Polished disc brake pads

tgotb

Anyone else who commutes with disc brakes had issues with the pads getting polished? I'm having to sand mine down every month or so, to keep them grippy. Identical brakes/pads on the CX bikes seem to keep their grip until they wear out, so it's obviously dependent on the environment and braking pattern, but those aren't things that are going to change in a hurry.

I'm using sintered pads, on TRP Parabox brakes, and fairly confident I'm bedding them in properly. Experienced exactly the same issue with both organic and sintered pads on BB7s a couple of years ago.

timothyw

What about the rotors? Perhaps worth swapping them between the bikes to see if the problem goes with them?

tgotb

TimothyW wrote:

What about the rotors? Perhaps worth swapping them between the bikes to see if the problem goes with them?

Definitely the pads. Sanding the pads down fixes the problem; swapping in a set of CX wheels doesn't make any difference.

As an aside, the commuter does 99% of its miles on a single set of wheels; the CX bikes have wheels swapped pretty much continuously. However I suspect that what really makes the difference for the CX bikes is accelerated pad wear (mud, grit etc)...

roger_merriman

My wife's bike has a related problem in that the rotors have got polished just recently and pads a few times before that on the last two bikes.

It appears to be due to her commute and style ie fairly sedate and gentle braking.

My bike is a old MTB and though it has paniers and what not, it still gets some light offroading be that RP/Wimbledon/Tow paths and the like, it had got oil of some sort on the rear brake but I riding on the beaches etc seemed to scour that off, when on Holiday.

tgotb

roger merriman wrote:

It appears to be due to her commute and style ie fairly sedate and gentle braking.

What are you trying to suggest? :shock:

You might be onto something though; whilst I would prefer my riding style not to be described as sedate, I do tend to brake quite gently...

meanredspider

This is normally a sign of not bedding the pads in properly. If you're sure you're doing that properly, it could be that you need to do some harder braking from time-to-time.

roger_merriman

TGOTB wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

It appears to be due to her commute and style ie fairly sedate and gentle braking.

What are you trying to suggest? :shock:

You might be onto something though; whilst I would prefer my riding style not to be described as sedate, I do tend to brake quite gently...

She starts braking miles before I do, where as I partially on way home and or in a childish mood brake reasonably hard, this said my commute is mostly though Bushy Park which tends to lack cars and what not, I tend to give my self plenty of space on the road, even though the bike with decent brakes, big fat soft tyres can stop very quickly indeed, even one handed if need be.

tgotb

I'll try the odd hard brake when I'm riding through the park. If I did that on most of the rest of my route I'd most likely be rear-ended by a drafting fairy :roll:

roger_merriman

TGOTB wrote:

I'll try the odd hard brake when I'm riding through the park. If I did that on most of the rest of my route I'd most likely be rear-ended by a drafting fairy :roll:

remarkably considering the bike is Boris bike weight, and thus low 20's is rare, high teens to mid teens (MPH) much more common just now and then have picked up a fairy, do they not feel shame? lycra'd up roadie drafting a MTB/utilty bike in civies...

Anonymous

TGOTB wrote:

If I did that on most of the rest of my route I'd most likely be rear-ended by a drafting fairy :roll:

I'd hardly go so far to call myself a 'fairy'.....

tgotb

coriordan wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

If I did that on most of the rest of my route I'd most likely be rear-ended by a drafting fairy :roll:

I'd hardly go so far to call myself a 'fairy'.....

But neither are you a member of the ever-growing club of people (another new member today) who have rear-ended me...

veronese68

Mine were a bit like that, especially the rear. Just rode to Brighton, off road, and they work fine now. Sanding them would be quicker and easier though.

The Rookie

I'd be using Organic not sintered on a commuter anyway (oh, I do!).

Repeated gentle braking is a great way to glaze pads, MTFU!