Bicycle Mechanics - Best/most durable rim braking surface?

the rims on my cross bike are worn from braking, and stopping isn't very good. I've wiped off any grease with simple green, and sanded the pads, with little improvement. I'm rebuilding with rear with a CR18 (the same as whats on their now). for the more critical front, what rims have the most durable braking surface? I'm halfway considering a drum brake hub, as weight is no object. Cost is an object however, so I'm unlikely to go this route. Plus, the front hub that I have now is fine.

Opinions? Thanks

Try switching to the salmon colored Kool Stop brake pads.

yup, I've been using those. better than others, but still could be a lot better

The only other thing I can suggest is a Ceramic coated rim and the green Kool Stop pads.

Make sure your brakes are adjusted properly and the brake levers are compatible with the type of brake calipers.

The most durable common braking surface is steel, but it's got nowhere near the coefficient of friction of aluminum.

Make sure you get your pads and rims cleaned really well after you ride, especially if it's wet. A jet of water from the hose is a good start, then a wipe-down, and then remove the wheel and feel if the pads are smooth (no embedded debris).

disc brakes....if you can. even just the front.

I posted a response in the fixed forum.. but i'll post it again here.

Replacing your pads all together will help. Sanding may not be enough.
Often the pads get worn in such a way that they just don't stop anymore.
RE-aligning your pads will help (even if they look perfect right now).
This is because it'll give the pads a differnt angle to brake on.
1 degree more or less or toe-in will improve braking drastically.

Rims: you can go with any of the mavic rims that have a SUP sticker.
Those rims have a machined braking surfuces that grips the brake pads better.
As for rim durability, you can look for some older rims that are hard anodized.
I've got open4CD's as far as I know (along with some other older rims) they're
the only hard anodized rims. The new ones aren't unless they actually say they are.

hope this helps.

Thanks all for the replies. Basically it seems like there are a few things that I can do to make it work better, but that rims are basically expendable, and will wear down and cease to provide a good surface for the pads. I ride mostly in the city, so I use my brakes a lot.

I suppose that this is another reason why fixed gears are good in towns, as your leg muscles grow back stronger when you wear them down.

I may save this project until I can justify spending more money, and get a dynamo/drum brake hub.

Rims should last a long time, they do wear from braking but any rim that you get less than 10k out of probably fell victim to a brake pad with lots of embedded crap in it. It's a pretty pernicious process, you get sand in the pad, which then galls up aluminum, and that aluminum galls up more aluminum.

I'm guessing your surface is now kind of dished out, which is why your brakes don't really work. You're putting a square peg in a round(ed) hole, as it were.

Good on you for replacing them once they get worn, as the failure you get when they wear too thin is catastophic. Some people get lucky and it just sort of separates, but my buddy has a wheel from a guy who had the thing peel off like a ribbon, jam in the brake, and send him on a big endo.

Oh, and you're a good candidate for disc brakes. You can replace the wear part (obviously), you get better wet performance, and they don't pick up oils from the road as bad as your rim does. Hub brakes are good too, but there has been way more R&D and recent price drop on discs.

yeah, but I would need a new fork, and use travel agents unless I got some of them avid road discs. this is my beater/rain bike anyway.