Had a race Sunday and my old-ish Zipp’s were squeaking like made when I was applying the brakes (i know i know, don’t use the brakes and you won’t have the problem)…I have the kool-stop carbon pads and all, but the carbon rims really squeaked loudly, I nearly scared the hell out of a guy ahead of me and made him fall over as I braked behind him coming down a steep hill with a left turn…
Anyway, anyone know how to clean them properly (pads and/or rims) without damaging the carbon? I have used nailpolish remover on aluminum rims, but somehow I don’t think that will work with carbon as I know acetone eats rubber and probably most plastics…
sz
Acetone will not damage your rims. It will remove the stickers, but won’t damage epoxy. Methanol is also good for cleaning them. The squeak can come from build up pad residue (if you’ve had some races where you’ve had to break hard, you may have some residue. If you do, just scratch it off with your fingernail.).
You can also try the Kool Stop Reddish-Orange pads, which are a little bit softer than the black pads and may squeak less.
I’ve used a light sandpaper on my pads with my regular aluminum rims from time to time…I imagine that is okay on the kool stops’s as well? No.?
thanks rapp.
The pad residue will be on the rim. I’ve gotten it from time to time on mine (i race in hilly areas) using Zipp (Kool Stop black) pads and Hed Stingers. There is like a dark black area in parts and that is pad residue. The braking will stick/squeak in these areas. You can use light sandpaper or fine scouring pad, but a fingernail (or plastic tire lever) works well to scratch it off. You can use a bit of grease/oil to help it come free as well.
Also, I forgot to mention, squeaking can also come from the way the pad contacts the rim. If you adjust the toe-in/toe-out of the pad, you can fix it. Try running a bit of toe-in, so the front of the pad touches first.
On aluminum rims, pads tend to get chewed up much more than on carbon rims. I’d be surprised if you have irregularities in the pad surface that would need to be sanded. But if you do, I can’t see how evening them up with some light sanding would hurt.