Bicycle Mechanics - Poor braking

Greetings all,

I read some old posts on braking and applied some of the tips. I cleaned my rims up with soap and water and now I can clamp down on the lever with everything I have and the wheel wont even lock up (not that I want to lock up but it's the principle of the thing). Then I cleaned with some rubbing alcohol and that didn't help either. Thank goodness I didn't do both wheels at the same time and my front is still working nicely. So how can I get things back to normal? BTW my pads are still good and they are set up nicely and SHOULD be stopping properly. And they were stopping much better before I cleaned them.

Not sure if it matters but I mountain bike. Any ideas?

You might try deglazing the pads. Not being able to lock up the rear wheel is not good. It usually doesn't take much to do that. Assuming you don't have a cable friction problem (you said it worked fine before cleaning) then you have to address a decreased friction between the pad and the rim. Is your rim deeply scored such that it may not be making good contact with the pads? This seems unlikely so you should have a good braking surface after all the cleaning. This leaves us with pad issues. Perhaps a little sandpaper or a flat file to renew the pad surface will improve things.

Try KoolStop pads, preferably salmon-colored. They made a BIG difference on the rear brake (Peugeot-labeled Weinmann centerpull) of my UO-8.

I sanded my pads and they seem to grip better already. Soon I'll get out for a ride and give it a real test. Thanks for your help!