Wet sand during a hard rain...ooops

burnthesheep

I was caught in a storm in a bad place the other day. I use a cut through trail with hardpack and some light gravel on the road bike for a mile across two towns.

I was headed downhill during the rain and some of the grit got in the brakes.

The front seems fine now. As soon as possible I used some of my last drinking water to spray off the brakes and wheel before getting back on the road.

But, it appears one side of the rear got some scoring. Nothing major or deep, but not under harder pressure it will make a groan.

Would you try to use steel wool on your own to smooth it out and go buy new pads or take it to the shop? Reason I ask is that it is still under warranty, but I deem this a consumable item (the brakes/pads).

I just don't want to call and get the "bring it in anyway" and then they charge to do something I could do.

Bike has about 1500 miles on it.

k-dog

Definitely not a warranty issue.

First thing I would do is take the pads out and check for anything embedded then give them and the rims a good clean. Any minor scoring will sort itself out with some time.

sungod

typical warranty won't cover wear and tear or accidental damage

don't use abrasive on the rims

check the pads for embedded grit/whatever, either pick it out of use fine abrasive block/sheet to remove the contaminated surface layer (not simple sand paper, that'd probably add more grit), scrub the pads with water afterwards

you can clean the rims with cloth/paper towel dipped in water or acetone or isopropyl alcohol (mild solvents, but i'd still avoid getting it on the tyre)

burnthesheep

Thumbs up. Agreed. I don't think wear items are warranty.

I think the thorough cleaning first would be best. Then move on to pads. The pads look fine in terms of wear.

Thanks! Nothing major, I just need to sort it before a small trip to the mountains about 4 hours drive from here. Not a good place to have a brake issue.

pirnie

Best thing I find to sort out brake pads that are covered in crud, or are scored/uneven is the flat side of a file. Just take the surface off the pad and give the rims a good clean with a suitable solvent and you should be good to go.

Watch your fingers on the file though!

cougie

Don't we all get grit and mud in our brakes from time to time ?

I'm struggling to understand the issue really

burnthesheep

Fixed it seems. I wasn't going to fiddle around with "repairing" pads. So I just slid some new ones in. I cleaned the brake track much better to get anything stuck in it out.

Fine for now. We'll see with some miles.

I did discover the aero v-brakes needed a cleanup and lube on the pivots a little. I'm thinking for sure an upgrade to the aftermarket ones is in order soon. They're not great.