Are there metal bits in Sure Stops?

[Apollonius]

Or did I pick up something?

Had to change the brake linings in my FSA Bianchi brakes today. There seems to be strands of metal in the old ones. Was it part of the structure or something picked up off the road?

 

[MikeW-71]

Probably from the rims. The wheels on both my road bikes had fine grooves in them when they were new. Now the older of the two doesn't have those grooves any more and I was picking fine slivers of metal out of the brake pads quite regularly. The newer one still has its grooves after 600 miles, which is pleasing as the wheels on that one are much better. Clearly that also extends to the quality of the rim itself.

 

[Apollonius]

Thanks. That makes sense. My Bianchi is only 6 months old, but I have used it right through the winter. I can see that bits of grit would take metal off the rims. I guess the best thing to do would be to change brake pads often. There was certainly a dramatic loss of braking effectiveness.