Sora brake blocks make black ink in the rain

[Peter10]

As for 'squidink', I reckon it's more than 'just' ground aluminium from the rims, more like a cocktail of stuff thrown up from a wet road (ie rubber from tyres, oily residues and dirt/grit), maybe mixed with black gunge washed out from the chain...

When I wash it off it seems like that. Definitely a rubbery feel to it.

 

[2Loose]

grey muck is essentially finely ground aluminium powder emulsion from your rims and the only way to get rid of it is to use disk, drum or roller brakes.

I would expect a greater ratio of brake shoe than rim turning to ink, one being alloy and the other plastic of some sort, but I do understand that rims do wear out due to contact with the brake blocks.


On the disk brake front, my juicy 3's chucked out a lot of dust as they wore, but it wasn't as noticeable because below the calliper where the crap falls, there aren't any frame parts to mark with the squidink (tm?).
Take your pads out and gt85 the calliper clean, then put them a back...a mile or so later you will see the dust build up on the calliper. Mind you, rims aren't as easily or cheaply changed as a new disk, so disks still win imho for power and versatility. Just trying to make the road bike as safe as possible.

 

[swee'pea99]

I find Aztec very good - and you can get them quite a lot cheaper than koolstop if you keep an eye on ebay. 

 

[TheDoctor]

I would definitely change the blocks - I like Fibrax, pink on the front and black on the back.
With decent blocks,Sora brakes are perfectly capable of stopping 100 kg of fat bastard on Mont Ventoux's upper slopes.
Been there, done that.
I ran out of nerve long before the brakes ran out of power.

 

[oliver]

well i am used to mountain bike brakes (rim) which are ok, but my sora brakes are about 2-3 times better at stopping, even in the wet, where i can easily lock the rear and have occasianaly locked the front when car in front decides he needs to turn without indicating. (i know i can stop in around 10m from 30mph and about 14m in the wet- yes i am sad enough to have tried)

 

[Globalti]

What are these "brakes" you people keep discussing?

 

[Cheule]

My new Deore brakes and pads leave white ink, even though the pads are black. Do I have mutant pads or what?