I am curious how you guys feel about using rim brakes on a non-machined rim. The reason that I ask is that I am looking for good cheap rims, and I keep coming across non-machined deep-v's.

Being new to fixed gear, I want to run a front brake. Is it okay to use a front brake on a non-machined rim other than the paint wearing off the rim?

Thanks in advance!

I run a brake on MA2's. Not a problem. They ran brakes on non-machined rims for decades.

Anodized are fine, the powdercoated ones will squeal and probably suck in the rain.

powercoat will rub off, and they suck in the rain, but I do it.

Don't even bother trying to use brakes on powdercoated rim brake tracks.

Back in the olden days all we had was anodized, non-machined rims (once they stopped makeing them out of wood, of course). Whippersnappers!

what are mavic ellipse? anodized or powdercoat?

you can use brakes on un-machined rims that are powder-coated but plain and simple performance sucks. I attempted this on my fixie TT machine for the mere reason that brakes are required at races, and yeah, they work, but POORLY.

I would have expected the coating to wear off in short order, but it doesn't. For reference, my rims were Deep-V's in black, un-machined.

Cheers~

Theres gotta be some sort of brake designed for this by now, or just modify your brakes like the guys running wood rims

Anodized. I run non machined, anodized rims on my geared bike and the braking is fine.

i have brakes on my annodized blue deep v's and they squeal like hell if i brake hard. ive been trying not to use my brake all that much but aparently the squeal will go away after a while

There's really no reason why the pads would be squealing
on an anodized rim. I think you have crappy pads.

i've recently become a believer in spending some time learning to skid(took me all of 10 minutes once i actually had pedals with clips/straps). Even with moderate skidding ability, combined with backpedaling itself, i think brakeless riding is entirely feasible for a newer rider, I haven't been riding fixed that long, and I think i used my brake about once every three weeks while I had it. The more comfortable you become with brakeless, the faster you'll be able to go without fear.

That said, I'm not trying to talk you out of your comfort zone, but just offering perspective on brake vs. brakeless, and not to turn this into a debate.

The main reason I brought it up, is because of the way the OP phrased it. "i'm new to fixed so I want to run a brake". That led me to believe he eventually wants to go brakeless, and if that is the case, I didn't want him to make a sacrifice on what rims he wanted based on accomodating brakes, and then having to buy new rims in 1-6 months when he decides he wants to be brakeless.

I already feel bad that I didn't know more about wheels/fixed in general when i started my conversion process. I spent a hundred on a rear wheel setup, at an obsolete 27" size, that I now want to replace along with my front rim and go to 700c so I have some actual options when it comes to tires.

Plus i have the deep v itch i think

agreed. ive only been riding for a couple months and rarely use my brake. if you are a beginner, the only think you gotta worry about is going down really steep hills, atleast for me its harder to control my speed. i guess i just need to perfect my skipping technique

Are Velocity rims anodized or powdercoat?

Are running brakes on non-machined rims a safety concern?
Experiences? Squeal, slower braking, sucks in the rain, looks really bad, does it eventually become machined-looking?

some pictures would be nice.

you know this thread is almost two years old right?

Velocity has both ano and pc rims I think.
Steel rims in the rain are bad. Aluminum is good. Powdercoat or anodized will wear down. I'd expect powder coat will just look scuffed at first then wear through to bare metal. Ano just wears down and gets silvery. Go look at some bikes if you want to see what it looks like. I'm sure you will find at least one or two on a typical bike rack. Squealing brakes are usually due to crappy pads or incorrect toe-in, not the rims so much.

Is that all?