How To Service Bike Disc Brakes

Disc brakes have been causing a stir in road circles for a while at present. Regardless of whether they've been accepted by the pros or what the UCI thinks about them, they're popular on the bikes that the likes of you and I can buy.

>>> Disc brakes: everything you demand to know

"Accept intendance of your brakes, and they'll accept care of you" remains true for discs, it's just doing it that's a little different.

So, to help things forth, nosotros've put together this guide on looking after your disc brakes.

Bed in your pads

This is the accented first thing you should do when yous purchase a disc brake wheel. Basically, y'all need to generate some estrus on the pads to get them stopping at their best.

Getting the pads hot will help bed them in

The best way to do this is pull some skids or heavy braking. We reckon between 10 or 20 stops volition exercise the business.

You'll feel it working as the brakes literally get more than powerful and the levers end pulling as far in towards the bars.

Don't contaminate your rotors

This is the ultimate cardinal sin of disc brakes, and tin be unsafe if y'all don't realise you've done information technology.

At all costs avert getting whatsoever type of oil or bike spray (think GT85, WD40 etcetera) on your rotors.

This involves just a little more precision when lubing or spraying your drive chain to avoid getting anything on your discs. Information technology might fifty-fifty exist worth removing the wheels before you brainstorm.

The adept news, though, is that wheel cleaning products are fine, so you can go on to spray those as liberally as you wish.

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Clean your rotors

If you take accidentally sprayed something on your rotors and then y'all'll need to give them a clean.

This is easy enough to practice, you can but employ a disc brake cleaner that comes in a can. Spray the rotor downward and then using a clean fabric or kitchen towel wipe the rotor down, making sure to get any clay and grime off the surface.

This is also a great way of stopping whatever type of brake squeal that might issues your rides.

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Proceed an heart on your pads

Likewise every bit looking your rotors, information technology's likewise worth casting an eye over your pads.

Just like with rim brakes, the pads volition eventually wear down with continual use.

Once more, simply like with rims, this is far more than probable to happen in winter when there's dust and gunk all over the road.

The beginning thing to know near disc restriction pads is when to swap them out. As a dominion, we'd recommend that you lot by and large change them when they're worn down to the same level equally the metal leap.

>>> Is estrus build-upwardly in disc brakes something to worry about?

This is important because exit information technology too long and yous risk running the metal back plate of the pad on your rotors, which will gauge and scar them.

Brake pad compounds

Much like rim brakes, you can use a chemical compound of brake pad that's suitable to your riding. In that location are three primal compounds that you tin can apply: sintered, organic and semi-metallic.

As a rule of thumb, sintered pads final the longest, so they're often the all-time bet for winter riding. Plus, on super long descents, when temperatures can get very high, they won't coat over. Information technology'south worth noting though, they can exist loud, peculiarly when moisture.

Organic pads differ in that they're very quick to bed in, and have bully initial seize with teeth when the brake is pulled.

However, they won't last every bit long as sintered pads, and they can glaze over when exposed to excessive heat, particularly on long descents.

Finally, semi-metallic pads are a sort of in betwixt of the two. However, they can be a picayune more than expensive.

Exercise not pull the lever without the rotors in

Because of the self-adjusting nature of disc brakes, if you pull the levers without a rotor between the pads the pistons will burn, making it impossible to fit the disc betwixt them when you become to place the wheel back in the bike.

Pads finish the pistons firing to far out the caliper

Fright not, there is both prevention and a cure for this event.

The best style to prevent it is to fit a plastic spacer between the pistons when the disc isn't there. These usually come up with a bleed kit and will be purchasable online. Alternatively, you lot could utilise a folded piece of cardboard.

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Happily, it'southward easy enough to fix. Using some tyre levers, you lot can manoeuvre the pistons back into the caliper.

It'south always best to try and cover the pistons before doing this, to avert causing any harm.

Still, if you can't manage this, plastic tyre levers should exist fine. Merely do avoid using a apartment headed screwdriver.

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Endeavour not to hitting your rotors

This goes without proverb, really, but if y'all manage to warp or even bend your rotors they won't perform too or fifty-fifty not work at all.

If yous're flying your bike on holiday, information technology'south best to remove the discs and store them separately.

Brake rub

This is probably the most mutual trouble you'll accept with your disc brakes. It'southward an easy fix, though. Simply loosen your brake caliper bolts and pull the brake lever. The pistons will fire and the caliper should square itself with the rotor. You can then re-tighten the bolts in the new position and with a flake of luck the rubbing should accept stopped.

If this doesn't work, you can ordinarily move the caliper by hand so information technology sits with space between pads and rotor.

Bleeding your brakes

At the business terminate of disc brake maintenance is brake bleeding. A sure sign that it's time to change the fluid in your stoppers is a spongy feeling in the brake levers.