Rear Disc Brake making grating noise

[gbbird]

Hi all,

My rear Magura Louise disc brake has started to make a horrible grating noise of late. It is almost as if there is some dirt stuck in the pads somewhere, but have looked and there isn't. No out of ordinary visible marks on the rotor either. The brake works and stops me fine.

I am thinking perhaps Pads, but to be honest they have only been on there about a year and have not had an excessive amount of use.

Could it be the pads, or something else?

g

[Moose.]

Are we talking a continuous grating or more of a pulsing noise?

If the former, is there an adjustment on the callipers or brake levers to adjust the distance the pads sit from the discs? They're probably sitting too close. Or the calliper need to be moved to one side or the other of the disc if just one pad is touching.

If the later, the disc is probably warped. I had to change my rear one last weekend as it got bent some how.

[gbbird]

It is a continuous grating, so i shall check out your first option as one of the pads does look rather close. Although the grating only happens once i apply the brake and the wheel spins freely when the brake is not applied

[mk1fan]

pads

[Moose.]

I mis-read your original post and thought you meant the noise was happening all the time when you're not applying the brakes As it seems the noise only happens when you apply the brakes, I have to agree with mk1fan and say pads.

[gbbird]

Thanks all. My original post could have been clearer. Will get some new pads and see if that sorts out the problem. Must say if it is pads, then they have not lasted very long. I wonder what the average lifetime of pads is?

g

[WildCards]

Aye sounds like pads, once a year is quite nice, I changed mine for the third time in 6 months at the weekend.

[mk1fan]

OMG I can see this thread descending into a 'How to brake properly' thread. Thank God it isn't STW.

[gbbird]

This is the first time i have had to change disc brake pads. Not too worried about teh procedure, but looking on the net i find a number of diffferent Pad sets which say are the right ones for Magura Louise brakes 2007, but in thw piccies of the pads some do look different to the others. I will take my old ones off and compare shape that way, but can you get variances with brake pad shapes yet they are still OK to use? (the main difference seems to be the arm type things that sprout away from the pads)