Anyone Tarted Up Old Rims ?

[Retro Spud]

Re:

TBH I think cleaning the blocks gives the greatest results...

 

[WD Pro]

For those that asked, it took a bit of messing around with the kit I had to hand (to find the best method) but I ended up with :

• Black and Decker mouse with 80 wet n dry grit (about 20 mins per side).
• 3M sanding block with fine ally oxide paper (about 15 mins per side).
• 3M green pad (about 5 pins per side).

The first stage does the work. The second stage (following the radius of the rim) flats them off and removes the sanding swirls. The third stage just gives a nice even matt finish.

It would be easy to polish them from this stage now but for anything that's going to get used, it seems unnessasry. These stages make them look far neater and tidy the edges a massive amount I think a good quality rim friendly compound pad would keep them looking nice for a while - and make them easy to restore again.

With regards loss of braking, in my opinion, if you are relying on a rough surface for friction you have something up elsewhere in your setup ...

The braking power should come from correct setup and good pads with a good compound. If rough surfaces are needed why do we not see them on disk braked vehicles (human or IC powered) and why didn't someone patent knurled rims ?

WD

 

[WD Pro]

Re: Re:

BTW 217 or 517 ?

Thank you Any idea how to tell which one ?

WD

 

[Jamis Diablo]

Great info, thanks for sharing.
And interesting opinion on the rough surface.
I never thouht about it that way, I have roughend both blocks as rims a lot of times to improve braking and it worked, but maybe it was more of a good clean after all.

 

[Corduroyboy]

Re: Re:

BTW 217 or 517 ?

Thank you Any idea how to tell which one ?

WD

It's an X517. The 217 has a smoother, ever-so-slightly curved transition between the surfaces, whilst the X517 has a sharper transition.

 

[Retro Spud]

Re:

Just been out to look as I have both and I do beleive your right

Learn something new everyday

 

[WD Pro]

Thanks guys

WD

 

[02gf74]

Re:

Why?

As soon as you apply brakes the surface will get marked...... or am i missing the point?

 

[xerxes]

Re:

and why didn't someone patent knurled rims ?

Some steel rims did have a pattern stamped in the braking surface:

However, braking was still pretty awful when compared to an aluminium rim and pretty much non existent in the wet.

 

[WD Pro]

Yeah, I can on understand it on chrome - very hard material and very poor friction compared to ally.

WD