False Alarm

Well, thankfully the dribble of oil, grease or other shiny substance appearing at the edge of my brake drum appears to be tiny, and dry.

Pulling the brake apart took me fifteen minutes, thanks to the front stand, a wonderful invention - not only because it lifts the wheel off the ground, but also because it stops the headstock swinging about.

So easy to use...

This is the leading shoe, a little high in the middle - maybe about 60-70% contact:

Leading shoe wear

And this is the trailing shoe, wearing as you would expect - a little more than 50% contact:

Trailing shoe wear

So, we have something like 60% contact overall. A little relief on the high spots should help tremendously, which I can do with some 60 grit paper and a file.

As for the grease, just a little dribble. We will clean that up tomorrow.

And there is a lucky eBay find on the way!

For those fortunate enough to be less geeky than me, this is an original Ariel brake fulcrum spanner. Very rare. Here it is in action: