mountain bike brake discs

[drunknspike]

i have just got a mountain bike with discs on both wheels the bike is a kona kikapu 1 of the pads on both discs are against the discs while the other one isnt when i press the brake leavers the disc slightly bends dose this mean i need new brake pads???
ive never had a bike with discs before in the past ive only hd v brakes

 

[FDF]

Sounds like the brakes need adjusting so the pads both touch the disc when the lever is pressed.

 

[Big Black Stilo]

yes, pads/calliper/wheel are not alligned. the easiest way is to adjust the wheel position. if it still does it, then get out the allen keys

 

[Lupi]

If you get a long handled alan key, usually about a 4/5 size, loosen the pads of on both sides. Use one hand to squeeze the brake leaver, and with the other tighten the pads until you feel a little resistance.

When you look at the disc and pads from the front of the bike the one on the left should be almost touching the disc (to a point where at first it may rub ever so slightly). the other pad moves in and out with the leaver you want it set back just a little further away than the left one.

Hope that helps

Hay x

edit: just make sure that the wheel is in straight first! I find it helps to drop it in (its a kona so im assuming that it is going to have a quick release) when the bike is upside down as gravity holds it in place better

 

[drunknspike]

If you get a long handled alan key, usually about a 4/5 size, loosen the pads of on both sides. Use one hand to squeeze the brake leaver, and with the other tighten the pads until you feel a little resistance.

When you look at the disc and pads from the front of the bike the one on the left should be almost touching the disc (to a point where at first it may rub ever so slightly). the other pad moves in and out with the leaver you want it set back just a little further away than the left one.

Hope that helps

Hay x

edit: just make sure that the wheel is in straight first! I find it helps to drop it in (its a kona so im assuming that it is going to have a quick release) when the bike is upside down as gravity holds it in place better

thanx all for the advice had a bit of a play its better now when i get paid im going to get new disks cables pads

 

[Lupi]

thanx all for the advice had a bit of a play its better now when i get paid im going to get new disks cables pads

Your welcome, halfords was useful for something then lol

 

[Andy Monty]

What brakes are on it Hayes mechanical??


Lupi that method is ok on some Hydro brakes but if you have a lazy piston it will foce it off center and damage the caliper..

The Hayes mechanical have a static inboard pad...

Spike let us know what brakes they are (post a couple of pictures if you can't ID it..)

 

[ThisBitterPill]

My playbike runs original HOPE hydraulics....When they were all aluminium and hand-made....:yum:

They are like bike jewellery....Motorcycle levers....Alloy adjusters on the top of the cylinders for on-the-fly pressure adjustment.... :slayer:

 

[drunknspike]

they are mechanical

 

[Andy Monty]

My playbike runs original HOPE hydraulics....When they were all aluminium and hand-made....:yum:

They are like bike jewellery....Motorcycle levers....Alloy adjusters on the top of the cylinders for on-the-fly pressure adjustment.... :slayer:

Which boil and lock on when you really use them

had to bin mine had a rear hub collapse on me and had no other option but to ride back to the car managed to rub off the anodizing leading to oxidization and the pistons sticking got fed up of freeing them off

would like these (i have the older black and gold M4mono.)

 

[Andy Monty]

Spike they are shimano Cable...

First off where did you get the bike from? the cable length after the pinch bolt is downright dangerous (it can flap into the disc and fire you over the bars)

Also the metal plates between the bolts and rotors want bending tight to the head of the bolts (the Konas rear disc is usually factory fitted where as the front one is fitted by the shop to prevent it been bent in transit) to prevent the rotor bolts working loose......

If you first remove the pads and visually align the caliper so the disc sits centered in the caliper (both top and bottom)...

next remove the wheel and refit the pads...

on the inboard static pad there is a 5mm alan key hole on the back of the caliper this is used to wind the pad in or out you want it so its just touching the disc (ever so slightly)

next use the cable adjuster on the lever to fetch the outboard pad close to the disc..

and thats all there really is to it

 

[Andy Monty]

Spike have a look at this it shows an avid cable brake which is similar to your shimano ones the only real difference is the avid has a dial to adjust pad contact..
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=124

 

[ThisBitterPill]

had to bin mine had a rear hub collapse on me and had no other option but to ride back to the car managed to rub off the anodizing leading to oxidization and the pistons sticking got fed up of freeing them off(i have the older black and gold M4mono.)

Ouch!....Never had any trouble with mine boiling up I must admit....Then again I don't ride that many big descents....Never had any trouble with their hubs either....Big 'uns F & R....

 

[Andy Monty]

Ouch!....Never had any trouble with mine boiling up I must admit....Then again I don't ride that many big descents....Never had any trouble with their hubs either....Big 'uns F & R....

no these where a set of shimano hubs that collapsed have had one set of old XC's about 4 years (on the rear wheel) got the matching front one when the other shimano hub died.. and both are still running as smooth as the day it arrived from Chain reaction..

as for boiling my mate suffered with his C2's in North yorkshire then again i have had the m4's smoking in the dales a combination of lots of Pies and long Down Hill runs do tend to do that

 

[arc]

ewww cable operated disc brakes

they always used to be crap, have they generally got better or have Kona gone downhill (and i don't mean downhilling with the Stinky!)

 

[sludgeguts]

Both my lads have these cable disk brakes - what a PITA.
If you google, you can get some really good instructions for how to adjust them.

Then you get a puncture & have to remove the wheel & go through the whole rigmarole again - wheel has to come off as sods law dictates that you'll never find the puncture otherwise.
Sods law also dictates that you'll not put the wheel back on in quite the same place as it came off!

 

[Andy Monty]

Arc its the image thing at one point only high end bikes had suspension forks then all the cheap bikes had forks that resemble suspension forks, they they started to make a poor version of full suspension bikes (how the hell can you make a decent full suspension bike for £150 when i paid £250 for just the rear shock )

and now they have followed on with cheap and nasty cable discs and at the same time downgrade the rest of the bike to be able to get them on (if you find a £100->150 bike with full shimano gearing your very lucky

to give Spikes bike a bit of respect they are Shimano discs and whilst not in hope territory they do at least work and work better than V-brakes in the wet and mud...

the best cable brakes in my eyes are Avid BB7's they can fight their corner against hope minis any day unless its wet and you get fed up with adjusting the pads at the bottom of each hill..

 

[arc]

yeah, thats what i was thinking - i would be using magura hydraulic v brakes before looking at any cable disc brakes. again, like with full suspension, i just see it as a gimmick.. if it were me i'd bin them and fit some XT V's. it's what i have on my bike (ageing pro-flex 857!), and they do the job fine.

 

[Andy Monty]

ageing pro-flex 857!

wonder what that would fetch on ebay

I like my full susser with disc brakes then again i also enjoy my hardtail

 

[arc]

a fraction of the £2k it was new i suspect! even with its carbon fibre rear arm. being totally honest i hate it, i loved my old bike which was a hardtail jump / slalom frame. shame some pikey ****** nicked it