Newbie - Brake Issues

desert eagle

Evening all,

I recently became disillusioned with the thought of spending my summer in a gym, so I cancelled the membership and bought a Kona Fire Mountain...

All is going well and I'm really enjoying my new found passion for flying down hills :shock:

However, I recently took off my front wheel (quick release) in order to fit my bike in the car. Ever since, the wheel hasn't properly aligned when I put it back on, and the front disc is touching the pad ever so slightly.

I'm worried that I'm either going to wear the brake pad down soon, or that I'm expending a significant amount more energy than I should be doing due to the increased friction.

The wheel spins freely before I tighten the nut; but when I clip the release bar down, the disc is pulled towards the pad and makes contact. If I spin the wheel when it's fully tightened and locked, and I can hear the disc rubbing.

Any advice on how to solve this problem would be very much appreciated!!!

nicklouse

fit wheel correctly and then align the caliper.

have a read of the info on Parktools for info on whatever type of brake you have.

but if it was OK before I would look at the wheel fitting first. dont do up the Qr ubtill the bike is on its wheels ( or undo and redo when on its wheels).

specializedsteve

is it the type with nut on opposite side to qr lever?
If so, undo the bolt a few turns then do the qr lever. it sometimes help as the tightness has to be equal on both sides. doesnt work in all cases though.

cooldad

That makes no sense. A QR has a nut on one side and lever on the other. Adjust using the nut and tighten using the lever.

cooldad

The tightness is the same both sides, the skewer 'floats' inside the axle.

specializedsteve

Really? damnit. :oops:
Im sure i read it in specialized manual somewhere it had to be equal.
Nevamind. thanks for the correction.

specializedsteve

doesnt the skewer pull from the nut side? therefore if you tighten the nut, the skewer would increase the pressure on that side? or am i wrong again, lol?

how does it work then?

cooldad

The lever is fixed, so you can only adjust the nut. Nothing to 'equalise'.

Anonymous

specializedsteve wrote:

doesnt the skewer pull from the nut side? therefore if you tighten the nut, the skewer would increase the pressure on that side? or am i wrong again, lol?

how does it work then?

You are wrong, and quite dangerously so. It's pretty bad idea to offer "advice" to newcomers when it could lead to quite serious injury.

Skewers only have one threaded end, which is opposite the lever.
When you close the lever, a cam mechanism reduces the distance between the nut, and the QR.
That's it., There's nothing more to it than that.

diy

When you remove a wheel with Hydraulic brakes, you need to insert a pad spacer to stop the pistons closing up. A bit of cardboard will do the job if you don't have a proper one. The problem was likely caused by the pistons closing up.

As others have said, check that the wheel is correctly in the drop outs, if still no good. Find something flat like a tyre lever, chisel or screwdriver and gently open the pads up again. Refit the wheel and squeeze the brakes a few times to realign.

bails87

diy wrote:

When you remove a wheel with Hydraulic brakes, you need to insert a pad spacer to stop the pistons closing up. A bit of cardboard will do the job if you don't have a proper one. The problem was likely caused by the pistons closing up.

Only if you pull the brake lever while the wheel is off the bike. They won't just 'close up' on their own.

specializedsteve

Sorry to everyone.
Just tried to give advice to help, didnt know i was wrong.
we live and learn.
:oops:

desert eagle

Thanks for everyone's input.

Unfortunately the problem still seems to be there. I've tried putting the wheel on with the bike stood upright, upside down and every which way. Still no success. The brake pad itself now also seems to be moving a bit 'too' freely.

The bike is only 4-5 weeks old so it's due the free service from Evans Cycles soon; I'll bring it up with them. Thanks again everyone 8)

paulbox

Realign the caliper, it is very quick and easy to do.

Fit the wheel correctly
Loosen the caliper bolts
Squeeze the front brake
Gently re-tighten the caliper bolts (with brake still squeezed)
Squeeze and release brake a few times.

Wheel should spin freely, if not you might have move the caliper slightly while re-tightening.

Look on YouTube if in any doubt, there are some good demo videos.

Anonymous

^^Everybody keeps repeating that technique but I've never ever had any success with it.
Fa better (in my experience) to take a little time and just align the calliper by eye.

diy

It works if your brakes and discs are in tip top condition, but if you have uneven pad wear, sticky pistons or rotors a bit knocked out of shape then you might need to re-align by eye. If your brakes are working properly and you have contact adjustment you can get the pads so close to the rotors that you would not be able to easily align them by eye. That is ultimately what I am aiming for when setting my brakes up so they behave as close to motorbike brakes as possible.

I tend to use the squeeze technique and then make minor adjustments if required. On the mrs bike (avid juicy 5s) you can just use the squeeze technique, since her bike has had no abuse whatsoever.

Anonymous

diy wrote:

I tend to use the squeeze technique and then make minor adjustments if required.

This is what I do as well, inever find that a squeeze then tghten works well enough (ony my bikes, or any that I've worked on)

If your brakes are working properly and you have contact adjustment you can get the pads so close to the rotors that you would not be able to easily align them by eye.

ooooooh, not agreeing with that. Brakes get covered in all sorts of cack. Plus there's a little flex in the fork leg, and some play in the bearings of the wheels. To have the pads that close would mean suffering the endless pinging noise