Disk brakes - how much maintenance do they need?

[Mazz]

Lots of disc braked bikes come with a through axle these days. They have a removable lever which looks like a quick release but you just screw the axle out. In the 9 months I’ve had my bike I‘ve removed he back wheel once. So just unscrew the axle, take the wheel out, do your fettling or whatever, the slot the wheel back while putting the disc in to calliper. Screw axle back in, job done.

Ah, just seen a video. I didn't even know this style of lever existed, nice.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Lots of disc braked bikes come with a through axle these days. They have a removable lever which looks like a quick release but you just screw the axle out. In the 9 months I’ve had my bike I‘ve removed he back wheel once. So just unscrew the axle, take the wheel out, do your fettling or whatever, the slot the wheel back while putting the disc in to calliper. Screw axle back in, job done.

I wouldn't have a bike without TA's - easy to use & 100% accurate realignment when removing and replacing a wheel.

QR's are very old-tech these days and I never could stand how the teeth dug into the dropouts.

 

[Drago]

Im a heavy and powerful rider, a hard challenge for any cycling machinery, and have never had the slightest issue with QRs. That's not to say I don't like the thru axle arrangement on my bikes, but never had never experienced any failings of shortcomings with the old set-up.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Im a heavy and powerful rider, a hard challenge for any cycling machinery, and have never had the slightest issue with QRs. That's not to say I don't like the thru axle arrangement on my bikes, but never had never experienced any failings of shortcomings with the old set-up.

QRs work perfectly on our tandem with discs, and I thing together we might be nearly as powerful as @Drago !

You do need to be certain the wheel is fully in the dropout before tightening, otherwise you can end up aligning then realigning the caliper (obviously I would have no direct experience of this as I'm not that stupid, oh no, not me...) which issue is removed with Thru axles.

 

[Dan Lotus]

My old best bike is a Focus Izalco Max which weighs less than 6:8 kilos. Try and find a disc braked bike that weighs similar and doesn’t cost over 10 grand.
I did try myself and failed.

I'd agree you cannot buy a bike off the peg for less than 10K new that weighs that much, but you can put one together from parts for a fair chunk less than that if you are happy/have the time to shop around for specific parts.

Just to echo which I thin has already been said about mechanical discs - ime, they are worse than rim brakes.
Our Kona Minute came fitted with them, and I was needing to adjust them really regularly, and they would somehow frequently lose proper braking ability.
CRC (When they were good) had a set of levers and callipers on sale (I forget the make) for something crazy like £35, so I bought those, fitted them (sealed unit so no messing about) and the bike was transformed - aside from changing pads, they worked effortlessly, definitely turned it into the bike it always should have been - reliable and consistent braking, not needing constant adjustment.

 

[scotsbikester]

QRs work perfectly on our tandem with discs, and I thing together we might be nearly as powerful as @Drago !

You do need to be certain the wheel is fully in the dropout before tightening, otherwise you can end up aligning then realigning the caliper (obviously I would have no direct experience of this as I'm not that stupid, oh no, not me...) which issue is removed with Thru axles.

Yes, this was exactly my experience too. Once I'd realised to put the wheel back in the drop outs so it was seated the same way it came out, all was fine.

I've learnt to install and set-up cable discs, now all is fine (I built the bike up from scratch). Though I understand how some people want a a bike that needs very little maintenance.

There's an interesting contrast here though. When I asked a question about cantilever brakes, a lot of the replies were along the lines of - "cantis are fine, you just need to learn how to set them up". Whereas on the subject of disc brakes, it seems that some people think cable discs are too fiddly, so hydraulics are better. Though not necessarily the same people obviously. I'm not accusing anybody of anything, I'd hate to incur the wrath of the the "gurus".

 

[Drago]

I've found hydraulic brakes to be not at all fiddly.

Until theyre not.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

There's an interesting contrast here though. When I asked a question about cantilever brakes, a lot of the replies were along the lines of - "cantis are fine, you just need to learn how to set them up". Whereas on the subject of disc brakes, it seems that some people think cable discs are too fiddly, so hydraulics are better. Though not necessarily the same people obviously. I'm not accusing anybody of anything, I'd hate to incur the wrath of the the "gurus".

Yeah, people's views on brakes are remarkable for their fixedness and emotional intensity, except my views, which, naturally, are perfectly objective and rational

I do think cantis are (1) Very hard to set up right and (2) Change how they operate as they wear (because the angle of the straddle changes)

Cable discs have some advantages over hydro, and of course, not all cable discs are the same.

 

[si_c]

Im a heavy and powerful rider, a hard challenge for any cycling machinery, and have never had the slightest issue with QRs. That's not to say I don't like the thru axle arrangement on my bikes, but never had never experienced any failings of shortcomings with the old set-up.

Modern bikes with properly vertical dropouts are rarely an issue with QRs even if you're a gorilla, they can be an issue on older bikes with the adjustable angled dropouts - I found that the wheel was prone to slipping unless using very good quality QRs - the Shimano internal cam type - and bastard tight. But that really depends on the QRs and the frame (not all drop-outs are equal).

For disc braked bikes they can be a minor nuisance if you change the clamping force substantially as the rotor changes position a fraction of a mm and can rub against the pads. Not a huge problem to fix though. Thru-axles do solve this problem and make the wheel-frame interface more consistent, I find them a better solution and am very happy with them, but wouldn't be upset if I had to use QRs again.

 

[si_c]

Yeah, people's views on brakes are remarkable for their fixedness and emotional intensity, except my views, which, naturally, are perfectly objective and rational

Sorry to tell you this but I find your views irrational and offensive. You should really adopt mine.

I do think cantis are (1) Very hard to set up right and (2) Change how they operate as they wear (because the angle of the straddle changes)

Never ridden a bike with cantis but centre pulls are similarly a pain.

 

[scotsbikester]

Yeah, people's views on brakes are remarkable for their fixedness and emotional intensity, except my views, which, naturally, are perfectly objective and rational

"I am firm, you are stubborn, he is a pig-headed so and so"

Russell's conjugation, innit?

PS: would that it were limited to bicycle brakes. Swift said all that needs to be said regarding the best end to open a boiled egg.

 

[Alex321]

An earlier reply got me thinking - if I need to take the wheel off to repair a puncture, for example - is it easy enough to realign the disc/brake pads when refitting the wheel? I'm assuming QR levers come as standard on disc brake wheels, maybe I'm wrong.

The majority of disk brake wheels come with through axles rather than QR, and they shouldn't need any realignment - they never have with mine.

With QR it is slighhtly different, as it is more possible to shift the wheel very slightly from the position it was when taken out. Though even then, with hydraulic discs, they should self-adjust. Realignement MAY be needed with cable discs.

 

[scotsbikester]

For disc braked bikes they can be a minor nuisance if you change the clamping force substantially as the rotor changes position a fraction of a mm and can rub against the pads. Not a huge problem to fix though. Thru-axles do solve this problem and make the wheel-frame interface more consistent, I find them a better solution and am very happy with them, but wouldn't be upset if I had to use QRs again.

Whoo there boy! This changes literally everything. But let me get this straight, I want to be sure I understand. Are you really saying that you are happy using either through axles or QRs? That both are acceptable ways of attaching bicycle wheels to the frame? Come on now, this is an internet forum, has nobody told you the rules? Vehemently expressed opinions, based on nothing except your own experience (or even better, no experience), that's the way it works.

 

[mustang1]

If I was getting a disk brake bike today, it would absolutely have to be hydro disks (and I prefer mineral oil based ones, so Shimano and tektro although I hear SRAM have just launched a mineral oil one).

If I had to get a cable operated one, the. I would get a dual piston type like TRP Spare.

Otherwise I'd stick to rim brakes.

Maintenance: dunno, the brilliant guys at my LBS sort my bikes out. But for hydro disks, I reckon a brake bleed every two years FOR ME and I'm a heavy user (as in a heavy guy, a frequent rider, and hard user of the brakes themselves, off road stuff).

Good luck and enjoy the hunt!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

we might be nearly as powerful as @Drago !

😲😳