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Disc brakes need no more maintenance than any other brake system.I would tentatively agree, but as a regular contributor to ‘discs are bad, hmm’kay?’ type threads, my beef is not with the day to day maintenance, but with problem solving when things do go wrong, which in my recent experience they often have…
As this thread and several like it demonstrate, when discs DO misbehave, they can be an unholy, expensive, pain the ass to diagnose and fix.
I’ve now spent at least £100 trying to figure out and cure the awful noises emanating from my SRAM Level Ts on my ‘fast commuter’. The solution? Spend another £150 replacing them with a totally different brake. I now have a complete set of SRAM brakes with several sets of pads and two sets of rotors that I cannot in good faith sell on to anyone as I just could not get them to shut up.
Since the industry seems intent on forcing discs upon us it seems like they should be more proactive in preventing and solving these problems, ultimately I’m sure my issue was due to either brakes with poor manufacturing tolerances, a frame with poor tolerances, or just a bad combination of brake and frame. Did the shop where I bought it care? Nope. Did Trek UK care? Nope. I could probably have kicked up a massive fuss and caused everyone a massive headache, but it just seemed easier to fork out for new brakes. More fool me perhaps.
Anyone seen or heard anything from Shimano to address the known issue of leaking callipers across all ranges and models? Nope. Seems easier for them to deal with the percentage of warranty returns and let the rest of us go through all the faff described in the posts above…
Guys, I’m actually amazed
Guys, I’m actually amazed people are concerned about sanding the discs. This is a well established step in trying to solve contamination/squeeling issues.
Remember when they are supplied new in the box, they are not a ‘polished machined surface’ but a matt, buffed looking surface, which almost looks like someone has taken a fine sandpaper over it, funnily enough.
Obviously you shouldn’t be taking a belt sander to them, and obviously you shouldn’t be sanding away for hours and actively thinning the disc down, but I can tell you that for various reasons, I’ve had cause to sand discs numerous times, all you’re doing is taking them back to the state they were in when brand new, so yes, you have to bed them back in again, but no, you’re not leaving them more prone to contamination, no you’re not weakening them, no you’re not doing any permanent damage, etc. etc.
That said, you should be using wet+dry, not mega coarse sand paper, and you should probably be putting that file down…
Edit: re: prone to contimination, I guess if you sand the rotors but continue to use contaminated pads, then yes, you would be depositing contaminated material on the rotor. This step presumes using new pads…
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The advice from kev-s is good.Oi! I said all that first
I think sanding rotors is perfectly OK and seems to be an accepted maintenance thing with disc rotors, more for when you are changing pads (especially if you are changing compounds) as the rotor will apparently hold onto pad material from the old pads which doesn’t always play well with new pads.
Also something to do with bad bedding in which can deposit differing amounts of pad material around the disc which can set up a sort of stick/slip reaction which can cause squeel.
Could anyone tell I’ve been trying to cure a set of squeeling discs recently? My next road bike will be back to rim brakes, I can tell you that much…
I’m a little out of touch
I’m a little out of touch with Shimano brakes, but I think leaking callipers causing contamination was a fairly well recognised problem.
It’ll drive you crazy because apparently the leak is small enough that you won’t be able to trace it.
In my experience life is too short to try and recover contaminated pads. Bin pads, buy new ones and clean everything thoroughly before refitting.
Spend the next couple of weeks being hyper careful about oiling the bike etc. so you can be sure you haven’t contaminated the pads yourself. If they develop the same problem it’s probably worth considering that they’re leaking. Raise it sooner rather than later with the shop you bought them from so you have a better chance of raising a warranty claim.
If you search the google term ‘singletrackworld: leaking shimano’ you should probably find a thread where someone identified the issue and a possible fix (replacement o-rings to fit between the calliper halves).
This is why I’ve not bought Shimano brakes in the last couple of years, my dad’s had two duff sets…
Evans carry a brand called
Evans carry a brand called Louis Garneau (ex-Canadian track athlete apparently).
I found them a mite wider than my Specialized and Giro shoes, cured a lot of the foot pain I had been suffering.
Not saying they’re especially wide, but wider than standard and crucially quite easy to try on at Evans and a lot of varieties (i.e. the model I liked came in white and black, on pair for summer and one for winter
)Hmm, think people should be
Hmm, think people should be reserving judgement, the proof could be in the pudding, i.e. better cycle paths and infrastructure?
I’m sure the local councils in the UK could do a lot more if they had the money, but it’s not their fault theire funding is being cut.
Sustrans do a great job but how many of us can honestly say we’re paying members?
I often think the Scottish Government could be a lot more forward thinking about supporting Scottish tourism, find some way of levying a small ‘tax’ on tourists, but use it to improve facilities and make the whole experience more pleasant for everyone, instead of the current situation (e.g. on Skye) where you have bus loads of tourists having to piss and crap in the bushes next to local attractions etc. Apologies for the tangent but I think it’s an example of where Oregon’s thinking, as controversial as it might be, could actually be a positive step.
What did you ask him?
What did you ask him?
It’s terrible, but I become a total grammar/spelling snob when I read FS adverts, I would be running a mile just because of how it’s written.
Anyone who knows bikes wouldn’t try to ‘sell’ the bike or the kit, they would just list the spec and let the spec sell itself.
OK thanks guys, sounds like
OK thanks guys, sounds like it’s more of a technique thing then, or I genuinely just hit the corner too fast or there was diesel on the road or something.
I’m 85kg without kit (apologies for the mental image…) so not shy of 14 stone loaded, pretty sure I’ve only got 55psi in there but had previously been running 50psi in my Kendas, so perhaps I’ve just gotten used to the grip of a slightly softer tyre (albeit a different brand/profile).
Also my commuter is a funny shape and I think the result is more weight over the front wheel, maybe leaves the back end a bit light.
Doesn’t sound like the tyre is the problem at least, good thing as I like them!
Cheers
When you fundamentally
When you fundamentally disagree with about 95% of what the sales staff/mechanics tell you in the local shop (or is that also ‘being an engineer’?
Totally understand the
Totally understand the comments about Rose pricing (I don’t know where all the Canyon comments are coming from, not considering a Canyon!
) and shouldn’t really have confused my original post by dragging that up.In truth my disappointment with the spec on the Bianchi is in isolation to the price difference between the Intenso and the Rose, even for a £2200 bike I would consider that spec pretty poor, if only because of the subsitute components (like the poster above says, seems a real shame to spec 90% of a Campag groupset then stick an ugly chainset on it) and not even managing to spec Racing 7 or Racing 5 wheels (I think the Racing Sports are a £120 wheelset at best).
It doesn’t seem in keeping with the image Bianchi are trying to project of quality and heritage etc. but as people above have pointed out perhaps that’s never really been Bianchi’s true M.O. and I’ve just swallowed the Kool-aid (doesn’t stop me wanting one though!).
Tough decision! I’m speaking to a local shop now about getting a test ride on a Bianchi and how much it would cost to upgrade wheels and tyres, that might swing it…
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everyone checks out a BianchiHaha, yeah, me included!
I almost bought one in Vancouver years ago*, one day I caught myself checking out a nice Bianchi stopped at the lights as I walked past, until I looked up and noticed the rider was the extremely gorgeous Italian girl who owned the shop I was going to buy from, wasn’t sure whether to be embarassed in case she thought I was checking her out, or to be embarrassed if she realised I wasn’t…
Just waiting to hear back from the local Bianchi dealer to see what stock they have, they’re advertising the Intenso Ultegra for £2150 down from £2400…
*decided against it as I suddenly developed a deep fear of transporting a carbon fibre racing bike on a 10hr transatlantic flight back to Edinburgh, plus it seemed a bit perverse flying all the way to Canada to come back with an Italian bike…
Hmm, convincing arguments all
Hmm, convincing arguments all round!
I think the nub of my problem is that I do actually get excited about things like wheel bearings and nice finishing kit etc. which is why I really like the RS81s, but also the Ritchey bars/stem/seatpost etc. on the Rose. Plus I actually kind of like the paint job…
Plus this is ‘the last bike before the first baby’ (TM) so I might not have the budget to be upgrading for a few years!
Perhaps the secret is to go see a Bianchi in the flesh and test ride it, hopefully it will feel so good compared to the slicked up MTB commuter I’m riding at the moment that I’m able to see past the shortcomings. I’ve never had any real objection to Fulcrum wheels after all, could maybe persuade the shop to switch the tyres for some GP4000s etc. etc.
Ha, yes, it’s definitely a
Ha, yes, it’s definitely a head over heart issue I think, confused by the fact that my heart doesn’t know which it wants more, a pretty Italian frame or a good component spec!
I’ve spent so long obsessing over having good brakes and good wheels, I think for the money it has to be the Rose, worse yet I think that pink bar tape is actually growing on me…
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cost you a small % of buying a new bikeI’m not so sure, new STIs, probably new gear and brake cables, new bar tape, new stem to compensate for change in reach = probably £2-300 if you do it yourself, closer to £350 if you get a mechanic to do it?
And you’ll still end up with some sort of wonky front end, as the drop bars will add approx 100mm reach on top of the stem length, so if you ever plan to use the hoods you’d need to compensate by fitting a super short stem.
All this is just off the top of my head, but I quickly discounted trying to convert a flat bar bike into a drop bar bike…
I can sympathise with the
I can sympathise with the ‘fast enough to catch, not fast enough to pass’ conundrum.
I get it on my commute sometimes, will work hard chasing someone but don’t quite have it in me to pass them*, but don’t want to do that annoying thing where you sit off their back wheel slightly and a metre off to the side, sort of showing that you aren’t drafting, just sitting immediately behind them at the same pace
*also I’m on a bright pink singlespeed, I fear passing serious looking riders in case it’s like a red rag to a bull!
)