Brakes don’t work

[SCree88]

Hello I’m new to this. Have purchased a used Carrera bike for my son. 18” frame mechanical brakes. Brakes don’t work. Have changed pads, rubbed to new coating off them and adjusted everything and the disc just spins and the when brakes applied you hear rubbing and not stopping them. Contacted a local bike specialist who said I should swap to hydraulic brakes as mechanical are useless. Is this true or are they just telling me this to get business and my money?
Thanks

 

[C R]

Hello I’m new to this. Have purchased a used Carrera bike for my son. 18” frame mechanical brakes. Brakes don’t work. Have changed pads, rubbed to new coating off them and adjusted everything and the disc just spins and the when brakes applied you hear rubbing and not stopping them. Contacted a local bike specialist who said I should swap to hydraulic brakes as mechanical are useless. Is this true or are they just telling me this to get business and my money?
Thanks

What type of bike is it? Flat bar or drop bar? What make and model are the calipers? Could you post some photos?

Many people, including me, ride bikes with mechanical disk brakes, and they definitely stop the bike.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I had an ebike with mechanical disc brakes for a while - they worked just fine

OK - hydraulic are better - but both work fine if adjusted OK

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Have you adjusted the brake cable?

 

[Oldhippy]

Nothing wrong with cable discs if set up properly and easy to do. They are most definitely trying to sell you stuff you don't need. Youtube cable disc set up.

 

[EckyH]

Brakes don’t work. Have changed pads, rubbed to new coating off them and adjusted everything and the disc just spins and the when brakes applied you hear rubbing and not stopping them.

Properly set up and adjusted mechanical disc brakes work. Some of them can work nearly as good as decent hydraulic brakes.
I assume that neither the disc rotor nor the brake pads are contaminated with grease or other lubricants.
Even fairly price optimised mechanical disc brakes will stop the bike.
This video is fairly good in my opinion:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9AONtEy7V8

Contacted a local bike specialist who said I should swap to hydraulic brakes as mechanical are useless. Is this true [...]?

No.

E.

 

[Oldhippy]

Many world travellers use cable disc as they are simple to fix and use whilst having the stopping power on a loaded bike.

 

[DaveReading]

The two most likely reasons for the brakes not working are

(a) not enough pressure being applied to the pads (i.e. binding or poor adjustment), or

(b) insufficient friction between the pads and disc (sub-standard pads or contamination).

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Another shoot and run new member.

 

[C R]

The two most likely reasons for the brakes not working are

(a) not enough pressure being applied to the pads (i.e. binding or poor adjustment), or

(b) insufficient friction between the pads and disc (sub-standard pads or contamination).

There's another possibility. The calipers are MTB calipers, so require V brake levers, but the bike has can canti/road levers, which don't pull enough cable.

 

[MontyVeda]

Another shoot and run new member.

Why do people feel the need to say this?
Is it ego? Setting themselves up for an I told you so!
I got the same comment on one of my first posts sixteen years ago.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Is it ego? Setting themselves up for an I told you so!

Nope could not be further from the truth. Just a frustration with people who sign up, ask a question, then disappear without engaging with the responses. It would be a bit like someone asking you for directions, then walking off without saying anything further, when you are mid response.