SO I have an older mnt bike and the front wheel's brake track is somewhat glazed over. There are no groves and the worn part is not much deeper than the non worn are of the side rim. I was wondering about useing a stone or a sanding block to touch up the brake surface. I now you'll want to tell me about the sidewall getting to thin and that would be dangerous. I'm not wanting to do much more than get the slick surface honed enough to have some fresh material for my pads to rub on.

Any thoughts?

Ryan

I'm working Blind. so IDK what is your situation, without seeing it 1st hand..

Has this bike remained garaged and unridden in all that time ?

You need to measure the remaining rim thickness.. 're surfacing' = replacing the rim
for all practicality, (+ safety)

Some people who adopted carbon fiber rims want them added to with more Epoxy,
but they spent more on a wheel than most people spend on a whole bike..

For metal, the Garnet grit of sandpaper is replaced by a Carborundum Grit ..
ask for Wet Or Dry paper.. Its used extensively in auto Body repairs and repaints.

the bigger the grit number the finer the grit.

& buy brand new brake shoes.. Kool Stop are always recommended.

I's suggest that you change out the pads and see how the brakes work then. Fresh pads should stop fine without needing a "fresh" wheel surface. They are somewhat abrasive and will "freshen" the surface as you use them.

as pads age their stiction falls, get new pads.

you will find reshaping (of rims) very difficult to do correctly.

you can always use a fine grit paper to clean up the rims again, I'd replace the pads, and put aside the idea of sanding the rims.

400 wet and dry sandpaper. Clean with alcohol. Sand the brake pads too, and pick out any particles imbedded.

I do it all the time (well, a few times a year). Sheesh.

I've always used green plastic scour sponges on my rims to clean them, never done any actual sanding. scour sponge, a little odorless paint thinner, and lotsa elbow grease. if your rims are grooved, the new pads will bed in quickly.. why waste metal ?

Dry 3M Scotchbrite scouring pads on the rim. It takes off everything w/o harming the aluminum.
(Easiest if the tire is off the rim.)
Assuming the pads are still usable, just rub them across fine sandpaper to remove any glaze.

Yeah. Green kitchen Scotchbrite pad is what I use to clean/refresh the brake track. If it's got dings in it, I use a small fine grain honing stone to removed raised edges.

I use fingernail emery boards on brake pads. It's just the right grit, it's nice and flat, and, since I steal them from my wife, they're free.

Concrete works pretty well to take the glaze off pads... plenty of it around too.

Just street riding in the rain, little hill decents, I did a glaze removal of my BB7 pads, once , have the Kool Stop
Replacement ones waiting 'in the wings' to get their time in the Show.


I have the brown Carborundum impregnated scratch pads , in the kitchen
scours off the burned on Oils on the stainless pots & pans.