Thank God for this video! Even my local repair shop can’t do this right. Now I can do it myself, have the satisfaction it’s 100% correct, AND save $100+ and 48hrs in the shop. And it’s so easy… thanks Clint!
Wow! I can’t thank you enough for posting this video. I spent 4 hours on a holiday trying to adjust the brakes using the very last method you mentioned, which is to eyeball it while screwing in bolts on the caliper. This got me nowhere and is the worst method! I do not recommend it! The first, easy method you mentioned, which is to hold the brake down while screwing in the bolts, is the best method by far. I got so pissed off and extremely discouraged by continually failing using the “eyeballing it” method that it spoiled my mood for the next 3 days and I was mean to those around me. Folks, if you can’t figure it out after half an hour, give it up and try something else! Or take it to your local bike shop. Nothing is worth you overloading yourself with failure and disappointment. Again, when I watched your video and saw how easy it was, and then was able to successfully fix my brakes, I was beyond grateful for having seen your video. Thanks for posting it.
Thank you Clint Gibbs for this video, absolutely worked on a bike with a binding problem. Looked at so many videos that just seemed over complicated, then came across your video and it worked like a dream. Brake binding fixes that are easy to follow. What a star you are. I am now a subscriber to your channel.
Hey Clint! Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to make all the helpful and easy to follow maintenance vids... For some reason some aspects of bike maintenance are 'enshrined' in a kind of 'probably too complicated for me' veil, but you make things look reasonably attainable and this inspires me to give them a shot. MTB-ing is a heck of a lot of fun, but being able to tackle the basics of bike maintenance makes the whole experience that much better! Big Thanx and keep those good videos coming! Greeting from the Netherlands.
Clint thanks so much for this video. I’ve been messing with my front disc for months with no avail. The business card did the trick although I only inserted it on the side that was always rubbing. Thanks again 🙏
Despite riding bikes for 20+ years I don't really know the ins and outs. Especially with disc breaks. This tutorial was very well explained and helped me get rid of the rubbing I had. Thanks :)
Glad I watched this video. I was riding the other day in a light rain and heard a light rubbing sound that was driving me crazy. I had no clue where it was coming from. My new bike has disk breaks (never had them before) and it never occurred to me that my breaks weren't centered. I'll tackle that job this weekend thanks to your helpful video. Thanks a lot!
Thank you for this clear cut information, I did the first, second and finally the third one worked, the disk was a tiny bit bent and so I straightened it out with a crescent wrench. No rubbing whatsoever now. I think this happened when I put the wheel back on the frame. Thanks again.
If these techniques don't work, it never hurts to check and see if your rotors might be bent a bit. Oftentimes when changing tires or transporting your bike the rotors can bend a bit. Great video as always Clint! I only run Shimano Brakes because of the easy maintenance and bleed techniques from your videos.
I like the way Gibbs explains things. I tried the 2 business card trick today, after the bike shop installed my new pads off center. (After making sure the cards were the same thickness.) Works great! I also employed his "1.09X" rule for my saddle height last week, and that worked great too.
I've had my new e-bike for 5 weeks now and although it's running just fine, I'm totally new with HB's. Your video was simple and easy to understand and spurs me on to put it up on the stand 2morro and check the alignment and any rubbing issues. 👍
Unfortunately, the "90% of the time" method didn't work for my wife's bike, but surprisingly, the frustrating method of eyeballing it did work. Thanks for posting this useful video!
Tried a few different techniques to sort the incredibly annoying scraping of my brakes. The business card technique worked a treat! Thanks for uploading, really helpful 👌
The breaks on my new E-Bike were driving me nuts with the squeaking, and I'm no pro so I wasn't sure how to handle it, but this video made it incredibly easy to re-align my rotor!
Very helpful video and very clear visual and explanation. I had this problem with my rear caliper on a new bicycle and the sceaching noise when pedaling even when pushing the bike was horrible, then I was shown the two screws as you showed to loose and realign the calipers and that solved the problem. I definitely will by the tool that you just showed for future problems that may come up. Thank you for the video from Oregon state.
Wow Clint, thanks so much . I was not going to be able to ride today and then I tried your business card tip and it worked like a charm. Key is to put the first business card on the tight side, then put the second card on the looser side.
had a issue with brake rub on my front brake when I put on new wheels. I never have issues centering brakes in the past. I saw you mention the shim tool and I completely forgot I had one of those...boom, brake centered. :)
Nice video. To the point and straight forward. Holding the brake lever and tightening the calliper bolts worked for me. It's nice to have finally eliminated the annoying brake pad rub. Thanks Clint
Very instructive, just got a new bike with hydraulic brakes and didn't know how to adjust them and didn't want to go fiddling in case I happened to open the wrong screw and spill oil all over things. Having it auto-center didn't work well, it still pushed towards one side, but I've got a support for the front fender touching the brakes so that's probably why. But doing it manually worked wonders, I put a soft spin on the wheel and fiddled around with the brake until it was centered and silent and then tightened it carefully and it worked great. Thanks for a great video :)
Hey Clint, I've been following your tutorials for a while, and must say that yours are always really clear and helpful. Thanks for sharing and helping many of us solve our bike problems.
Thanks for this Clint. Great instructional video for someone like me who has returned to cycling after a long break and is faced with this new technology.
Thanks for the tip Clint, I couldn't get the squeeze only trick to work but the business card trick that you heard of does work i cut the card to fit between the pads and rotor then squeezed and tightened and removed the cards worked great, good video thanks again.
Great video Clint. My front rotor was clicking when I got to San Felasco today and one of my buddies told me how to fix it when I got home (mentioned your first method). Nice timing on the video! SF was great. My first time there.
Good video, thanks. I watched this (and some other) a few weeks back when I was mounting Magura MT7 brakes (4-piston caliper) onto my Inspired bike. As I did years ago with my Specialized (+ Shimano XT's) I tried the first method (loosening bolts, pulling brake lever, tightening bolts) and this seemed to work, but after close inspection it wasn't really centered - The spacing left-to-right was off a bit and the disc got pushed left/right when you pulled the brake. I then did the "manual" method of visually looking down the pads and engaging the brake gradually to make it parallel and center. This was a huge pain-in-the-ass but in the end, the result is way better. All 4 pads engage at the same time, disc moves freely and it does not get pushed in any direction. I would not hesitate to recommend a friend helping you for this, as you need about 3 hands doing this (1x pulling brake, 1x aligning caliper, 1x tightening bolts). It's possible alone, but it's more trial/error than precise adjustments.
Not sure you still read these comments, but you have helped me once again. Shimano's info did not help. Your video + the business card trick did the trick. Thanks from Köln Germany, Clint. You da man!
I've used the first two methods on old Deore BR-515 Mech Discs. Except with two business cards that I don't touch with bare fingers. The rotors I clean with Canadian Tire brake cleaner. A little TLC and your methods keep them from screaming like a witch.
Ok thanks for the vid Clint. I replaced my rear pads on my SLX disc brakes but had trouble centering them. I tried all these methods including business cards. One side was still rubbing and the other had a big gap. I eventually got them to only slightly rub (probably slightly out of true) by putting 3 business cards on one side and nothing on the other.
I've eye balled it when i worked on my breaks lol.. I got a flat on the side of the road on my road trip last year and when i put the rim back on my bike it knocked my pads out of alignment and had no break tools on hand it works okay some times. love the video good tips
Perfect. My front brake is rubbing constantly, and eyeballing the gap, looks like the rotor is more toward the inside and not centered. Can't wait to get home and try this trick!
Most bike mechanics will be using method 3 most of the time. The first 2 previous methods assumes a lot about how true a rotor is and how it moves from it's relaxed position to it's braking position. Many times, taking time to clean (sometimes lubricate) the pistons will put you in a scenario for the first to methods to work. Certain brakes will need to have the pistons reset overnight to help achieve this. Basically, if you are a new mechanic, don't be frustrated that you need to use method 3 more than this video would have you think. Most bikes are not in good enough shape for you to rely on those methods. It either take extra time to clean and reset or extra time adjusting. This is why I would like to see more innovation around centerring, like the hayes "crosshairs" system.
Squeezing the brake didn't work for me. Once it was loose I used one hand to move the caliper to the side I thought it needed to go to, and tightened the bolts with the other hand, and that did it. This video did get me on the right track though so thank you.
Great video! Very informative but sometimes you go through all these procedures and you still get an intermittent rub which could be signs of a warped or bent rotor.
Left and right adjustment is important but don't forget about the height adjustment, look at the old pads and make sure 100% of the friction material is wearing evenly , the braking force can greatly suffer if the caliper isn't seated low enough on the brake disc. So all friction material is making contact with the disc . The brakes my feel fine just after replacing pads and get worse as they wear .😮 Dont forget to measure disc for thickness and replace when out of spec .
Great video ! I have an issue with my h brakes the space between rotors and pads is wider than a business card I adjusted both a couple times but the space still same, pads are like halfway down, the bigger space the less accurate braking right? What else can I do?
+Predator7 7 after you center the brakes you should be able to pump the lever and have the pads be in the right position. As long as your lever does not go too close to the bar you should be fine. I would not say the braking is less accurate. If you find the lever going to close to the handlebars then you're going to have to bleed the system.
