[fliao]

hello,
just bought a new bike (iron horse sinister) with disk brakes. it';s my first bike with disks its cool. however, when i lift the front and spin the tires, the disk seem to rub against the brake pads. this is happening on the front and back tires. is this normal? also, the bike has quick release tires and no matter how they are adjusted you get the rub.

thanks for any replies in advance!! frank

 

[Rainman]

Carefully loosen off the calipers so that they are just free to move on the disk.

Lift the bike and spin the wheel. Grab a handleful of front brake and hold it on tight. Whilst keeping the brake on hard, re-tighten the caliper bolts.

Repeat for the rear disk.

R.

 

[dogonfr]

What brand disc brakes do you have?

 

[dirtdonk]

take the bike back to the shop you bought it from and have them fix it. if they can't get your money back and buy your bike from a different shop.

 

[Jayem]

hello,
just bought a new bike (iron horse sinister) with disk brakes. it';s my first bike with disks its cool. however, when i lift the front and spin the tires, the disk seem to rub against the brake pads. this is happening on the front and back tires. is this normal? also, the bike has quick release tires and no matter how they are adjusted you get the rub.

thanks for any replies in advance!! frank

Take it back to the shop and demand that they adjust the brakes so they don't rub. Ask questions and watch what they do when they adjust it.

 

[damion]

What?

take the bike back to the shop you bought it from and have them fix it. if they can't get your money back and buy your bike from a different shop.

Are you even riding disc brakes? Rotor rub is something that happens often.

You have got to be joking. All that is needed is some setup, or more miles on the pads, even.

 

[JimC.]

you should

know that disc brakes require the owner to know how to deal with them; if you don't know about basic bike and brake maintenance, you should start to learn.

You can start here.

Brake (pad) rub is normal, easily fixed, and won't affect your riding in any way, shape, or form. But you should know what it is, and how to fix it anyhow.

Jim MCM #11

 

[dirtdonk]

i hope your joking!

i know. can you believe how naive i am. to actually expect an lbs to know and to do their job. of course i based my answer off a very limited amount of information. 1. i'm assuming he bought the bike from an lbs and not over the internet. 2. the bike is new so i was assuming it has been rubbing from the word go. 3. he didn't say they rub some of the time so i am assuming its not a bent rotor. therefore the caliper most likely needs to be aligned. 4. since he's asking on this forum he has no clue what to do and shouldn't be expected to fix his brand new bike. any reputable dealer should be able to fix him right up and if they can't he should either go for a cheap internet deal or find a new lbs.

 

[dirtdonk]

Are you even riding disc brakes? Rotor rub is something that happens often.

You have got to be joking. All that is needed is some setup, or more miles on the pads, even.

not on my bike. my calipers rarely need to be aligned. when i experience rotor rub 99% of the time it's because i bent the rotor. credential check. i've been on disk brakes on my bicycles for about 6 years. and yes probably what is needed is some setup. (see first post and second one if that one doesn't clarify)

 

[dirtdonk]

know that disc brakes require the owner to know how to deal with them; if you don't know about basic bike and brake maintenance, you should start to learn.

You can start here.

Brake (pad) rub is normal, easily fixed, and won't affect your riding in any way, shape, or form. But you should know what it is, and how to fix it anyhow.

Jim MCM #11

disk brakes don't require the owner to know how to deal with them any more than rim brakes. i find that disk brakes require no more maintenance than rim brakes. however, when disk brakes do require maintenance it can require skills that are above most non mechanical people and many bike shop mechanics. and no i'm not referring to alignments. alignments on disk brakes are no more difficult than rim brakes. i agree that it would be helpful for him to be knowledgeable about how to maintain his bike. a new bike should be set up properly.

 

[dogonfr]

What if he has Avid calipers, then he needs to adjust the knob.

 

[fliao]

rubbing fixed

man,
you guys are awesome. i'm in another forum (cichlids) and i can't believe how helpful and knowledgable people are. i rode the bike and tried what rainman suggested and what do you know? perfect. i bought the bike from sports chalet and they've given me a year of free tuneups. so i'll bring it in in a few weeks anyway and ask.
thanks again all. i'm gonna really enjoy the trails a lot more w/ this bike.

 

[dogonfr]

Whooo Rainman rules, can you make the rain go away here in cali & still fill the resivours? Glad all worked out for you, ride hard.

 

[Guest]

rain is good!

rides in the rain are *****en! we rode San Juan yesterday and it was raining. i absolutely love the way a trail changes when you do something as simple as add a little rain. yeah i was soaked (and cold when we stopped) but it was awesome to ride the sticky areas that are slick normally, and the slippery rocks that I normally have tons of traction on. the bikes needed some cleaning afterward, but i loved the change of pace.

 

[Joe Dirt]

You could

hello,
just bought a new bike (iron horse sinister) with disk brakes. it';s my first bike with disks its cool. however, when i lift the front and spin the tires, the disk seem to rub against the brake pads. this is happening on the front and back tires. is this normal? also, the bike has quick release tires and no matter how they are adjusted you get the rub.

thanks for any replies in advance!! frank

Go back to the bike shop you bought it from, demand they fix it, yell really loud, maybe push some little kid down on your way in the door of the shop, or you can do like Rainman says and loosen the caliper, spin the wheel, apply the brake and hold it until you re-tighten the caliper. I would go with option number 2, this will take most of the rubbing out, if it continues to rub, you may have a bent rotor, but I doubt that is the case. So, just loosen and tighten the calipers. Good luck.

 

[pimpbot]

Some disc brakes...

man,
you guys are awesome. i'm in another forum (cichlids) and i can't believe how helpful and knowledgable people are. i rode the bike and tried what rainman suggested and what do you know? perfect. i bought the bike from sports chalet and they've given me a year of free tuneups. so i'll bring it in in a few weeks anyway and ask.
thanks again all. i'm gonna really enjoy the trails a lot more w/ this bike.

will rub if you do this trick, tho. Again, you have not told us what kind of brakes you have.

Single sided piston type brakes (like Avid Mechs/BB7 whatever they call them today) need to be slightly off center to not rub. These brakes flex the rotor into the stationary (non piston side) brake pad to apply braking force. When you let go of the lever, the rotor flexes back and leaves a gap.

On avids, you just dial in the inner pad a couple of clicks, loosen the bolts grab the lever lightly to center and tighten the bolts back up while holding the lever. Then you dial the inner pad back out a couple clicks to get your gap.