Brake caipers, disks and pads! HELP!

Papa Smurf

My pretty much new brakes (Kooka Mechanical) are not all that great. The actual calipers are ok I guess but I'll get to that..
They've been on the bike 4 months and the pads are worn to almost non-existence so have brought Shimano ones which I used in my last breaks and were fine.

My question is that when I brought the brakes I got the calipers & rotors all in 1 kit, and as it was only £40- The rotors are very flimsy and very rusty, as too are the bolts!
I'm going to clean up my old rotors and see how they get on before buying new ones (old ones are... Old. basically ) So should I see how I get on with them and consider new ones or keep using the old ones? What sort of life do that have? (The old ones I want to put on are about 4 years old).

Also, my actual calpers tend to... Move..
Sometimes when I'm riding the back one rubs, but as soon as I squeeze the brake it rights itself and doesn't rub... For a while anyway.
It's not lots of movement at all, but does drive me nuts as they tend to lean in at the bottom and it causes me all kinds of trouble.
Can I put some kind of washer on the thread bolt that screws the caliper to my frame or is there a better way?

So yeah, I want the cali[ers to stop moving and the disks to stop rusting and being so damn flimsy!
(I will clean the disks, but they're that shite they'll be fooked in a week)

Cheers!

(Net usage is very limited, so reply's may be few and far between)

nicklouse

sorry what?

you bought new pads? new brakes? what shimano? (got a number/picture)

to clean wet and dry. wire cup for discs. bolts replace. new pads... set up correctly (depends on what you have)

Read the how toos on park tools as they cover most brakes and may cover what ever you have. Or visit shimanos webby and download the relevant manual/fitting kit. Once you have spotted which of the many brakes you have........

RussAlf

Dont waste your time with them, chuck them in the bin.

You can pick up Hayes 9s or Avid 3s second hand for under £80. Or you can if you search around get some new ones for around £100.

Papa Smurf

nicklouse wrote:

sorry what?

you bought new pads? new brakes? what shimano? (got a number/picture)

to clean wet and dry. wire cup for discs. bolts replace. new pads... set up correctly (depends on what you have)

Read the how toos on park tools as they cover most brakes and may cover what ever you have. Or visit shimanos webby and download the relevant manual/fitting kit. Once you have spotted which of the many brakes you have........

I brought new brakes which included the caliper, disks and bolts. The disks are crap so I want to know what sort of life semi decent rotors have as I want to use my old ones for a while, but they're 4 years old and have been used almost everday.

After closer inspection... The actual caliper is done up but the main part of it moves around the actual mount that's connected to my frame... Pretty sure it shouldn't do that yes??

And while I'm here.. Would definately love some hydraulic brakes but I don't have the mounts to feed the cables through and do them up by cable tie.
I hear you can get a Hope kit which gets around this... Anyone know of or such a thing or have any experience in using one?
(Basically, fitting hydraulic cables to a bike which is made for cable brakes

supersonic

Some cable disc brakes have 'floating' calipers which do as you describe - supposed to stop excessive rubbing, and you just get 'free' running drag if it does contact. Then you pull the lever and it floats back to central.

RussAlf

Cable Guides

Here Out of stock but google them.

HereIve got some on my bike and they very good.

Or just drill out your exsisting holes.

And

Hayes Stroker Set £99

Taa daaa

stubs

No wonder no one bought my old hopes they are all buying spanky new hayes kit oh well they can join all the other part worn bits in me shed