I ride fixed, but like to ride with a front brake. I'd still like to be a shallow hipster wannabe with some colorful Deep Vs though, but I'd rather not get a machined front rim. I know the machined rims make for a smoother braking surface, but can you run a brake on a nonmachined rim?

Does it put too much stress on the rim, and make braking too slow?

TIA

you get ugly streaks on your rims and it doesn't work so well in the rain.

but it won't get you as much hate as this thread will. most are not so forgiving about threads that have been beaten to death, buried, dug back up, beaten again, and so-forth.

It won't work as well as a non-machined, but it'll work..I guess (maybe when wet will suck a lot?)

I was skeptical about it, but I just got a front machined, rear non, looks all right

You can do it but it will wear off the paint (making it look like **** anyways) and give you less stopping power.

How do anodized rims work out vs. powder coated?

just get the front one machined. Benscycle.com will build them this way.

yeah, your brakes will squeal, leave marks on your paint until the paint starts to rub off and you won't be able to brake as well, especially in the wet. but you can do it and it works ok.

yeah the paint will eventually burn off after extensive time with ****ty stopping power anyway, just get the machined front wheel.

Anno will wear off faster and not suck as much in the meantime.

yes

no

barely

I would say that's only true once the paint has worn off, especially in the rain. When my all-black Sun MZ-14s were new, the brakes made some squealing noises and weren't great in the wet. Dry, they were fine. But they work well when wet now that the paint has worn off.

So the wheels I got are second-hand, and there are brake marks.

Any way to clean up the brake marks? I feel like all the residue is giving me bad braking surface..

What rims are they? You probably shouldn't worry too much about it. If you keep using your brake, it will be "machined" soon enough. Or you'll hit a car. Whichever comes first.

Deep V's. Front is machined. I don't know how long the previous owner rode them, but there is a decent amount of brake marks on it.

Hmm, my bad...

You probably just need to clean the brake pad residue off your rims. Try rubbing alcohol, maybe?

Acetone gets the break marks off really well.

What about Mavic Open Pro CD, or Ceramic? These mimic the look of non-machines rims, but brake fine. In fact Mavic claims they brake BETTER, in wet conditions. Though I've read that the CD/ceramic coating does wear off eventually. But this is going on a fixie, so you probably won't be using the front brake that much anyway.

So the choice is between a rim "machined" by your brake pads and a properly machined rim to begin with? Seems like the second option makes more sense and looks better.

You guys should read what Grant Peterson has to say about machined rims. Here's a hint: Rivendell bikes only sells non-machined rims.

Braking will eventually "machine" your rims for you. Anodizing will have no effect on braking.

Powdercoated rims, on the other hand, will probably have poor stopping power until the paint rubs off. If you are getting a powdercoated rim then get a machined rim - it's going to end up like that in the long run anyway.

why wouldn't you get the machined front if you know you're going to use a brake (and the brake will machine an unmachined wheel if you don't)?

i run a non machined clear anodized with a brake and it works fine -- i dont use the brake that much anyway

Much as I love Grant/Rivendell, this is one of the things they get wrong. Surfaces that start uneven won't necessarily wear down to be even. They will if you're using some big precision machining rig, but not on a bike. It's like saying that if you sand a whole surface evenly, eventually it will be flat. Anyone who has done any carpentry or woodworking knows this ain't the way it goes. On a bike rim it probably doesn't ultimately make much difference, but still, this falls into the category of stuff where no engineering knowledge is harmed in the making of the conventional bike wisdom.

I was flying down a hill yesterday on a non-machined rim. Braking's not as good.

I have never had problems using a front brake on my non machined rims. But mine are black, so I wouldnt be able to see brake marks anyway.

Simple Green and one of those happy dish sponges with the rough stuff on it.