A
Andrew Steer
Guest
A relative newbie, I went over the handlebars on the road having made a sharp-ish stop a few weeks
back. I wasn't going that fast, but it did seem somewhat "out of character". Anyhow the dodgey left
wrist and right shoulder left me out of cycling-action for 2-3 weeks. :-( I've confirmed since that
the rear (hub/rim) brake has not been very effective - near-impossible to do a rear-wheel skid
compared to easy- peasy the day before my accident... yet mechanically everything is working nicely.
Last night I tried cleaning my wheel rim and brake-pads with washing-up liquid water (degrease)...
and the previous performance has been restored Rear-skids possible at 2mph!
...I had a puncture the day before my accident, and a bike shop sold me a new inner-tube and
replaced it for me. Is it a coincidence, or is likely some kind of grease got on the hub in the
process...? I have no intention of pursuing them, but it might serve as a useful warning to someone.
I thought maybe residual detergent might not be good for the rubber, so rinsed off the wheel in
clean water... but now when dry again, the effectiveness is not as good.
What's going on? It's a practically new bike BTW and the brakes were very effective until around the
time of the tyre-change.
Andrew
PS. In the unlikely event you need to reply by email, remove the Electronic Black Hole from
my address!
back. I wasn't going that fast, but it did seem somewhat "out of character". Anyhow the dodgey left
wrist and right shoulder left me out of cycling-action for 2-3 weeks. :-( I've confirmed since that
the rear (hub/rim) brake has not been very effective - near-impossible to do a rear-wheel skid
compared to easy- peasy the day before my accident... yet mechanically everything is working nicely.
Last night I tried cleaning my wheel rim and brake-pads with washing-up liquid water (degrease)...
and the previous performance has been restored Rear-skids possible at 2mph!
...I had a puncture the day before my accident, and a bike shop sold me a new inner-tube and
replaced it for me. Is it a coincidence, or is likely some kind of grease got on the hub in the
process...? I have no intention of pursuing them, but it might serve as a useful warning to someone.
I thought maybe residual detergent might not be good for the rubber, so rinsed off the wheel in
clean water... but now when dry again, the effectiveness is not as good.
What's going on? It's a practically new bike BTW and the brakes were very effective until around the
time of the tyre-change.
Andrew
PS. In the unlikely event you need to reply by email, remove the Electronic Black Hole from
my address!