just wondering what people might recommend?

was told coca cola is good at my local bike shop (i need to degrease my rims,brake blocks).

i have nothing against coca cola i must add,just wondering if there is a spray of some sort i can get also.

thanks 👍

Petrol or cleaning alcohol. A lighted match is optional.

I’d have thought IPA for the rims, and I think I’d be inclined to just change the blocks for new if they’ve got contaminated.

Not sure what IPA would do to brake blocks…

I’ve only ever scrubbed my rims and brakes with Fenwick’s bike cleaner, just as and when I’m giving the bike a wash generally. They’ve always come good after that.

If it’s just road grime you’re trying to shift, warm water with washing up liquid works. Give the brake track a good scrub with some green scotchbrite and rinse thoroughly with water.

I’ve heard of coke as a trials trick to make the brakes a little grabbier, but I didn’t think it was so much as a cleaner, more as a stickiness additive?

I just use isopropyl or brake cleaner. I buy brake cleaner by the 12 pack so I use it for just about everything, it’s ace.

Brings up tan walls a treat, too.

I’ve always used window cleaner since it was recommended by a BMX mag (possibly Ride) sometime in the mid 90s. It’s been adequate.

Rims – neat bike cleaner (whatever brand) + green scouring pad.

Brake blocks – ditto, I’ve sometimes sanded/filed the surface down a bit to bring hard blocks back to life, but when pads are £2.99 a set and last only one or two off-road rides in winter I just keep a few spares in stock and replace them when they wear.

Unlike disks, the coefficient of friction is much higher with rim brakes as is the wear rate, so they never seem to suffer the contamination issues. They just work for a while, you replace them and think “ohh these are better”, then the process repeats.

On the road bike I just clean the rims and ignore the pads.

There’s a blast from the past. We used to pour coke on our bmx rims in the days of dia-compe U brakes. Definitely not for cleaning but desperately looking for a bit of extra grip.

As Onzadog says, in all my years they have never needed anything other than washing up liquid, a rag and water.

washing up liquid, rag and then a pot scourer to finish.

I’ve heard of coke as a trials trick to make the brakes a little grabbier, but I didn’t think it was so much as a cleaner, more as a stickiness additive?

while doign a daft offroad triathlong I managed to put the front wheel of my Kona Dew (a gravel bike befoe they were a thing in a race where everyone still thought mnountainbikes were the right choice, before teh curve me) hit a bottle, I had a big wobble and saved it and continued down to the next road section it got harder and harder to get anywhere and things gor really noisy. when i got to the road I knew something wasn’t right so stopped and had a look.

The bottle had some form of energy drink in it it had gone everywhere but mainly by disks that I had maybe been dragging… it look liked someone had taken a lighter to a jelly baby and smeared it all over the rotors. It was so graby the pads stuck to the rotor and I had to take the brake off to continue.

IPA works a treat for me.

warm water with washing up liquid works

That’s what we used to use (back in the bad old days) – a nail brush is great for applying and scrubbing – just the right width.

Soap, water, scourer.

IPA etc. wipe down afterwards.

Brake pads are probably more important. Scrub/lightly sand.

If you have any really stubborn bits try an enamel rubber. They can be picked up for a couple of quid or you can buy the mavic rim cleaner for close to £20

I do mine under the tap with a scrubbing brush and Hope Shit Shifter.

Tried the Muc-Off stuff and it’s OK but not as good at shifting stubborn brake grime as the Hope cleaner. As an added bonus, the tyres come up nice and clean as well and you can give them a quick once over for nicks and cuts.

If the brake pads are truly contaminated, probably just worth binning them and replacing with brand new ones.

My local pound shop has cans of brake cleaner for….a pound! A little on a paper towel gives rims a good clean. Good for grime and crud too.

Did anyone else see IPA and think “I’m not wasting beer on bike cleaning”?

Oh yeah, that IPA

Washing up water and a scourer for cleaning a the rim.

Oh and cartridge brake blocks FTW, pop em out, swish about in soapy water, give ’em a scrub, hose off, dry and pop back in…

Those moist Baby wipes or kitchen wipes also work very well for a quick clean of just about anything on a bike, including rims and brakes. Not very environmentally conscious though…