Disc brakes rubbing on new MTB

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lumbo

Member
Ive just bought a brand new second.anarchy.300 but it seems a bit slugish
And the disc brakes.are makind a constant rubbing.sound!.any advice please? Is there anything I can do to.improve this withaut spending money?ime pretty new to.mountain bikes and I cant undetstand as.its a new.big!
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
the tekto novella cable discs your bike has are a bit of a PITA to set up right of you dont know what your doing , i had many a hour fiddlign with them on my carrea subway till i learnt how to set them up.
Assuming the rotor isnt warped then the 1st thing i would do is centre the pad on the rotor by loosening the 2 bolts that attatch the brake to the frame. squeeze the brake or even better get someone to do it for you and it should be centered and you can tighten the bolts up again.
adjustent, you can adjust both inner and outer pads but the inner pad does not move and is adjusted in or out by an allen key on the wheel side , the outer pad moves and can be adjusted by a barrel adjuster or loosening /tightening the cable so when you have the pads centered and adjusted you should be able to look down into the brake and see a little bit of daylight either side of the rotor.
This website makes it easy
https://www.montaguebikes.com/folding-bikes-blog/2013/08/adjusting-mechanical-disc-brakes/
 

Tangoup51

Well-Known Member
Ey! Muddyfox, I love them. They're not the fastest things but they're pretty strong.

Yeah there's alot you can do to improve them my man, but first off new brakes are designed to bed, so they must be touching a little when they're new and this is normal. Just make sure it's not causing too much drag on your wheel, just nothing stupidly alot.

To measure if it's too much the best way to do it is to spin the wheel by hand (when the bike is off the ground) and it should spin for a good 5 seconds if you're putting a good spin on it by hand.

If it's spinning free you should leave it be,
also your bike is second hand "brand new" so it may not have much milage on it and so that means the pads aren't worn in yet.

Ignore the noise, that will quieten down over time, you want to make sure that you have the best balance of Lever Feel (i,e firm enough) to Lack of Brake Drag. IF you're happy with it currently, leave it be, if not, continue to read this post.


If you want to check if your brakes are working properly, it's really easy; but excuse my poor explanation further on.

The first thing you're gonna wanna do is google a youtube video on how to align / set up disc brakes. - A video will give you clearer instructions than anyone on forums.



Second thing you're gonna want to try is to just loosen the caliper mount bolts, these are the bolts that connect the Caliper to the fork. (caliper, being the bit that has the pads in it) Now, You may have these adapter mounts that connects to the fork then the caliper connects to the adapter mount.

Loosen off the bolts that Connect the Caliper to the Adapter mount, Not the bolts that connect the Adapter mount to the fork.

The aim here is to get side-to-side play in your caliper, so it's moving free. Don't take out the bolts completely.


Then you want to squeeze hard on the brake lever and tighten each bolt back up one-by-one equally, the idea is, this will automatically center the brake caliper around the rotor. Do not let go of the brake lever Until you have tightened the bolts.

After you've done that, you should have your rotor centered and it should be quiet now. If you find it didn't work, here's an alternative way

Loosen off the caliper again as before, but this time disconnect the cable that runs from the Brake Lever to the Brake Caliper; there should be a Allen key head at the caliper body, which is crimping the cable. Loosen it off so the cable comes out.

Then, on the Inboard side of the caliper (right side) you should see a silver shiny allen head in the centre of the caliper body, you'll have to go through the spokes of your wheel to access this.

Tighten that allen head until it will not tighten anymore, don't over-do it! just when it gives you a firm resistance.

Theeennn, you're gonna wanna re-tighten your caliper mounts again. (Do not hold the brake lever this time!) After doing that Equally and Evenly (Fyi, make sure the bolts are taught up quite snug) You need to back off that allen head from the inboard side, until the pad stops rubbing the rotor.

The second your pad stops rubbing the rotor, you're going to leave that allen head alone.

and now you need to re-attach your brake cable to the same place it was before on the allen bolt on the left side of the caliper.

Then after doing so, find a barrel adjuster (you will find these along the brake cable route from the brake lever to brake caliper) and turn it counter-clockwise Until you start hearing rubbing, you should let it rub a little, should sound like a metallic scraping noise, don't over-do it, just a little though.

If you're already hearing rubbing when you tighten up your clamp bolt, that's fine, just make sure it's not too much!

You should now have a firm and acceptable feel in your brake lever.

If you find you do not have a firm feel in your brake lever and it is coming too far in, then you'll need to adjust the Inboard pad again (by the allen head through the wheel spokes) and the barrel adjuster until it gives you the Best Balance of Lever Feel and Lack of Brake Drag
It's best to ignore how loud it is, it will quieten down, focus on Drag and Brake Lever Feel.

*sidenote - All Mfx bikes i've had before had their calipers working oddly well, so I do urge you to leave it alone if it passes the 5 second spin test already. (thats a rough guide)




 
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Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
Sorry about your problems. If you're sure about doing mechanical stuff I would take it to your local bike shop and let them do it. Shouldn't cost too much. Trying to explain the process is difficult, you might be better off looking at a video. This might help you:


View: https://youtu.be/jJ3x0mnfxbc
 
OP
OP
L

lumbo

Member
Hi,thanks for your help I did what you said and I also gave the pads a sand down and it works perfectly now,ive.been reading a lot of bad reviews of muddy fox and ive been trying to get a swap for a carrera but no
Joy!.can anybody put my mind at rest or is there anyone with a muddy anarchy 300 who likes them and what are the.best lookin tyers I can get to pimp it a bit?
Cheers
Mark
 
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