Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Non Machined + Brakes?

Hey all, quick question regarding wheels and brakes. I ride w/ front and rear brakes and I'd like to invest in a new wheel set. All the components on my ride are black so I thought I would get black wheels to round it out but I'm wondering if I absolutely have to get machined wall rims if i'm running brakes. Looking at my current wheels they dont appear to be machined. Is it a preference thing or what.

the brake pads will "machine" the surfaces just fine. you'll probably get some squeeky braking till they rub the paint off.

this has been discussed many times before, if you want more information you can use the search function.

that said... a) they won't brake as well in the rain b) they will be really squeally until the pads have "machined" the surface c) it will leave nasty black streaks all over your rim... which won't matter so much with black rims, so no worries there.

On my 90's era Cannondale mtb my gunmetal colored mavics are not machined and have held up just fine, if you look close you can see the color wearing and streaking. The front does squeal a bit in the rain sometimes. I just ordered a pair of new wheels for the fixed I'm building and ordered the front rim machined (for f brake.) Really up to you but I have seen a lot more recommendations for machined than not if you are running brakes.

i'd just sell your front rim and put a cxp33 on it

this has been discussed many times before, if you want more information you can use the search function.

that said... a) they won't brake as well in the rain b) they will be really squeally until the pads have "machined" the surface c) it will leave nasty black streaks all over your rim... which won't matter so much with black rims, so no worries there.

I don't know, the wheels on my Madison don't appear to be machined? and they stop perfectly, even in the rain, and there are no black marks or wearing of any kind? I may be wrong but I've heard other Madison owners saying the same thing, they don't appear to be machined.

Which model year do you have? All the pics I am seeing online look machined. For example:

http://www.rudysbikes.com/SchwinnRoad/SchwinnMadison.jpg

I think the general consensus is that if their rims are anodized they will look fine after braking. If the rims are powdercoated the brake wear will be really visible and look ugly.

you wont have any problems with an anodized black rim, if its powdercoated it wont work well. it's going to squeak like crazy and wont brake that well especially in the rain.
depending on what rim your looking at i'm pretty sure velocity anodizes their black and silver rims, but powdercoats all the other colors.
hope that helps

hplusson they have the anodized rims that come in black. deeeeep profiiiiiiiile

i want those new hplussons. EEROs. look dope.

yeah back in the early 90's none of the rims were machined and they were apparently good enough for the pro racers.

thank you everyone

You guys need to quit bringing up the "old rims were never machined..." argument. It's irrelevant. Old rims weren't powdercoated like a lot of the modern veeps are.

OP- if you are getting black rims, don't worry about it. They will work fine w/ brakes even if they aren't machiend.

Just don't use white brake pads.

:D