Replacement disc brake pad adjuster?

[T4tomo]

Get what you pay for
If you change to hydraulics you need to change the shifters, which is expensive esp on a roadbike

OP has a Carrera subway - a flat bar hybrid

OP - you pays your money - cheap cable disc often aren't that great, you pay a bit more you get better.

Depends on whether you want to spend minimum to get back on the road or upgrade to decent cable discs or reasonable hydro discs. good news is flat bar stuff is cheaper than road bike stuff.

have you tried speaking to your local halfords, which are open, they might have the part you need kicking around in the workshop.

 

[vickster]

OP has a Carrera subway - a flat bar hybrid

OP - you pays your money - cheap cable disc often aren't that great, you pay a bit more you get better.

Depends on whether you want to spend minimum to get back on the road or upgrade to decent cable discs or reasonable hydro discs. good news is flat bar stuff is cheaper than road bike stuff.

have you tried speaking to your local halfords, which are open, they might have the part you need kicking around in the workshop.

aren't the shifters different between mechanical & hydraulic then (I did not know they are the same)
...and presumably if they are different as I thought, there's some cost in switching?

 

[T4tomo]

aren't the shifters different between mechanical & hydraulic then (I did not know they are the same)
...and presumably if they are different as I thought, there's some cost in switching?

Yes different between hydro and cable (as the shifter contains the oil reservoir) and between flat bar and road bike - that was my point , you mentioned road bikes / BB7s and someone maybe the OP the expense.

 

[vickster]

Yes different between hydro and cable (as the shifter contains the oil reservoir) and between flat bar and road bike - that was my point , you mentioned road bikes / BB7s and someone maybe the OP the expense.

I said I didn’t know if BB7s can be used only on road bikes (ditto Spyres)

 

[Shoxt3r]

Get what you pay for
If you change to hydraulics you need to change the shifters, which is expensive esp on a roadbike

Yeah very true haha. Reviews are generally favourable, just a couple which say they're difficult to install and low quality.
Ah ha...did not know that at all - thanks very much for the heads-up!

Looks like it will be a set of cheap and cheerful mechanical disc brakes for me then.

I have seen Clark 22 s that are dual but reviews aren't good

Hmm not good - are they likely to be better than the Tektros I have on there already?

Went for a ride today and definitely not feeling right (understandably!!) - making good use of my rear brake instead until I can get it sorted!

 

[Shoxt3r]

OP has a Carrera subway - a flat bar hybrid

OP - you pays your money - cheap cable disc often aren't that great, you pay a bit more you get better.

Depends on whether you want to spend minimum to get back on the road or upgrade to decent cable discs or reasonable hydro discs. good news is flat bar stuff is cheaper than road bike stuff.

Yeah makes sense. I guess I'm just trying to spend the minimum to get back on the road again - but the minimum (getting a replacement caliper) is turning into getting some slightly better brakes for not much more money (prices I've seen suggest that it's £13 for a caliper inc. delivery, or £24 for a set of new disc brakes which are presumably better than what I already have?).

have you tried speaking to your local halfords, which are open, they might have the part you need kicking around in the workshop.

Unfortunately that was my first port of call - the central Halfords Customer Service couldn't help so I went into my local store the other day and they scoured the Halfords stock online as well as their competitors but apparently (as has already been suggested) the parts are so cheap the suppliers don't sell the adjuster as a separate component (I can't find a suitable replacement anywhere else either).

He suggested the only option was to get a new set of brakes - £30 per brake in-store - which he admitted was a silly sum of money to spend just to get the adjuster.

 

[Shoxt3r]

Ok so after quite a bit of research on various retailers I'm struggling to find a decent caliper or brake set for the front without spending quite a bit of money...

Also retailers are very much leaning towards hydraulic it would appear.

There's the choice of one of the following:

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Avid-BB7-M...l38pYTZXSxkEYGIjDUQtG39zSxJrtmIBoCxTQQAvD_BwE

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/front-mechanical-disc-brake-kit-promax-dsk330-r/_/R-p-202954

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/cable-activated-disc-brake-kit/_/R-p-141530

Definitely a case of get what you pay for! The latter for example is a Tektro underneath the packaging so presumably no better than what I have.

 

[vickster]

Promax don’t have a great rep. BB7 best

 

[si_c]

Of those the BB7, but it's only single sided activation IIRC, so I'd personally look for s single TRP spyre caliper, they're the best mechanical disc brake out there pretty much short of going for the cable actuated hydraulics like the TRP Hy/Rd or juin R1.

 

[Shoxt3r]

Promax don’t have a great rep. BB7 best

Cool, thanks!

Of those the BB7, but it's only single sided activation IIRC, so I'd personally look for s single TRP spyre caliper, they're the best mechanical disc brake out there pretty much short of going for the cable actuated hydraulics like the TRP Hy/Rd or juin R1.

Ah ok - so one of these?
https://www.merlincycles.com/trp-spyre-post-mount-disc-brake-caliper-106630.html

Looking at my current setup I seem to have a black bar which connects to the frame - presumably this is some sort of adapter which I'd need to carry over to the new brake to have it fit correctly?

Also, can anyone point me in the direction of a guide to replacing brakes? It's probably a case of unbolting the old one and fitting the new, then aligning as needed but just want to be sure as it'll be my first time doing this!

 

[T4tomo]

park tools is your friend

whatever you buy will have some rudimentary fitting instructions, link above will help you set them up. or google for spefic brand you end up buying for tips on setting them up.

basically yes, the caliper bolts onto the fork / frame, so take one off and put the other on. then have fun getting the aligned. With BB7s I recall you slacken the caliper bolts, stick a business card between the rotor and the pad and squeeze the lever, then tighten the bolts with the lever still being squeezed to set optimal distance without it rubbing, and then dial in or out the adjustable pad.

 

[Shoxt3r]

park tools is your friend

whatever you buy will have some rudimentary fitting instructions, link above will help you set them up. or google for spefic brand you end up buying for tips on setting them up.

basically yes, the caliper bolts onto the fork / frame, so take one off and put the other on. then have fun getting the aligned. With BB7s I recall you slacken the caliper bolts, stick a business card between the rotor and the pad and squeeze the lever, then tighten the bolts with the lever still being squeezed to set optimal distance without it rubbing, and then dial in or out the adjustable pad.

Thanks very much!
I've noticed that there is a slight variation on the TRP Spyre - for about £10 more there's the SLC version which seems to be lighter...

https://www.merlincycles.com/trp-spyre-post-mount-disc-brake-caliper-106630.html

https://www.merlincycles.com/trp-spyre-slc-post-mount-disc-brake-caliper-106632.html

 

[T4tomo]

8g lighter not sure who would notice that!

if you are sticking with cable discs (and hence same shifters) you only really need to replace the front caliper. the front is where you do most of your breaking anyway, you could leave the old caliper on the rear and see how you get on.

 

[si_c]

Thanks very much!
I've noticed that there is a slight variation on the TRP Spyre - for about £10 more there's the SLC version which seems to be lighter...

https://www.merlincycles.com/trp-spyre-post-mount-disc-brake-caliper-106630.html

https://www.merlincycles.com/trp-spyre-slc-post-mount-disc-brake-caliper-106632.html

Either should be good, but I wouldn't pay the extra for the SLC version, it's really not worth it for a few grams.

 

[si_c]

Looking at my current setup I seem to have a black bar which connects to the frame - presumably this is some sort of adapter which I'd need to carry over to the new brake to have it fit correctly?

That bar is essentially a mounting adapter and allows for the fitting of the a post mount caliper to that fork. It will need to stay, but you don't actually need to remove it from the frame, just remove the caliper and then bolt the new one in place. You may need a new brake cable so have one on hand - it depends on the position of the actuation arm, you may get away with using the old cable.

As for alignment, follow @T4tomo 's directions for getting it aligned - it may take a couple of tries to get it right - if you don't get it aligned and not rubbing the first time, slacken the bolts slightly then jiggle the caliper slightly, pull the brake lever tight and retighten the bolts and try again. You will be able to visually see if it's got the space around the caliper on the Spyre so it's actually quite easy to get right.

Also as mentioned above, you only need to replace the front caliper don't worry about the rear, it doesn't provide as much of the power so provided it feels fine to you now you can leave it. Personally I hate mismatched brakes so I'd probably change it too, but that's just my own personal obsessiveness.