New to disc brakes

ValeTudoGuy
ValeTudoGuy Posts: 87
edited June 2008 in MTB beginners
Hello people

Just a quick one, I have had my first set of disc brakes (Formula Oro) for a few weeks now and have put about 70 miles onto them. I have noticed that they have loosened up somewhat (Mostly the front, which gets used more)
They still stop me ok but no longer have that instant bite that I had got used to with them. The front brake is giving performance more like what I would expect from V’s.

My question is have they just bedded in and this is the true performance I can expect?
Or do they need adjusting having been used now for 70ish miles? Or have I worn out the pads? (Surely not after only 70 miles, although quite a bit of this was some rather hairy downhill stuff at Grizedale :twisted:)


Thanks


Marc

Comments

  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Have a look at the dics brake stickiies in the Workshop section.
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    sounds like summat is wrong, formulas are renowned for their amazing braking abilities even folks who have never used, them love them..

    is there a possibility you could have contaminated your pads whilst cleaning or lubing?
  • ValeTudoGuy
    ValeTudoGuy Posts: 87
    Contamination is possible, I just recently gave my new bike its first proper wash.

    Although I did use Muc-Off disc brake cleaner after.

    The leaver for the front brake seems to have a little bit more give before reaching bite point than it has before and there is no brake squeal or anything like that. So this makes me think that contamination isn't the problem although I could be totally wrong.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    well if its not contamination then it could be that the brakes werent very well set up by the workshop and they werent centred properly before you recieved the bike.

    when this happens it means amongst other things that one piston will move more than the other. this in turn means that one pad will get worn more than the other. if one pad is doing the most work it will wear down extremely quickly.

    once one pad wears the lever will have a longer throw resulting in the condition you have described.

    finally, as one piston is doing most of the work, the other one will begin to seize resulting in the excesive lever travel as the one piston has to move extra distance.

    if you are stil reading this far down, my advice is to remove the wheel and see if both pads have worn equally.
  • ValeTudoGuy
    ValeTudoGuy Posts: 87
    :-( dosent sound good.

    I reckon its about time I took the bike in for a quick check up in the shop I got it from.

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