Screeching TANDEM RIMS

[decibach db]

 

Bought a new RAVO Tandem

 

The rims are painted black...

 

when you brake they shudder and make an awful noise.

 

What can one do?  Skim them?

 

Cant ride them in - would have a breakdown before then...

 

Does make a nice hooter on downhills when passing

 

 

thanks

 

 

 

Maverick132009-05-07 03:36:22

[Johan Bornman]

I know exactly what you're talking about. Those black Alex rims....horrible.

 

They aren't painted by anodised. A very hard ceramic coating that causes havoc with rims but is the only coating suitable for the black fashion craze.

 

More expensive rims have than skimmed off.

 

You cannot skim them unless you have the factory equipment and are prepared to take the rim off and rebuild the wheel afterwards.

 

 

Your only option is to wear it off. Go ride in the rain and look for muddy puddles and apply brakes Keep on doing it until the anodising is off. Even when it is 90% off, you'll still see traces of it in patches between spokes since a rim is pulled into a wobble by the spokes at the mid-point between spokes and the brake pads don't really get in there.

 

You could experiment with different pads - if you have cheapo black ones on there, you can get some relief with Koolstop Red (not salmon) but whether that will be enough to preserve your sanity is another matter altogether.

 

You could help the process along with sandpaper but that stuff is very, very hard and chemical removal (caustic soda) will leave your wheel look like a camo job.

 

 

[decibach db]

thanks... will get my stoker to start with sandpaper...

 

problem is that the noise does not bother him..

 

I realy dont care how they look like.. as long as they dont make that noise!!

 

[Guest Big H]

I Use Tristop (I think that is what their name is) cartridge BBB Brake blocks. They do not screech. I also changed the el cheapo V-brakes on the Raleigh Tandem with Avid Arch Rival brakes...... hond lelik maar hulle werk en skree nie soos 'n maer vark nie. Kyk ook dat jou briekblokke se camber reg is. Ek gebruik 'n cable tie om die spasie reg te kry. nadat ek die el cheapos op el rapido (ons anner tandem) met XT V brakes vervang het het die geskree ook opgehou.

 

 

[eliminator]

Hi DB I've got a set of coolstop brake pads lying in the garage.  Still in the packet.  You can try them and see...

[eliminator]

Oh yes and it is the red ones.

[decibach db]

will surely try them out and see.. thanks El