Brake help

[Nellie]

Hi

I just got a Claud Butler Windemere hybrid bike last monday.

Everything seemed to be fine but yesterday about 30 miles into a 44 mile ride the brakes started screeching and were obviously scratching the wheel rims as I notice a good deal of metal filings around both back and front brakes.

I've cleaned the bike - cleaned out the brake areas and can't see any noticeable problems - any ideas what to do next please. I don't want to damage the wheel rims any further.

Thanks
Nellie

[DaveM]

This is usually due to small rocks/grit getting stuck in the brake pad. Try cleaning the pads. You may need to pick some bits of rock or metal out of the rubber itself with a knife tip. For good measure, I'd give the surface of the pads a quick sand to take off any glaze after you've cleaned them. Also not bad to buff the braking surface of the rims with some fine steel wool or very fine grit sand paper to take out rough spots from the scratching that happened.