mechanical disk brake annoyance

truespin

My mechanical front disk brake on the hardrock sport is beginning to annoy me!

For the first set of pads it was fine - plenty of stopping power although I would have to wind out the pads once every ride to stop the lever coming all the way into the handlebars...

but since I put new pads on, the stopping power has been *greatly* reduced - and I tried to break the new pads in by going fast and stopping hard 20 times followed by a 12 mile ride - but still not any stronger... the brakes squeak and I have to wind out the pads even more often than before

Any recommendations on how to resolve this (I'm pretty damn sure there wasn't/isn't any grease on the pads or rotor) or should I just spend some of my bonus on a nice hydraulic front brake?
If so, which brake - the juicy 7 is appealing to me right now - but I know nothing about makes, models or rotor size - advise me please
As a bonus I'm in the US right now so might be able to pick up a bit of a bargain via the joys of a strong pound...

supersonic

What brand of pads? I would give the rotor a good clean, and set the brake back up from new.

truespin

they're enduro ones (IIRC) that I got from the LBS when the old ones went back to the metal

I've already degreased the rotor and re-set-up the brakes which made little to no difference...

I wonder whether these pads do just take *ages* to bed in..?

I am quite tempted to just splash out on a fancy hydro front brake as I've just been given a 6 month bonus from work...

glasgowdan

You could spend a silly low bit of cash on my front hydraulic shimano deore that I'm selling (see classifieds!), excellent powerful brakes too

dav1

Which brake is it?

I have some Hayes MX2 on my bike and i find that you can quite easily kill the power with the smallest contamination when cleaning.

I fixed the problem on mine by cooking the pads in the oven for about half an hour (200 c, 400 F, gas mark 7 for 30 Min's ) and giving the rotor a good clean with disk brake cleaner. Worked a treat.