Brake lever pressed when wheel was off !

Baz C

As the title says , after getting a puncture on the way to work (some pr++k smashed a vodka bottle on the road :x ) i was putting my bike into my father-in-laws car and i accidently pressed the brake lever when the wheel was off , now i cant get the wheel back on as the pistons have clamped shut.

Can anybody point me in the right direction as i'm stumped ?

Cheers

Barry

p.s - the bike is a Cube Attention with Hayes Stroker Ryder disc brakes

canada16

I have always just used a flat head and pushed them back in.

But hey your brakes could be different.

Baz C

Never actually thought of doing that !. Might go out and give that a bash unless someone has a less destructive solution

hucking_fell

I use an ancient, possibly antique, butter knife that I found. Its really thin with a comfy ivory handle. It's also one of the most used tools that I have. Park Tools should really do them.

Push on the pads and not the pistons 'cos the pistons damage easy.

nicklouse

use something clean to press them apart.

Andy B

if you can wedge something a little less damaging than a screwdriver (credit cards or such like) in there that would be better as you might knacker your pads with a screwdriver, unless you're really careful

Chaz.Harding

What they all said. Just push them back in with some sort of thin, CLEAN object.

Try not to damage your pads, and pump the brake lever afterwards, to return the pistons to their normal operating posistion. Otherwise - NO BRAKES!!! ARGHHHH!!!

8)

Baz C

Thanks very much guys i'll nip out and give that a try , so standby for the 'i've just f++++d my caliper with a screwdriver/bread knife ' post

Chaz.Harding

You won't f*ck the caliper mate. No doubt about that (unless you slip and cut your hoses :shock: )

But you might f*ck your brake pads

Take it steady with old mr. Force, and you'll be fine.

Northwind

The ideal tool for this is a Laser gasket scraper (that's a gasket scraper made by Laser, not a gasket scraper with a laser in). Nobody ever uses these to scrape gaskets, as far as I can tell, I never have but it's a perfect pad spreader.

One leg off a wooden clothes peg is perfect also- wedge shaped and softer than the pads.

Baz C

Thats us all hunky-dory again ! i gave it a go with a clean knife and it worked no problem , so thanks to everyone that helped me ouy with my little problem.Now i just need to decide what kind of tyres i'm goin to put on it as i've noticed the sidewalls are all cracked on both tyres

Chaz.Harding

Baz C wrote:

Now i just need to decide what kind of tyres i'm goin to put on it as i've noticed the sidewalls are all cracked on both tyres

Post corrected mate!