Disk brakes - how much maintenance do they need?

[recumbentpanda]

I have found cantilever brakes sometime difficult to keep adjusted and ‘balanced’ side to side! Discs can be fiddly or very much not so, depending on the nature and age of the set up. I began with Avid BB7 cable discs. Very effective, pretty good ’modulation’ but relatively fiddly to set up right and needing regular adjustment. These came to me second hand and I noticed that as I put more serious miles on them the problems got worse -sheer wear and tear on the internal mechanism of the calipers. Replaced them with very xpensive cable-hydraulic hybrids. Fabulous. Easy set up, very infrequent need for adjustment. Replaced them in turn, only because wanting to avoid eventual fluidy fiddling somwhere down the line. Replacements were back to pure cable, but at a price point astronomically above the BB7s. You gets what you pays for. The new cable operated calipers are essentially the same mechanically as the Avids, but in a beefier body, and much enhanced internal specs by comparison. Braking is indistinguishable from the hybrids and feels really precise and reliable.

Moral: as with any machine, an awful lot depends on spec, age and price-point.

A thing I notice is that while there are many reviews available of ‘aftermarket’ etc brakes of the kinds I have bought, it is much harder to find reviews or comparisons of ‘original equipment‘ systems (Shimano et al) which makes answering your question trickier.

One last item essential to a disc brake newbie - be careful when lubricating or cleaning the bike not to get anything greasy waxy or soapy anywhere near the discs and pads, even in tiny amounts, or you are in for a world of disc cleaning, pad scrubbing or part replacing misery!

 

[si_c]

One last item essential to a disc brake newbie - be careful when lubricating or cleaning the bike not to get anything greasy waxy or soapy anywhere near the discs and pads, even in tiny amounts, or you are in for a world of disc cleaning, pad scrubbing or part replacing misery!

This in spades, but you can mitigate it a bit with a blowtorch - MAPP gas does wonders at cleaning contaminants off pads, you just have to be careful not to get them too hot otherwise the backing delaminates. DAMHIKT.

 

[recumbentpanda]

I discovered this when my rear disc brake started losing efficiency and needing repeated cleaning. Eventually realised it was me applying lubricant to chain and then enthusiastically twirling the pedals to distribute the same -with bike slightly tilted to port on its kickstand!

None of the usual remedies, heat, acetone based cleaners etc seemed to shift it, and I ended up having to replace disc and pads. Now I slip a card protector over the disc when renewing the chain lube!

 

[Dadam]

Now I slip a card protector over the disc when renewing the chain lube!

This is why I keep all the round cardboard bases from supermarket pizzas!

 

[recumbentpanda]

Neat hack! Must go and buy a pizza -oh, but, aren’t they greasy?!!!

 

[Dadam]

Neat hack! Must go and buy a pizza -oh, but, aren’t they greasy?!!!

Not an issue for me, the cardboard is on the base so touching the dough not the cheese, and in any case any grease has soaked into the cardboard so can't get onto the disc. If you insert the cardboard through the spokes from the drive side it will never touch the disc itself

 

[HLaB]

Hi,
I was thinking of getting a new(er) road bike which has disk brakes. I've only ever had a rim brake bike.
Basic questions: How much maintenance do disk brakes need? No doubt the pads need changing from time to time, but what else needs doing to keep them in good condition? As an aside, is disk brakes hardware heavier than rim brakes?
Thanks

Based on my gravel bikes with disc brakes, there is practically no maintenance required with hydraulic brakes other new pads. If you store the bike vertically for some time some brake bleeding to remove air bubbles may be needed; store the bike horizontally or use it often its not an issue. I prefer my rim brakes on my road bikes partly because they are lighter, but mainly as with my hands, which often go numb until they warm up, I like their modulation better and can feather them on and off, where discs often feel on strong or off. But other folk say they prefer discs for modulation and their consistency.