Brakes Question ... Help Please !!

[cubby]

Hi, i have a Trek 4300 Disc (2009) owned for about 4 months, love the bike, but i have an issue with the brakes (mechanical disc), it first happened when i did Dalby Red Route, everything was fine, but when i was about 19 mile in it started raining, the rain and the grit where soon making the scraping noise on the disc's .... as i went to apply the brakes they were virtually none existant .... wasnt through heat as i wasnt going mad or owt ...

When i got home i replaced the pads and set the brakes up again, everything has been fine until today, just went out for a ride and ended up on a very muddy canal, and once again the wet and the mud seem to have knackered the brakes again...

Is this normal when they get a bit cacked up or do i need some better quality pads ????

Please help as i dont want to have to replace my brakes everytime i'm out in the wet/muddy conditions ...

Thanks in advance for any help ...

 

[Cubist]

Cubby
What you are hearing is simply water and grit getting between the pads and the disc. It sounds grim, but unless you find they still grind after the bike had been ridden away from water and mud, then it's nothing to worry about.

23 miles of red route at Dalby shouldn't have used up a whole set of pads, and I'm a bit puzzled as to how you lost all braking power. Were the pads new? They need a bit of bedding in, and funnily enough, the best way to do that is to ride the bike somewhere muddy, to get a bit of water and grit between the pads and the disc........

 

[cubby]

Hi Cubist, no the pads wern't new, they'd been on for about 400 miles, its not really as though they wear out because its all of a sudden there's nothing there, the lever touches the grip ... today now i have adjusted the cable and they are ok again, but i did have to pull the cable through about 3/4 inch to make the brakes work ok again ...

 

[Cubist]

Cable stretch then! Caused by the blind panic of heading down a really sketchy bit of Red Route in the rain, worrying that you've lost all braking power and listening to the pads bedding in 'cos of the water and grit on the pads!

Bring it along to Elland on Thursday night and we'll soon test it out on Norland Moor

 

[RedBike]

Its quite normal for disc brakes to rub when they get covered in mud. They normally clear themselves out as you ride along.

I've no idea whats going on with the complete loss of power. Your cable will probably need adjusting as the pads wear, but 3/4" sounds like a big adjustment just for pad wear. It's almost as though the cable is slipping / the caliper is moving?

I've no idea what quality the brakes are on the Trek but SOME cable discs tend to be rather poor quality.

 

[cubby]

Right ... cable stretch, just thought it was a lot but i suppose it depends how hard i yank on the brake lever dont it .. lol

Thursday evening, 7 o clock is it ? how far do you usually go, and how tuff is it ? i'm still pretty new to it, but yeah i reckon i'll show my face

 

[cubby]

Its quite normal for disc brakes to rub when they get covered in mud. They normally clear themselves out as you ride along.

I've no idea whats going on with the complete loss of power. Your cable will probably need adjusting as the pads wear, but 3/4" sounds like a big adjustment just for pad wear. It's almost as though the cable is slipping / the caliper is moving?

I've no idea what quality the brakes are on the Trek but SOME cable discs tend to be rather poor quality.

Thanks Redbike, must admit, i wondered if the cable was slipping, so i have now tightened it pretty tight, it just says Shimano on the calipers, so not sure what model they are ....

Just checked on the website, they are - Shimano M415, mechanical disc w/Shimano EF50 levers

 

[Cubist]

Right ... cable stretch, just thought it was a lot but i suppose it depends how hard i yank on the brake lever dont it .. lol

Thursday evening, 7 o clock is it ? how far do you usually go, and how tuff is it ? i'm still pretty new to it, but yeah i reckon i'll show my face

Cubby

We ride for a couple of hours, and the route can vary between 10 and 20 miles, depending on how much we want to put in. The routes are varied, and include some climbs some of us end up pushing, other heroes try to keep going etc etc! The Social Group is very much that. We ride at the pace of the slowest, or wait at strategic points. It's about 75% off road, with some technical stuff not everybody wants to ride down (or up for that matter) Don't worry, it's absolutely designed not to put anybody off.

 

[Cubist]

Get there at about 6.30-6.45 and look for the light green Discovery with a couple of Cubes in the back.

 

[cubby]

Right i'm gonna give it a go, will see you on Thursday ... unless it absolutly peeing it down again !!!!

See ya then ...