Cleaning rims

Jamey
Jamey Posts: 2,152
edited March 2008 in Commuting chat
What do you guys use to clean the rims when there's loads of ground-in rubbery stuff from the brakes that detergent and a cloth simply won't shift?

Is meths a good way to do it?
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Comments

  • Mog Uk
    Mog Uk Posts: 964
    Baby Wipes..........

    Also used to remove brake dust from my motorbike rims.....
    Manchester Wheelers' Club
  • prj45
    prj45 Posts: 2,208
    A good degreaser and a plastic kitchen scouring pad.

    It's amazing that you can clean each side three times and the black stuff is still coming off, sort of fourth or fifth time and its clean.

    Going to try baby wipes now though.
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  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    Wonder wheels - like for use on the car......but don't use it too often.
  • attica
    attica Posts: 2,362
    This is a subject that I've often wondered about.
    Seeing as we're talking about THE braking surface that we use.
    I'd have thought that makes the brake-rim interface second most important source of traction on a bike after the tyre-road one.

    Would be nice if someone could take the elbow grease out of keeping the rims clean.

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  • DavidTQ
    DavidTQ Posts: 943
    I use baby wipes and rinse them down either in the shower at home or the large trough like toilet sink at work.comes up clean quite fast like that, but then I never let them get too bad in the first place.
  • prj45
    prj45 Posts: 2,208
    Oooo, I just searched for "cleaning rims" on google image search with the obscenity filter turned off...

    It was very disappointing, just lots of pictures of alloy car wheels.
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  • hamboman
    hamboman Posts: 512
    meths is by far the best and cheapest thing to use. don't buy a cr4ppy rim or disk cleaner as they don't work as well and are more expensive
  • chronyx
    chronyx Posts: 455
    I used brake cleaner :?

    Same as I use on the motorbikes and when I've worked on cars.

    If it's good enough for brakes hauling up half a tonne of motorcycle and two passengers from 90mph it's good enough for my bicycle!
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  • Massimo
    Massimo Posts: 318
    Flash wipes with the textured 'scrubby' bit..
    Crash 'n Burn, Peel 'n Chew
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  • A - W
    A - W Posts: 253
    prj45 wrote:
    Oooo, I just searched for "cleaning rims" on google image search with the obscenity filter turned off...

    It was very disappointing, just lots of pictures of alloy car wheels.

    :lol: I see what you did there.
    FCN 10
  • schlepcycling
    schlepcycling Posts: 1,614
    I use on of these http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/101955.html although I didn't pay £18 for it I got mine from one of those sells everything shops that always has loads of buckets etc outside. It's like an abrasive sponge that you get wet and then rub the cr@p off your rims then give 'em a rinse and they come up like new.
    'Hello to Jason Isaacs'
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    Jamey wrote:
    What do you guys use to clean the rims when there's loads of ground-in rubbery stuff from the brakes that detergent and a cloth simply won't shift?

    Is meths a good way to do it?

    I recently got some ceramic coated rims. I read later that they prevent the black build up produced from the brake pads wearing away the aluminium rim. I had never considered that the grime was from my actual rim, but it really is - the ceramic rims get dity as well, but not that foul black stuff that you normally get.

    Of course, hitting a pot hole hard is now a far more expensive business....

    What was the question again?

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