My brakes are too tight - is it because the bike is new, or do they need adjusting?

[Boris Bike]

My bike is 2 weeks old and I've ridden around 100 miles so far.

I had the bike up on my rack yesterday and spun the front wheel. It only made a couple of rotations before stopping, and you could hear it rubbing against the brake pads. Will this settle down soon as the brakes wear in, or do I need to adjust them? If so, how?

It has Avid BB5 disk brakes - would I just follow this - http://bluecollarmtb.com/2006/10/30/how-to-dial-in-avid-bb5-mechanical-disc-brakes/ ?

Cheers

 

[Angelfishsolo]

My bike is 2 weeks old and I've ridden around 100 miles so far.

I had the bike up on my rack yesterday and spun the front wheel. It only made a couple of rotations before stopping, and you could hear it rubbing against the brake pads. Will this settle down soon as the brakes wear in, or do I need to adjust them? If so, how?

It has Avid BB5 disk brakes - would I just follow this - http://bluecollarmtb...al-disc-brakes/ ?

Cheers

The dialling in is a good place to start.

 

[Boris Bike]

Thanks - I'll give it a go.

It does have a free 6-week service coming up in a few weeks but I'd like to learn how to do things myself and this looks simple enough.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Thanks - I'll give it a go.

It does have a free 6-week service coming up in a few weeks but I'd like to learn how to do things myself and this looks simple enough.

Always a good idea. Some mechanical disk brakes can be adjusted for the callipers as well. You can use an Allan key to move the pads away from the rotor. One other thought is teh wheel is out of true. The other possibility is the rotor is warped. Hard to tell without taking it off (if possible - Some are affixed with studs) and laying it on a flat surface.

 

[HLaB]

I've never had disk brakes but like rim brakes is it possible the wheel isn't quite situated right in its dropouts causing a problem ? With rim brakes a quick fix is to open the axle quick release and squeeze the brake and whilst holding the brake close the QR once more.