For the last three days, every time I engage the front wheel brakes I hear a 'gritty' sound. I've checked the pads, several times and the rim itself. I don't feel or see anything out of the ordinary.
It almost sounds like a dried leaf being crushed..

What am I missing?

One of my bikes does that too, but it will come and go. It will happen for a day or two and then disappear for a while.

Subscribing to this thread because I'm curious as to what the answer might be.

Have you taken the pads off and inspected the surface that contacts the rim? A metal barb imbedded in the pad face could cause a scraping noise and would certainly not be good for the rim. I just picked one out of one of my pads yesterday and that fixed everything for me.

It's a metal burr in your pad(s) that you missed upon inspection. Check again.

If you don't want to futz with adjusting the pad position, take the wheel off and have a good look at the pad surfaces. Maybe rub some fine sandpaper over the pad surfaces.

Grit?

Try and use this article to locate your sound!

Bicycle Bike Noises, Clicks, Ticks, Creaks, Clunks, Knocks Repair by Jim Langley

This or what [MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] said. Something in the pad.

This time of year grit in my brakes is all I hear. Since all there is is grit in the pads.

Ritual picking them out of the brake pads may be your fate.

I agree with what has been said above. It will be a piece of metal or glass or sharp gravel in the pad. It happens more to me when riding in wet conditions. But assuming you find it and dig it out of the pad I want to add a tip I came up with for keeping the hole left by the shard from catching a new shard in the future. Fill it with a dab of fabric paint.

It's the sound of your rim wearing away at an alarming rate. Get disc brakes next time.

Now that disc brakes exist, people make rim brakes sound terrible. They're not. Rim sidewalls rarely wear out to the point of needing replacement, especially if you are careful not to let it happen.

Not terrible, but nasty in the wet, sand, wet leaves and dirt here in NE. Black gunk on the rims and pads anyone ?

I guess I'm just used to them. They're all I've ever had.

I got 10 years of commuting on my original set of rims. Commuting is especially hard on the rims due to riding next to curb where all the crap collects. And riding in all types of weather on a constant basis.

Well tensioned properly built all metal wheels can sometimes act as a large single piece, like a tuning fork. It can easily make a small noise from rim brakes into a much bigger sound as the spokes transmit the vibration too. Definitely inspect pads for debris & take a damp cloth (not paper towel) and wipe the brake track of the rim clean. Wipe the brake pads with dry or very lightly damp cloth as well, to get all the dust & crap off them. Use dry cloth to wipe nearby surfaces clean of brake dust. Do this once a week & check the pads. This is what I do & my braking went from gritty to smooth & the whole wheel & area around the brakes are much cleaner. Useful if you don't wanna get road goo & brake dust dripping down on your clean garage floor!!

- Andy

What kind of pads are they?

Shimano pads seem to melt in the rain - with the black grit getting all over the braking surface resulting in that gritty feeling and noise. Kool Stop pads, in addition to stopping the bike better, don`t melt when wet, last longer and don`t pick up shards nearly as often.

You could also go over the rim braking surface lightly with a fine abrasive rubber block like this - https://www.amazon.com/SandFlex-Flexi.../dp/B007R2LPBW

Kool stops are the best thing you can do for your rims.

The pads may also be wearing away so the internal metal structure is starting to rub on the rim.

Hozan makes a similar pad designed especially for bikes and it's about the right size for rims.

I try and wipe down my rims once a day when it is raining. In dry weather I can go weeks and weeks before I need to wipe down the rims, but as soon as it's wet, not only do the pads start shedding a lot more, the combination of passing cars and your own wet tires will cover the rims in grit that will eat away the rim surface at an alarming rate. If you can hear it, they need to be wiped down.

It can take a few passes to get the brake track wiped clean, so try not to get frustrated. Start with a damp cloth, using different clean areas of the cloth, then dry it with a dry cloth as to not leave any residue. Starting out with clean brake tracks when it's raining seems to help somehow in my experience, even if the pads have dust built up on them.

- Andy

The OP hasn't replied back but the problem you all are attacking doesn't sound like what he posted. I'd be looking for FOD in and around the brake arms.

I was replying to a reply. Such are the ways of forums.

But yea, check pads for even small pieces of metal, stones, or other stuff not supposed to be there.

- Andy