Cleaning a glazed Mavic Ceramic rim

[bduc61]

I have bought a bike with a Mavic ceramic rim that seemed to be glazed

the braking pads were actually "sliding" on the rim even when brakes were pulled

So I used a Mavic specific cleaning "Gum" to clean the rim and also used some acetone to finish the cleaning job

well - no big improvement in breaking efficiency :cry:

I changed the pads which are basic shimano stuff to try with dura ace ceramic ones - as little efficient they were !

then I used a dremel to try to clean the breaking ceramic surface with a small brass brush.

still hardly any improvement :evil:

I am starting to despair :roll:

Shall I be more "brutal" ? steel brush ?

Let me know your experience :idea:

 

[racer x]

Whats the difference between ceramic pads and standard :roll: i think probably some sand paper to scratch the surface not 100% though get other opinions first as im not really sure

 

[jonboy]

Whats the difference between ceramic pads and standard :roll: i think probably some sand paper to scratch the surface not 100% though get other opinions first as im not really sure

My understanding of the difference between normal pads and ones specifically for ceramic surfaced rims was the hardness. With the ceramic ones being harder.

I have never bothered with ceramic pads, always used the normal ones as I assumed that the softer pad would give better braking performance. The wear rate was not an issue - I just wanted the best braking performance.

I've never thought my Mavic 217 ceramics seemed 'glazed', so not experienced this issue. What about fitting new pads and them giving them a good few miles to bed in, just my suggestion, although I feel wary making any other suggestions as I'm not a proper engineer!

 

[renaldo]

I'd maybe experiment with some more brake pads before doing anything drastic to the rim surface. In trying to stop some squealing brakes recently I experimented with several and found that some were really powerful and grabby, and others felt like you describe, as if they were greased - no braking performance - all on the same rim. For ceramics I really like Swissstop blue sky pads.

 

[cornholio's RC200]

Another vote here for swissstop blue. Pricey but worth it to keep your ceramics in tip top nick whilst providing excellent stopping.

 

[gtRTSdh]

can you get these swissstop blue for maguras?

The ops issue sounds like a more modern Mavic ceramic that seems to have been designed to last forever but not providing the ultimate grip of the sandpaper type surface.

 

[bwhsh8r]

I use Kool Stop Green for both my sets of ceramic rims. They work well and perform similarly to a set of regular pads. The regular pads seem to let debris and stuff work their way into the soft pads and start to ruin the braking surface IMO. It seemed like the XT pads were so soft they were coating the rim surface. I was really mad when I figured out the guy I bought my Litespeed off of was dumb enough to run regular pads on a ceramic surface.... it seems to affect the performance of the rim when using actual ceramic pads. I run both a set of Chris King / Mavic X517 ceramic and a set of Mavic Crossmax ST ceramic rims. ALSO those pads are $14 for a set of FOUR on ebay, as opposed to my LBS that tried to charge me $107 for 4 XTR ceramic pads.

p.s. also don't use sandpaper etc....