novice question

novicerider

hi new to the biking forum....been riding now for about 3 years,so thought i would upgrade my old mtb to a felt mtb with of course disc brakes(avid 3) and front forks...now thats where the fun bit comes in..just cant seem to get to grips with them....first the front pads kept catching slightly and making a horrible squeak,and now the pads are doing the same everytime i press on hard to stop,front and back!!...love the bike but what can i put on the pads to stop the squeak...many thanks for any helpful hints :P

nicklouse

you do not want to put anything on the pads.
how long have you had the bike?

novicerider

nicklouse wrote:

you do not want to put anything on the pads.
how long have you had the bike?

about 2 months :P

Bikerbaboon

From what i have found over my 4 months bikeing with disks is ....... they will start to squeek now and then. its even written on disk brake pads pacageing that they may squeek while bedding in and through out the pads life. the slight rubbing could be down to how you have the from wheel set.
make shure that the fron disk is not bent (minor bend can be straightend out, bad bends can not.)
try taking off the front wheel and put it back in place with hte frame positioned wheels down.

Hope any of that helps.

FSR_XC

Try resetting the callipers.

Juicy 3's are easy to do. Basically you loosen the calliper retaining bolts, hold the brake on and re-tighten.

Squeaking can be dirt or wet discs. Mine always squeak after washing the bike.

KonaMike

The above suggestion sorted out my squeaky brakes straight away !

novicerider

FSR_XC wrote:

Try resetting the callipers.

Juicy 3's are easy to do. Basically you loosen the calliper retaining bolts, hold the brake on and re-tighten.

Squeaking can be dirt or wet discs. Mine always squeak after washing the bike.

thanks for the replys sorry not to have replied sooner...now im a complete idiot when it comes to these disc brakes and the problem occurs when i press really hard on the brakes like when going down hill,the noise is quite loud!..tried wetting the discs and wiping them,but the problem seems worse then ever...re above post...what the hell are the calliper retaining bolts,what do they look like and where will i find them!! had a quick look but not sure which ones they are..can you put any oil or grease on the rotor...sorry the old form of brakes were so easy to service!..thanks for any help

BlackSpur

DO NOT put oil or grease on the rotor or pads mate! That is one of the worse things you can do! At best you'll have a ride ruined and have to shell out for a bottle of disc brake cleaner or similar, plus a set of new pads. At worst, you'll crash into a car and die.

Anonymous

I put new sintered pads on the rear of my bike on friday, and went for a quick blast round the local villages to bed them in. When I was going down one very, very steep hill, the noise from the new pads nearly ruptured my eardrums! incredible!

but after that, they were fine.

Bossangel

I am the idiot who sprayed wd40 on my brake pads etc last week and wondered why i had no brakes coming downhill at 30mph front wheel first into a gulley, need i say more so dont do it.