Disk brake cleaner aerosol - how often?

evernas

Hi lads.Just wonder-how often everyone of you use disk brake cleaner or some substitute like isopropyl alcohol or whatever?and is worth it to waste money about aerosol at all?

matty_boy76

I got some for xmas a couple of years back. Only really use it when I've been through some serious mud and the brakes start squealing like mad - like more than normal.

I guess it's handy to have if you do contaminate the rotors or pads with oil/grease/blood etc, but I hardly use it tbh.

Neily03

Never used anything on them other than water and muc-off or the like.

cee

I clean my rotors with IPA...

only when i might have gotten dot fluid or lube on them though...

not really a regular maintenance thing....

stubs

Only use it when I have been handling the wheel and theres a chance I have left fingerprints on the rotor. Also use it when fitting a new rotor they often have cutting fluid on them left from the machining.

njee20

Never. Give the rotors a bit of a rinse when I wash the bike, otherwise don't touch them, why bother!?

Thewaylander

What Njee said unless you have had accidental spillage when cleaing of grease/oil which happens when your in a rush for a cup of tea

then i use IPA and a blow torch to burn it off, works well.

But you need pad material on the disc to actually stop you quicker so you don't want to clean the discs to much if it can be avoided

Alex

Never unless the disc has somehow become contaminated. Every time you clean your brake rotor, you remove the pad material embedded within it that, meaning you have to be the brakes in all over again.

jairaj

yup what the others say. should only need to use it when they are contaminated. If they are just dirty then a bike safe cleaner should be fine. (I think some car shampoos have silicon or additives that give a good shine to paint work but not so good for brake pads - i maybe wrong on this.)

I went through a period of using brake cleaner before each ride as I could never get the brakes to bite properly like they used too. Turns out I just needed to chill out on the cleaner and let the brakes bed back in again. :oops:

matt@theforce

I've never cleaned my brakes in the last couple of months and done a whole load of varied riding in all conditions, they still perform greatly however the rear brake squeals constantly :x , think I might need to clean it and see if it gets any better.

blister pus

depends how dirty the rotors get and how much noise is generated but i'll quickly wipe the rotors down with isopropyl alcohol and clean rag every fortnight or something. takes 10 seconds for each rotor

andy46

i use muck off disc brake cleaner but only when brakes become noisy or when i give it a "proper" clean

Steve_b77

Erm as far as I can remember, never with anything special other than water

weescott

I started using propane gas to clean my disc brakes. Fire makes cleaning fun!

Anonymous

Never. Gets a rinse with water when I'm washing the bike but it needs nothing else. The pads themselves clean the discs and deposit pad material on the discs (which I understand is good), so long as they don't get contaminated.

weescott wrote:

I started using propane gas to clean my disc brakes. Fire makes cleaning fun!

And warps your discs probably. Might even weaken them.

Bar Shaker

Unless you contaminate the disc with an oil type substance, you shouldn't put any solvents on it. The braking function works best when there is a thin layer of pad resin deposited on the disc surface. This greatly increases the friction with the pad.

If the disc gets contaminated, the oil will break down the pad resin in that area and you will need to remove all of the resin and re-bed the brakes in. Sand the friction area of the disc in radial movements (into the centre and out - never along/around the friction surface) using very fine grit wet and dry. When you have a uniform matt surface, rinse off with a brake cleaner solvent. Remount the disc with clean hands and give it another solvent clean to be certain of no finger prints.

You then need to re-bed them in. 20 light pressure braking actions from walking pace but not quite stopping completely, 20 from running pace and then gradually build up the speed and pressure until doing fully pressure braking from high speed. Allow the disc to cool between brake applications. This will reapply the resin evenly giving much better friction and no squeal.

qgwp

Meths seems to be a perfectly thorough cheap option...

blister pus

Bar Shaker wrote:

Unless you contaminate the disc with an oil type substance, you shouldn't put any solvents on it. The braking function works best when there is a thin layer of pad resin deposited on the disc surface. This greatly increases the friction with the pad.

If the disc gets contaminated, the oil will break down the pad resin in that area and you will need to remove all of the resin and re-bed the brakes in. Sand the friction area of the disc in radial movements (into the centre and out - never along/around the friction surface) using very fine grit wet and dry. When you have a uniform matt surface, rinse off with a brake cleaner solvent. Remount the disc with clean hands and give it another solvent clean to be certain of no finger prints.

You then need to re-bed them in. 20 light pressure braking actions from walking pace but not quite stopping completely, 20 from running pace and then gradually build up the speed and pressure until doing fully pressure braking from high speed. Allow the disc to cool between brake applications. This will reapply the resin evenly giving much better friction and no squeal.

sounds great theory but none of that pans out for me in the real world

Anonymous

stubs wrote:

Only use it when I have been handling the wheel and theres a chance I have left fingerprints on the rotor.

If you're worried about fingerprints on rotors, then you must surely be a bike thief who's terrified of forensics.
BURN HIM. BURN THE THIEF

IanTrcp

Bar Shaker wrote:

You then need to re-bed them in. 20 light pressure braking actions from walking pace but not quite stopping completely, 20 from running pace and then gradually build up the speed and pressure until doing fully pressure braking from high speed. Allow the disc to cool between brake applications. This will reapply the resin evenly giving much better friction and no squeal.

Sounds like you've really thought about the bedding-in process. Do you have experience of running in new grips? Could you suggest a suitable protocol for that?

Bar Shaker

No ideas on grips but some history in race brake callipers and disc design.

Real world? My advise is only to help those who don't already know it all. I looked at my Elixir manual today. There's something similar about bedding in, In that too.

But, hey, WTF do I know? WTF do Avid know too?

IanTrcp

Fair enough!

My father has a set protocol for running in a new car. I've owned cars for shorter periods than he spends running in his new Honda every 5 years!! I'm an official rep for the drive/ride it normally but carefully for a while school of thought....

I'll stop interrupting this thread now. Sorry OP.

blister pus

Bar Shaker wrote:

Real world? My advise is only to help those who don't already know it all. I looked at my Elixir manual today. There's something similar about bedding in, In that too.

But, hey, WTF do I know? WTF do Avid know too?

Avid know how to give differing sets of advice for the same operations and if i followed to the letter their own instructional videos for bleeding my elixirs i'd end up, and have ended up, wasting a sh!t load of time with crap bleeds compared to the manual version bleeds.

point is, it's all trial and error and what works for one might not necessarily work another because of a shed load of different factors.

Bar Shaker

The great thing about the Internet is that we can share our experience from our trials and errors, helping others avoid making those errors. In this case, getting brakes that stop well without squealing or juddering.