cleaning rims

[Brucey]

just to clarify, pure aluminium oxide is white when it is in large chunks, but make the particles small enough, and it will look black. Very many things look black when they are in very small particles, regardless of their normal or true colour.

Water is a very efficient cutting lubricant, hence the short life of many old-fashioned brake blocks, which were made from a compound that was mostly rubber. Modern brake blocks can be makde from all kinds of materials with all kinds of fillers. I suspect that even without dirt being involved, some pad compounds will wear rims at an accelerated rate, even (or prehaps even especially) in the wet.

cheers

[Sweep]

Old toothbrush and washing up liquid and hot water in a 500g yoghurt pot.

Yes I've heard that white spirit can be a problem - if the muck is very tough on the rims or I'm feeling thorough, now and again I do use some meths. Keep cleaning with paper until no more black.

Good tip about the green scourers.

About every 2nd or 3rd clean I take the wheels out and clean and check the pads.

BTW, is my impression true that it's usually the front wheel rim that gets muckier?

I'd long assumed that it would be the rear due to derailleur etc.

[MattyDeez]

Baby wipes and Muc offs soluble degreaser.

[niggle]

Aluminium oxides on exposure to air, and aluminium oxide then hydrates readily, drying out anything that touches it. This probably explains NA's feelings about handling it on a daily basis. Finely divided aluminium oxide isn't known for being especially toxic, but it is a fair bet that it isn't very good for you, either.

Not too harmful I hope: it is the active ingredient in antiperspirant (which also relates to what Natural Ankling was saying).

EDIT: as for rims I wash them when I wash the bike, with a washing up brush! (I use ordinary Turtle Wax Zip Wax car wash, bought by the gallon its quite cheap and works well) This is normally when the bike has been on a wet ride, so when the rims are covered in the black muck. I don't bother with cleaning the brake block surfaces but have been using Koolstop Salmon or Dual Compound until recently, which do not seem to pick up grit like Tektro or Shimano blocks do. Recently I have been using SwissStop green; better braking performance than the Koolstops but I should really have a look and see if there is any grit embedded in them.

[Brucey]

the toxicity of many materials can vary with the particle size. I'm no expert, but in many cases, no-one is; there simply isn't very good data about what it might do to you.

There are plenty of people out there who are allergic to something in anti-perspirants, and others who might be being made subcritically by them, but who just don't know it yet.

cheers

[JohnW]

No-one laughed at WD40, so my two penn'ort is Mr.Sheen - £1 from Wilkinson's. It enhances my braking. If you're getting rubber from the blocks on the braking surface I'd say that oil or something has found it's way onto there. It wears away eventually. Screeches though

I never use water - and certainly not detergent. I never use water to wash my bike - except a nearly-dry damp cloth for stuck-on muck.

Certainly +1 for keeping brake blocks clean. I'm not sure that it's grit or sand or whatever from the road, I think it's shards of alloy from the rim that gets embedded. Certainly if not removed I think it wears grooves into the rim. I've known occasions when the sounds coming from my brake blocks have caused me to stop on the road and remove the whatever-it-is.