Brakes completely worn in under 500 miles?
CRAIGO5000
Posts: 697
I have a Trek FX7.1 and the rear V-brake have pads that are worn to the stops.
I've only covered under 500 miles on the road with this bike from new since Jan. Looking at the cost of new Shimano brake pads it does seem that they are quite expensive for what they are. Braking is good to be fair and I don't see a difference in stopping power either when it's wet but Iam light and I don't ride too fast (average ~15-16mph on a commute)
Is this wear to be expected? My fronts have light wear, but obviously I only drag the front brake lightly compared to the rear.
I've only covered under 500 miles on the road with this bike from new since Jan. Looking at the cost of new Shimano brake pads it does seem that they are quite expensive for what they are. Braking is good to be fair and I don't see a difference in stopping power either when it's wet but Iam light and I don't ride too fast (average ~15-16mph on a commute)
Is this wear to be expected? My fronts have light wear, but obviously I only drag the front brake lightly compared to the rear.
Ribble Stealth/SRAM Force
2007 Specialized Allez (Double) FCN - 3
2007 Specialized Allez (Double) FCN - 3
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I would have thought that the front would wear quicker than the rear... Do you use the rear significantly more than the front? Were they badly adjusted? I would expect between 1500 and 2000 miles out of mine.FCN 2 to 80
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If you're doing a lot of winter urban riding then that sort of wear rate is not far off what I'm getting this winter; lots of stopping in a short distance combined with filthy roads have taken their toll.- - - - - - - - - -
On Strava.{/url}0 -
Depends on weather, if that's through dry usage, I would be a bit miffed.
I fitted some salmon koolstops last April and they haven't worn out yet. That's probably a good 4 or 5 months on that bike, 80-100ish miles a week.
I'm not on the brakes all that much though
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Sounds about right after the weather we've had this winter, especially for city commuting. You will also find that you have significantly worn your wheel rim as well, when I had a city commute my wheels were barely lasting 5000 miles. You should also be using your front brake rather than the rear, more stopping power and front wheels tend to be cheaper to replace!Dolan Preffisio
2010 Cube Agree SL0 -
Waiting for replacements for my brakes after the winter. As CarlosDSanchez stated, I seem to have worn some small canyons into my rims
FCN 9 || FCN 50 -
A little bemused here as I have two road bikes a Giant SCR 1 and a Bianchi mono which have done 6000+ miles and 2900 miles respectively and neither bike has any where near enough wear to consider replacing the blocks.
How therefore do you wear the brake blocks so quickly?
(Rear brake is only used in an emergency.)
Are we talking hydrolic brakes here?.0 -
Crikey! I'll try to ride and brake with a little more respect then. I don't fancy constantly buying and changing pads every other month.
The bike has been in service from early January (this is when I decided to commute to work) as I slowly phased out using my car. As the weather gets better by the week, Im using the bike 90% of the time now so I'll be sure to keep an eye on wear.
Cheers,
Craig
Edit: Perhaps I need to learn how to respect the components of the bike. I always use the rear and only use the front if I need added stopping power. I have a in-built worry from childhood riding that solely using the front will result in me going over the handlebars or the wheel skidding in the wet on a painted line/grid and dropping me off the bike.Ribble Stealth/SRAM Force
2007 Specialized Allez (Double) FCN - 30 -
plowmar wrote:A little bemused here as I have two road bikes a Giant SCR 1 and a Bianchi mono which have done 6000+ miles and 2900 miles respectively and neither bike has any where near enough wear to consider replacing the blocks.
How therefore do you wear the brake blocks so quickly?
(Rear brake is only used in an emergency.)
Are we talking hydrolic brakes here?.
London Grime/London commuting - if I'm not accelerating hard I'm braking hard. I bet you're still on your first chains too?
FCN 9 || FCN 50 -
Actually, I've also got a habit of holding onto the front brake a little to provide resistance when I'm pootling behind something waiting for it to accelerate, or the chance to get around it. Maybe I should review this?FCN 9 || FCN 50
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Have a read of the late Sheldon Brown's article on the subject http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html"Coming through..."0
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Some people seem to wear things out more than others. I can't explain it.
Yes winter riding is harder but.....
I always get thousands of miles out ot my pads and I have never replaced a chain. Longest I have seriously used a bike/chain is 10 years and i am no light weight :shock:
City riding must be harder with lights etc but I never emergency stop for lights. I am either going through or if I see amber, slowing.None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.0 -
daviesee wrote:Some people seem to wear things out more than others. I can't explain it.
Yes winter riding is harder but.....
I always get thousands of miles out ot my pads and I have never replaced a chain. Longest I have seriously used a bike/chain is 10 years and i am no light weight :shock:
City riding must be harder with lights etc but I never emergency stop for lights. I am either going through or if I see amber, slowing.
Same...I commute into the city and don't have a big problem with wear. The only time I do see problems is when it's tipping it down. Then my brake pads and rims are full of black stuff.
Basically if I'm coming upto a light i'll give the brakes a few light squeezes in advance, rather than one large one at the end.
So my brake usage is more like off on off on off on ...rather than off off off off off ONNNNNNNNNNNN (skid!!!)0 -
Depends on the weather and depends on where you ride. If you're in a busy city your on the brakes all the time, if like me you commute a lot on country lanes then you hardly ever use the brakes. It's not possible to compare apples with pears.0
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CRAIGO5000 wrote:I have a Trek FX7.1 and the rear V-brake have pads that are worn to the stops.
I've only covered under 500 miles on the road with this bike from new since Jan. Looking at the cost of new Shimano brake pads it does seem that they are quite expensive for what they are. Braking is good to be fair and I don't see a difference in stopping power either when it's wet but Iam light and I don't ride too fast (average ~15-16mph on a commute)
Is this wear to be expected? My fronts have light wear, but obviously I only drag the front brake lightly compared to the rear.
Sounds like either you brake too much (I keep them for when i really need to stop in the interests of self-preservation) or you're not cleaning* the rims and pads often enough.
*Use one of those foam washing-up pads with one abrasive surface you can buy in packets of five from supermarkets for about £1. Wash gently around the rim with washing-up liquid, scrub the pads with the abrasive side. Allow to dry then ride.___________________________________________
People need to be told what to do so badly they'll listen to anyone0 -
+1 for the keeping the rims/pads clean.
The pads you get with a bike never usually last particularly long, in my experience, especially through the winter months. You can get longer lasting ones, but there's always going to be a trade off between pad wear, stopping ability or rim wear. If the pads are tough and stoppy, they'll eat the rims, etc.
Shimano pads are probably quite expensive, too. I get all the pads for my bikes from an ebay seller called bikefridge. Quick delivery, good prices and a range of very good products.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/International- ... 4340.l25630 -
Sorry jds_1981 but re chains have had two new, a new cassette and replacement chainring, but tyres are fine.
Perhaps, as I don't have a lot of town / city riding I'm able to anticipate further ahead and have only a couple of lights to negotiate so not a lot of stop starting.0 -
500 miles is probably about what I get. Stop/start London riding does wear them quite hard. I buy the inserts on a price match from Evans. I'm happy to ride soft easy wearing pads rather than wearing the wheel rim. Something got to give when you're braking, I suppose.0
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Good point. Topping up on pads is cheaper and easier than rim replacement. I'll be sure to wash the rims and pads more and also get using the front brake instead of the rear! :oops:Ribble Stealth/SRAM Force
2007 Specialized Allez (Double) FCN - 30 -
Shimano pads last ok but Koolstops are better
500 miles is a bit too soon for a rear to wear out, i would expect double that from a front brake0 -
Well today I splashed out a massive £4 for a new front and rear set of Bell V-stop pads which are a good 1cm longer than the worn out Shimano pads I pulled.
One thing I did notice from the Shimino's was the amount of aluminium or metal flake compound embedded in the pad. They must put that in to prolong the pad life and create friction but I can only see it chewing through a rim!
We'll see how these fair. After a few thousand miles on pads this cheap, they'll pay for a new rim Ribble Stealth/SRAM Force
2007 Specialized Allez (Double) FCN - 30 -
CRAIGO5000 wrote:One thing I did notice from the Shimino's was the amount of aluminium or metal flake compound embedded in the pad. They must put that in to prolong the pad life and create friction but I can only see it chewing through a rim!
That's aluminium from your rim mate. Grit gets into the interface between pad and rim and causes the rim to pick up. You need to regularly dig that stuff out as it will stop your brake pads from working and ultimately wreck the rim.- - - - - - - - - -
On Strava.{/url}0 -
+1 for the link, I'll be needing some replacement cartridges for my XTR brakes soon. Are the colours different compounds (like Kool Stops) or just for show?UndercoverElephant wrote:I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.0 -
So if I'm doing 80 miles per week commuting in all weather, how often should I be cleaning the rims and pad surfaces - I'd guess once a week?
Is a scrubbing brush and some soapy water the best thing to use?Ribble Stealth/SRAM Force
2007 Specialized Allez (Double) FCN - 30 -
Initialised wrote:
+1 for the link, I'll be needing some replacement cartridges for my XTR brakes soon. Are the colours different compounds (like Kool Stops) or just for show?UndercoverElephant wrote:
I don't know, to be honest. I used to run the tri-colour ones on my bikes, and the compounds were of different hardnesses, though I'm not sure how that helps. I've moved to the plain back ones recently, and they seem at least as good in all conditions.0 -
CRAIGO5000 wrote:So if I'm doing 80 miles per week commuting in all weather, how often should I be cleaning the rims and pad surfaces - I'd guess once a week?
Is a scrubbing brush and some soapy water the best thing to use?
That tends to be my maintenance routine, a quick wash of the bike and a de-grease/re-grease, plus any jobs which need doing.0
