lesson and mend themselves and I'll have a look at my shed find Puch Touring. It's got chromed rims in good condition so at this point I'll just think about new brake blocks.
What works best ? I don't expect miracles.
Maybe it will get new alloy rims later but they are 650A with 26 x 1 3/8 tyres fitted so I don't have any in the roof.

[mattsccm]

At least the tyres say 590. That's what I am basing the wheel size on using Sheldons chart.

[Brucey]

In an LBS near me the favoured choice for steel rims is (weirdly) the fibrax black BMX brake block; this model is moulded into the same shape as the original kool-stop brake block.

http://fibrax.org/shop.html#!/Vintage-BMX-Style-Brake-Pads-35mm-For-Caliper-Fitting/p/79888734/category=22292064



cheers

[mattsccm]

Why "weirdly"? Is the compound not what you would expect to be suitable or something? Easy to get anyway.

[Brucey]

the brake blocks are meant for use on aluminium rims. It is just luck that they seem to work OK on most steel rims.

cheers

[Chris Jeggo]

I recall that chrome-plated rims are awful in the wet; they were more widely used in the 70s, when one piece of advice was to remove the chrome plating from the braking surfaces. Rusty rims stop you better than alloy ones.
Also, at that time, you could buy chrome leather brake blocks, which were another solution to the problem.

I still have a pair of these, and will post them to you if they will fit and if you would like them.

[rogerzilla]

Anything works in the dry. Almost nothing works in the wet. Ride it in the dry.

[pjclinch]

I recall that chrome-plated rims are awful in the wet

I remember trying to stop my Raleigh Olympus down a hill in the rain and they were never anywhere near as good as "awful", even with Fibrax blocks which were a big step up on the original equipment...

I had a paper round with one paper at the top of a hill and the next half way down. On a wet day, if I let the bike roll from the top and jammed the anchors full on I could just about stop at the middle.

(This is the hill in question for some perspective on how hopeless that translates as.)

Pete.

[Brucey]

the leather faced brake blocks worked better than most other things in the wet, until the leather got clogged with various forms of grot.

The BMX blocks seem to work pretty well in the dry and way better than average in the wet.

cheers