Discussion
I started commuting on a new Cube Hybrid mid to late August and I'm finding the brakes to have a little more lever travel and be less brilliant of late than they have been. Its my first disc & pad hydraulic set up equipped bike, so I've no idea what to expect from them.
I both live and work at the top of hills that take about three or four mins to descend on the brakes each morning and afternoon and I've been out in all weathers other than sub zero temps, only lost about five days in four months, a guesstimate has me at covering around 850 miles on the Cube.
Are the pads likely to be past their best or have I just gotten used to the considerably more efficient brakes than the v brake arrangement on my old Carrera?
I both live and work at the top of hills that take about three or four mins to descend on the brakes each morning and afternoon and I've been out in all weathers other than sub zero temps, only lost about five days in four months, a guesstimate has me at covering around 850 miles on the Cube.
Are the pads likely to be past their best or have I just gotten used to the considerably more efficient brakes than the v brake arrangement on my old Carrera?
ALY77 said:
Are the pads likely to be past their best or have I just gotten used to the considerably more efficient brakes than the v brake arrangement on my old Carrera?
More than likely that the pads will need replacing at that mileage. Since October I've been using my road bike that has Sram Apex disc brakes in all weathers and have covered about 1000 miles. Noticed lately that there was more travel on the lever and the braking performance was way down. Initially it felt like the brakes needed bleeding. When looking at the pads through the calipers it looked like there was still meat on the pads, but when I took them out I found that they were almost down to the backing plates
I also noticed that the discs themselves had a grey discoloured streaks on them (contamination?) so the brakes were definitely in need of a service.Isoprop alcohol isn't that effective in removing the grey stuff from the discs, nail polish remover and some careful 'refacing' using p600 grade wet and dry paper did the job. New pads should come with a piston push back tool, and are easy to fit. Clean out the inside of the caliper with Isoprop alcohol before fitting new pads. Full braking performance has now been restored.
My other bike (MTB) has Shimano disc brakes. I've done about 2500 miles on it, mostly in dry weather, the pads still have life left in them and I've never had any problems with the discs. Seems like the wet weather accelerates disc brake wear quite a bit.
i find that winter gravel riding in the New Forest kills pads quickly, and genuine SRAM pads are expensive (£15 a pair)...
if you want to save some money it is worth looking at EBay for cheap disk brake pads. In the past I have used Uber Components which last almost as long as the genuine SRAM pads at a fraction of the cost
Last time they wet out of stock so I recently fitted these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SRAM-Level-T-Level-TL-F...
They seem pretty good, if they last 8 weeks I’ll be happy. (BTW A friend that has Shimano Ultegra on his gravel bike recommends Star Components pads)
if you want to save some money it is worth looking at EBay for cheap disk brake pads. In the past I have used Uber Components which last almost as long as the genuine SRAM pads at a fraction of the cost
Last time they wet out of stock so I recently fitted these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SRAM-Level-T-Level-TL-F...
They seem pretty good, if they last 8 weeks I’ll be happy. (BTW A friend that has Shimano Ultegra on his gravel bike recommends Star Components pads)
jesusbuiltmycar said:
The B01S Shimano pads (Resin?)that came on Giant Toughroad completely wore out in less than 200mi of muddy cruddy flat towpath riding with minimal braking. The crap just passing through the small gap seemed to wear them out.I have some sintered versions of the above to try. The previous sintered pads on a different bike on the same course lasted ages! So I have much hope 🤞
Won't be anywhere near worn out after 800miles. Ive been using my Trek checkpoint for commuting for a year now and the tiagra hydraulic disc pads are still ok. Lever travel shouldn't alter, but mine have a longer travel than I'd like from the start. Must have done around 3000 miles now.
thiscocks said:
Won't be anywhere near worn out after 800miles. Ive been using my Trek checkpoint for commuting for a year now and the tiagra hydraulic disc pads are still ok. Lever travel shouldn't alter, but mine have a longer travel than I'd like from the start. Must have done around 3000 miles now.
YMMV - hills / speeds / weight / corners / pad materialThe lever travel will increase as the pads wear down - it's something that you don't really notice until putting new pads in and going 'oh!'.
I get through pads more quickly in the summer because it's when we do more riding in the hills (what goes up must come down) and speeds are higher on the decents because it's warm and dry. The energy being disspiated braking from 50-30mph vs 30-20mph is exponentially higher.
Thanks for the replies folks. I ordered some new Shimano ones, then found Halfords doing some Clarks ones off the shelf reduced from £9.99 to three pounds something per pair so picked those up at the weekend and put them on.
The ones that came off actually looked ok, but the new clarks resin ones felt better on todays commute.
I'll see what the new Shimano ones look like when they arrive vs what came off!
The ones that came off actually looked ok, but the new clarks resin ones felt better on todays commute.
I'll see what the new Shimano ones look like when they arrive vs what came off!
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