What do you clean your rims with?
01-05-07, 08:46 PM
#1
The good looking one
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Centerville, Ohio
Posts: 185
Bikes: gary fisher, Schwinn Woodland
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
What do you clean your rims with?
Hello All
My first post here. I was wondering, what you clean your, braking suface on your rims with?
I have used HAPPICH Simichrome Polish. Followed by a wipe down with green scratch pad, and
windex window cleaner. It seems to do a good job, and make the pads last longer.
Bikehead
My first post here. I was wondering, what you clean your, braking suface on your rims with?
I have used HAPPICH Simichrome Polish. Followed by a wipe down with green scratch pad, and
windex window cleaner. It seems to do a good job, and make the pads last longer.
Bikehead
01-05-07, 09:00 PM
#2
You know you want to.
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Posts: 1,894
Bikes: Pinarello Prince, 1980's 531 steel fixie commuter, FrankenMTB
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
shoprag and windex.
__________________
Weather today: Hot. Humid. Potholes.
Weather today: Hot. Humid. Potholes.
01-06-07, 06:00 AM
#6
Bikaholic
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Western, Michigan
Posts: 1,461
Bikes: Trek Fuel 90, Giant OCR, Rans Screamer Tandem
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Simple Green and a shop towel followed by a trip around the braking surface with a special cleaning eraser bought at a sword store followed by more simple green and a shop towel. The "eraser" has a little bit of grit to it and removes small bits of dirt or debris - especially on the mountain bike.
01-06-07, 10:10 AM
#8
Chairman of the Bored
Join Date: May 2004
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Posts: 5,825
Bikes: 2004 Raleigh Talus, 2001 Motobecane Vent Noir (Custom build for heavy riders)
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
I remove the tires, then use citrus degreaser on my rims, followed with anhydrous isopropyl alcohol. I prefer to not get such harsh chemicals near my tires...the crud the road puts on them is bad enough.
01-06-07, 10:23 AM
#9
LF for the accentdeprived
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Posts: 3,549
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Scotchbrite pad (edit: abrasive dishwashing pad. Dunno what you guys call it)and water. Use a paper tissue to clean it off. Rims don't need to shine like a frickin' mirror.
Last edited by LóFarkas; 01-06-07 at 10:29 AM.
01-06-07, 10:58 AM
#10
Sasquatch Crossing
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Portlandia
Posts: 414
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Denatured alcohol and shop towls for most of the grime, alcohol and red scotchbrite pads (not green) for the hard stuff. I'll also buff the braking surface every month or so with the red pads.
01-06-07, 03:51 PM
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Posts: 508
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Originally Posted by blamp28
a trip around the braking surface with a special cleaning eraser bought at a sword store
01-06-07, 04:47 PM
#12
Senior Member
Muck Off by X-lite. Seems to work well, though it turns black anodised rims a bit blotchy until you polish them over with a rag!
01-06-07, 07:04 PM
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 250
Bikes: Trek T80, Trek SU200, Trek SU100, Giant Bowery
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
i use my excess chain grease. makes pads last longer & is pretty much guaranteed to increase your average high speed, as well as get some use out of your helmet.
01-06-07, 09:30 PM
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Aurora,CO
Posts: 298
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Use sandpaper to get rims scrubbed clean and isoprop alchol to clean that up and also deglaze pads with an emery board (get the glazing off)
01-06-07, 10:32 PM
#17
rider
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: st.louis
Posts: 139
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Flix. It's an aluminum polish/cleaner out of Germany. No, it doesn't seem to affect the braking power at all. It makes the suface nice and smooth (full pad contact).
01-07-07, 12:31 AM
#18
Gemutlichkeit
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,423
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Any cleaner that happens to be within reach. Usually applied with a paper towel because I always keep a roll at the bench. Last time it was used mineral spirits. Same for the pads. Occasinally I'll use a piece of sharpened wire to pick out the embedded stuff like a dentist.
01-19-07, 12:57 PM
#20
Parttime Member
I was at the bike shop a couple days ago picking up new brake pads for my 15 yr old MTB. I didn't even ask, and the shop mechanic who brought me the correct pads suggested I clean my rims with Pledge furniture polish. I asked for clarification, and he said it again and said pledge is the best stuff to clean your rims.
I'm gonna give it a try...
I'm gonna give it a try...
01-19-07, 01:01 PM
#21
Making a kilometer blurry
Unfortunately, I clean them with my brake pads :-/
After rain rides I open the brakes and look for the grit, then pry it out with a pocket knife.
I wouldn't recommend using abrasives on the braking surface for cleaning. If you've got a gouge or something, that's a different story -- to knock the edge off it.
After rain rides I open the brakes and look for the grit, then pry it out with a pocket knife.
I wouldn't recommend using abrasives on the braking surface for cleaning. If you've got a gouge or something, that's a different story -- to knock the edge off it.
01-19-07, 01:33 PM
#22
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,342
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 152 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6200 Post(s)
Liked 4,203 Times
in
2,358 Posts
Originally Posted by waterrockets
Unfortunately, I clean them with my brake pads :-/
After rain rides I open the brakes and look for the grit, then pry it out with a pocket knife.
I wouldn't recommend using abrasives on the braking surface for cleaning. If you've got a gouge or something, that's a different story -- to knock the edge off it.
After rain rides I open the brakes and look for the grit, then pry it out with a pocket knife.
I wouldn't recommend using abrasives on the braking surface for cleaning. If you've got a gouge or something, that's a different story -- to knock the edge off it.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
