dumb question?: removing wheel with disk brakes

[MTY4000]

I think this may be a bit of a dumb question, appologies if it is:

I've just taken delivery of a new bike; Giant Anthem with Jucy 7s & some nice Thompson bits. I'm new to disk brakes, all my previous MTBs have been V-brakes or cantis (back in the day).

I need to take of the wheels regularily to transport the bike in my car which has a very small boot. I'm cautious of bending or damaging the disks or, disrupting the set up when I take the wheels off and on.

Having no experience with disks, I'm planning to:

1) adjust the brake pads using the adjustment on the levers (twiddly red wheel on Avid Jucy 7s) so they are the max distance appart (not sure if this is required though?)
2) then take the wheeks off very carefully
3) reverse (2) and (1) to put them back on

Anything I'm missing, or am I just being too precious about this... it is a shiny new bike afterall so I don't want to damage anything! can't wait to hit the trails at the weekend.

[beyond rational]

If you have a spacer (or you can make one from some cardboard), put it between the pads in transport so that if the levers do get squeezed, you won't have any problems. Wouldn't worry about pad adjustment, everything else seems correct

Edited by beyond rational on Wednesday 28th March 11:29

[White_van_man]

Disks to bend quite easily but only by tiny ammounts and can be very easily straightened with and adjustable spanner. The thing you have to watch out for it pushing the break leavers while they dont have the disks in. If you do its not the end of the world you just have to carefully prize the pads apart with a small scredriver. I have found that pushing some card board into the caliper is the best way to stop the pads pushing together.

[rico]

Definitely being over precautious. I've never taken a delicate approach to getting wheels off and on and never had any problems.

[MTY4000]

Thanks guys this has given me a lot of confidence. I will use the cardboard spacer suggestion too.

Thanks,
Ian

[mat205125]

rico said:

Definitely being over precautious. I've never taken a delicate approach to getting wheels off and on and never had any problems.

ditto.

Mine has the wheels removed regularly to sling it in the car, and is perfectly fine.

[Neil_Bolton]

mat205125 said:

rico said:

Definitely being over precautious. I've never taken a delicate approach to getting wheels off and on and never had any problems.

ditto.

Mine has the wheels removed regularly to sling it in the car, and is perfectly fine.

Again, same here - just be careful not to pull your brake levers without the wheels in - your pistons may not retract and it's not a good thing for the pistons to be levering the pads back out with a screwdriver

[snotrag]

Same again, the stainless steel rotors are pretty hardy, unless you tt em off a rock.

I use a piece of (clean) A4 paper folded over between the caliper.


Another top tip - when cleaning/lubing, use a carrier bag and a laggy band to cover up your discs and caliper.

Number one complaint of people who are first time disc users -

Customer - "There not working"
Bike shop - "You know when you sprayed oil all over your casette..."

Edited by snotrag on Wednesday 28th March 12:53

[MTY4000]

Thanks again,

I'll follow the 'carrier bag and a laggy band' suggestion too!

Ta

[Twit]

mat205125 said:

Mine has the wheels removed regularly to sling it in the car, and is perfectly fine.

Same here, mine bike is pulled apart all the time and gets a fair amount of abuse and no cleaning but it works fine! The discs arent that delicate, in fact my front disk got bounced off a tree stump this morning when I came off a jump a bit wrong! It seems to be straight still - well it works!

[pombstard]

Yep - all of that - and I agree that discs aren't that delicate. I've got Juicy 7s on one bike and the stopping power is immense - even if they are more prone than Hayes to getting clogged with sand.

However, I have found that once a disc is even slightly bent/warped/out of whack somehow, the only solution is a new one. This has been the case with Hayes and Avid.

Good choice of bike too!

[zebedee]

it's wise to keep all lubes and cleaners off the pads as well as the discs, although not sure about citrus based cleaners, its best not to risk it.

[White_van_man]

pombstard said:

Yep - all of that - and I agree that discs aren't that delicate. I've got Juicy 7s on one bike and the stopping power is immense - even if they are more prone than Hayes to getting clogged with sand.

However, I have found that once a disc is even slightly bent/warped/out of whack somehow, the only solution is a new one. This has been the case with Hayes and Avid.

Good choice of bike too!

Disks are really easy to straiten:
1. find where its bent
2. get an adjustable spanner and adjust it to disk size
3. place it on bent part of disk and bend back into shape... repeat on different parts of the disk untill its strait