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- For quite some time now
disc brakes have been causing quite a stir
and whether we like them or not
it is quite clear they are here to stay.
Now more and more road bikes
are coming equipped with disc brakes
and becoming increasingly popular on TT
or triathlon bike like I have here today
so I thought I'd run you through
some maintenance tips for them.
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Okay so imagine this,
you get yourself a brand new bike with disc brakes,
you're so excited you go for a little spin round the block,
you grab a fistful of brake and nothing,
it really lacks power.
Now don't worry because this is actually completely normal,
I guess you can kinda compare this
to your standard rim brakes
'cause in the same way that you need to set them up,
you need to toe them out and whatnot,
you need to set up and bed in your disc brakes.
So for this you need to generate some heat
to get them stopping at their best
and actually by not doing this you can end up with some
rather noisy, juddery or weak brakes.
So what you need to do to bed them in is pedal up
to a moderate speed of 15 kilometers an hour or so.
Sit down in the saddle and apply the brakes evenly
without skidding until the speed drops to a walking pace.
Then just release the brakes whilst you're still moving
and then repeat this roughly 10 times.
You'll feel the brake power increasing with each repetition
and then perform the same set of steps
but increase your speed to 25 kilometers an hour
and repeat roughly five times through.
Okay so when it comes to maintaining your bikes
such as your chain which mine really needs at the moment,
just be really careful where any oil
or aerosol lubricants go because if you get that onto
the disc rotor and therefore obviously onto the pads
it's not only going to make the braking sound really bad,
it can also reduce that braking performance.
So just be really precise where you're using
any of this oil or lubricant to reduce
that contamination to the disc rotter.
Failing that you can actually remove the wheel
to avoid that altogether and I quite often actually drape
a clean rag over that brake block and the pads
to keep them safe and covered.
And that leads me nicely on to the cleaning.
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Now if you do get oil or lubricant
onto your disc brake rotters
then it's really important that you clean them
as soon as possible to avoid them
getting that lubricant or oil onto the disc brake pads.
Now for this I personally use a disc brake cleaner
like this I'll spray that over the rotter
that will break down that lubricant
and then you can use a kitchen towel
or an old clean rag to wipe that off.
Now this is actually just good practice
regardless of whether you contaminate
the disc brake rotors or not
because if you can do this from time to time
that will just really help to maximize
that braking performance.
But if you have unfortunately got it on the disc brake pads
well there are a number of remedies out there
some suggest that you can take them out,
pop them in the oven or even bake them with a blowtorch
but if you speak to most experts out there
they'll pretty much all tell you
just replace them.
Now it is pretty much near impossible
to fully decontaminate these pads
once you've got a lubricant or oil on them
so to save yourself the hassle you can get a new set.
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Now probably the biggest complaint I hear with disc brakes
is the rubbing from them.
Now they do actually have quite a small tolerance
to play with between the pads and the disc brakes
so it's really important that they are set up correctly
and you can avoid that rubbing.
Now first port of call
is to make sure that the wheel is actually in
and I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous
but I've actually lost count of the amount of times
that I've adjusted my gears or realigned my brakes
only to find out that the wheel wasn't fully seated.
Failing that you'll want to loosen the caliper off,
this allows the caliper to move around.
Pull the brake lever this will then square that caliper up.
Now keep holding the brake lever
and then you can retighten the bolts for the caliper.
And there you go.
Another cause of rubbing disc brakes
can be when the lever is pulled
when a wheel isn't installed in the frame.
And this often happens when you're traveling with your bike.
You're tracking your bike in the back of your car
or you're flying with your bike.
Now what's happening here is the pads essentially
sat on these pistons that quite cleverly
move in very gradually as the pads wear down
and therefore reducing that gap
between the pads and the disc brakes.
So when your wheel isn't installed in the frame
and you accidentally pull that lever
those pads move in closer
and therefore end up rubbing on that disc rotter.
If that happens you want to take the pads out
and use something like a plastic tire lever
and gently edge those pistons back out to reset them,
reinstall the pads and off you go.
But to avoid all of this in the first place
you could travel with something like this
which can slot in between the pads
and you're good to go.
But if you don't have one of these or you've forgotten it
you can be imaginative, I've used things like cardboard
or credit cards in the past.
Now another thing to be wary of when you're traveling
with your bike is the rotters themselves.
Now they're pretty robust but they can actually be bent
if enough pressure is placed on them.
And now the easiest thing to do
is actually remove them altogether
and it is actually a lot easier than you think
'cause with a crack tool like this one here
you can simply unscrew the outer cap
and quickly slide that rotter off.
Which is a really good idea
if you're popping wheels into a bike bag for instance.
But if you are tracking your bike into the back of a car
or something like that then you maybe don't need to go
quite this far but just make sure
that the wheels and the rotters are really well cushioned
so just have some rags or some cushions at the ready.
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And finally if you're using hydraulic disc brakes
and they start to feel a bit spongey at the lever
and probably not braking quite so well
well it is time to bleed the system.
And this is just like having to replace your cable
on your standard traditional rim brakes.
Now each brand and sometimes each model
have their own methods and bleed kits
so just make sure that you consult your manual
or the brand to make sure that you're doing it correctly.
However if you're really not sure
there's absolutely no harm in just popping down
to your local bike shop and making sure
that the job is done correctly.
Another thing to think about is the pad-wear
because the pads do wear out just in the same way
that your standard rim brake pads will wear out.
So just drop your wheel out from time to time
just check that pad-wear, make sure that you've got enough.
If they do need replacing just think back
to that previous step where we'll need
to push those pistons back out to reset them
and obviously you'll need to bed those pads in.
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If you've got any more questions about disc brakes
please do drop them in the comments section below.
And if you'd like to see more on bike maintenance
and some hacks with that then just click up there.
And if you'd like to see our disc versus rim brake video
then just click down there.