my brakes

M

Mommers

Likes Dirt
today i went riding over some wicked tracks we found today. While i used my rear brakes they didnt have the power i was used to, my fronts have always performed flawlessly.

I'm using STX levers with the servo-wave adjustment and it hasnt seemed to work.
Do they just need a service??? Any advice will be great.
 
®ider

®ider

Likes Bikes and Dirt
just rup the rotor with metholated spirits.
also check your pads if they have life still on them
 
Daver

Daver

Kung Fu Panda
make sure that... the rotor doesn't visably move when you pull the lever. If they do then push the inside pad outwards using the dial or the allen key.

If this is fine, then check the cables, and lube them up heavily, or replace them if needed.

Finally, if this fails, then buy some new brake pads!!! Hayes brand seem to be the best performing for me, and the longest lasting (3 times longer than ebc's)- making them well worth the price!!!
 
M

Mommers

Likes Dirt
yeah the brakes are 3months old, the pads have plenty of life in them, i try cleaning the rotors with jim beam. Also i have a pair of EBC red's i might throw in them.

Also my cables are brand newies when i put the new levers on.
 
R

Rik

logged out
Beam isn't the best thing to clean with.
Sure, it has alcohol, but it also has sugar and other crap which can contaminate the pads.
 
neko

neko

Likes Dirt
Mommers said:
i try cleaning the rotors with jim beam
Click to expand...
EEEeew. Get some Isoprophil alchohol or a can of "Contact Brake Cleaner".

You can get the alchohol from a chemist for about $3. The brake cleaner comes from auto or moto shops.

Brake pads are probably the most sensative thing on a bike, you've gota' be carefull with them. I woud say you've probably got some oil on the rotor and not noticed. Clean the rotor, with cleaner, not bourbon. Then put those EBC pads in.

Do the standard 35 hard stops and see if that improves things.
 
Sutek

Sutek

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Mate, if you have any dramas after friggin around with them, do the right thing and go see your LBS. Don't fark with your brakes...
 
Grip

Grip

Yeah, yeah... blah, blah.
Oh jeez but here we are with another brake cleaning thread (or at least that's what it's turned into)

If I'm not mistaken then this belongs in the Parts&Stuff forum... and that's exactly where it's going.

Guys... please think about where you're posting.

And Chewy... Turps is OIL based... not the thing for brakes at all.
 
M

matty_2004

Likes Bikes and Dirt
It's not as if the pads are touching the rotor and not working, it's that they aren't touching hard/close enough. You have already stated that the cables are new and i think the most logical answer would be that the cables are just stretched now, you should have known this after the bike shop tells you that the cables will stretch and you need a service after the first few weeks of riding. Pretty simple problem to solve me thinks...
 
sich nich

sich nich

Likes Dirt
there are a few things u can do b4 you give your bike to the lbs.
rub the pads and rotor with wet and dry
then clean with brake cleaner or isopropyl alcohol.
whenever i do this and ride them they dont work unless u hose the cleaner off with water straight after. works perfect then. my pads are nearly destroyed from muck, but i do this and theyre brand new again.
then u can try mucking around with the cable, now that its stretched, u can try shortening them so the pad gap is smaller. set the idle pad real close as well. set the brake levers on the high leverage 'power' ratio setting also. try centering the caliper on the rotor too by undoing the forward facing mounting bolts, sqeeze the lever real hard and do the bolts up again. if all that fails, ask someone that knows.
 
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