I took a spill on December 21. Luckily, I was close to home, and could
ride the bike. However, I noticed that there was a noise when I used
the rear brake. A quick look when I got home didn't show me anything.
When I got ready to ride on December 31, though, I checked more
carefully, and saw that there was a scratch on the braking surface of
the rim, on the drive side. The scratch isn't very deep, and is about
3/4 inch (2 mm) long. It runs from the middle of the braking surface to
almost the edge of the rim. Near the outer edge, the scratch has a
small raised "point" that is fairly sharp.
Is it likely that this damage can be repaired?
(1) Could I let the brake pad wear it down, at the cost of replacing the
pad a couple of times?
(2) Could I smooth the scratch with sandpaper? Should I use very fine
paper, or start with more coarse paper?
(3) Is this rim history, meaning do I need to replace it?
Note:
The bike is a Trek 5200, bought last August. I replace the Shimano
Ultegra components with Campy Record. The bike shop swapped the
original Bontrager Race Lite wheels with a pair that had Campy
compatible hubs.