Chewing through brake pads

On 2/18/2006 2:47 PM Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman wrote:

wrote:
...
shall we assume you have the brain of a squirrel? is this herditary or
pathological?

See http://www.thebunnysystem.com/?stripID=bunnies122 and
http://www.thebunnysystem.com/?stripID=bunnies123.


My life's story.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR

On 2/18/2006 11:03 AM Zog The Undeniable wrote:

Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott wrote:

My son's favorite bike, a yard-sale 1973 step-through Raleigh Sport
3-speed, is chewing through brake pads at a rate I've never seen in my
nearly 40 years of cycling. The wheels are not the best I've ever
seen, being chrome jobbies that are not very true (spoke nipples are
fairly rounded -- ideas welcome here), with a few kinks and bumps in
them. The chrome plating is worn off here and there in a speckled
fashion, but it's not like they feel like sandpaper or anything. No
visible rust. Yet he is fairly grinding down the new salmon Kool Stops
at an alarming rate. He's not even a very aggressive rider. I'm
scratching my head over this one.

Oh, please build him some wheels with alu rims. Steel rims are
absolutely hopeless for braking in the rain - I'm talking up to 10 times
the stopping distance.

Heh -- learned that when I was a kid. But this is Southern California.
This season we've had about 1/2'' of rain.

But when I was a kid I didn't chew through brake pads the way he does.
I'm impressed!
--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR

Tim McNamara wrote:
"Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
m writes:

On 2/18/2006 9:54 AM Art Harris wrote:

Mike Elliott wrote:

If you run your finger around the rim braking surface, is there a
sharp or abrasive feel?

No -- that's the puzzle. I'm bright enough to deduce that a rim that
feels like sandpaper might somehow be responsible for the excitingly
rapid reduction of the pad material. And I adjusted the pads myself
. . . not that I'm any kind of bicycling mechanical genius, but I've
never had pads on any of my bikes wear like this, or even come
close.

Oh well, science and rational thought tell me that the material is
being abraded off by something, and the most likely something is the
rim, so either my fingertips are insensitive to brake-pad-removing
roughness, or there is some magic going on. Which takes me back to
the first sentence of this paragraph.

Perhaps the magic of heat. If these are "ceramic coated" rims, they
are poor conductors of heat. The heat stays at the interface between
pad and rim, because pads don't conduct heat either.

The OP said, "The wheels are not the best I've ever seen, being chrome
jobbies..." on a "1973 step-through Raleigh Sport 3-speed." For some odd
reason, I have a feeling that ceramic rims are not the problem here.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott wrote:


Heh -- learned that when I was a kid. But this is Southern California.
This season we've had about 1/2'' of rain.

Keep the steel rims then :P

Did ya see if it was the rim seam? If it's uneven, it can act like a
velo-cuisinart.

On 2/18/2006 6:32 PM landotter wrote:

Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott wrote:


Heh -- learned that when I was a kid. But this is Southern California.
This season we've had about 1/2'' of rain.

Keep the steel rims then :P

Did ya see if it was the rim seam? If it's uneven, it can act like a
velo-cuisinart.


I bet! No, no rim seams. These rims are not exactly in pristine
condition, having various kinks and bumpy bits, but none of them are
sharp-edged. They push your finger, don't shred or scrape it.

Anyone have any hints on how to turn spoke nipples that are kinda old
and fuzzy, too rounded off for a Park spoke wrench? I'd like to true the
old girl's wheels a bit more than I can right no.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR

On 2/18/2006 6:45 PM Tim McNamara wrote:

"Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
m writes:

That my be true, but not in this case. As my OP said, this is a
"yard-sale 1973 step-through Raleigh Sport 3-speed," with chrome
(thus steel) rims.


I sent my correction to the wrong thread. Oops. Anyway- steel rims,
use leather brake pads. ISTR Fibrax pads are suitable for steel.

The things you learn . . .
--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR

"Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
m wrote in message
news
On 2/18/2006 6:45 PM Tim McNamara wrote:

"Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
m writes:

That my be true, but not in this case. As my OP said, this is a
"yard-sale 1973 step-through Raleigh Sport 3-speed," with chrome
(thus steel) rims.


I sent my correction to the wrong thread. Oops. Anyway- steel rims,
use leather brake pads. ISTR Fibrax pads are suitable for steel.

The things you learn . . .

Leather blocks were my first thought too. But perhaps I just have a leather
fetish.

Take off the rubber and use a screwdriver to remove and replace them.

Congradulations on being the only signal in the signal/noise ratio of
this thread.

On 2/19/2006 6:04 AM Adam Rush wrote:

Take off the rubber and use a screwdriver to remove and replace them.


Duh.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR