I work with a bloke who bought himself a 29er and then sprayed the brakes with WD40 because they squealed so much - they stopped squealing, but didn't really work as brakes either.
@@pontikipsito46 nope thats a terrible idea. WD40 doesnt evaporate, so even after its dry there will be residue that will make your brakes work terribly.
I popped my discs into the dishwasher with some Finish quantum, which is a cracking degreaser. Discs were brand new at the end of the cycle though the wife was mighty pissed off.
@@LouisJKnowles I think the question is -- Is a pissed off wife more annoying than squealing brakes? At least you can do something to reduce the noise of brake squeal. :))
it works! i had serious noise coming from my mtb disc brakes. after following the instruction in this video my brakes now BITE like a lion on that rotor! no noise at all! KEEP UP THE GOOD VIDEOS YOU PRODUCE IN THIS CHANEL!
all purpose cleaner or muc off spray on and leave for a minute or two then rinse off with water somewhere between warm and hot. if needed have some thin metal flat pieces to help pick off any stubborn poop. it does help once bike is thoroughly clean use a car wax/sealant on the frame (only aluminium and steel NOT carbon fibre)
The upside of squealing brakes is that it lets hikers know that they need to consider not having an entitled mindset regarding the shared use nature of the trails. Oh, and pick up your tissues, you littering fools!
I have small kids, so the best thing I reckon is to put your squealing brake pads in front of an iPad or the telly to calm them down. Works every time!
My bike has XT brakes and the front disc brake has squealed horribly from Day 1. The bike shop where I purchased the bike has failed to correct the problem. Thinking about buying a bike with cantilever brakes at this point.
@@davidkeighley7590 First try cleaning the disc with Isopropyl alcohol, and replace the pads (Likely contaminated from assembly, i.e grease got onto the disc and glazed the pad material)
I suffered a lot from low power and sqeaky brakes (Zee) After some investigation and tryouts my reliable method is put detergent (used for dishes) on pad, rub them against each other and after that cleaning under warm water. Then hot air gun for 5-10 minutes. CLean disc rotor with Isopropyl alcohol and bed-in the pads again. Enjoy the fresh powerful brakes! PS: my pads were usualy contaminated by mist from silicon oil, WD40 and diesel smoke when carrying my bike on back of my car. Now I am smarter..... and no need to clean pads anymore. just cleaning disc rotors before unmounting the bike from car after the trip.
If you live near the coast, salt in the air tends to settle on the rotors, creating a residue contaminant that affects the braking power, creates a lot of noise and eats away at the rotor.
Thanks much for this helpful info. Question: At 8:28 to scrub rotors with sand paper, do I need something like 600-ish grade or finer 1200-ish for this job? I'm going to replace my old organic pads with new metallic this time, so - short of replacing rotors with different pad compound - I'd like to refresh/reset the rotor surfaces as if brand-new, for bedding in a new pad compound. Thanks!
Great question because he only says, "Course, abrasive paper and heavy duty". I've seen other videos which clarify 120-160 grit, etc. Just tell us a number so we know!
When I clean my casette and chain with degreaser, a ton flies right on the rear disc. I took a piece of cardboard and cut a narrow slice out so I can slide it in between the disc and rim.
Lets make this way harder than it needs to be. LMAO! Just remove the pads. Heat the rotor with a torch carefully. You will see a light fog apear on the rotor surface. This will disappear as contaminants burn off. This can be very faint so pay attention. Takes barley any heat. Set the pads on a no flammable surface. Like the garage floor. Just heat them up until they stop smoking. Remember, the pads are designed to dissipate heat. It will not harm them. Lightly hit them on some 400 grit paper if the are not flat. Install and bed them in. This can bring back pads that have been soaked in mineral oil from a leaking brake line or piston. * Doddy (GMBN) does not want to tell you this due to liability. Dont burn your house down. Heat is a tool we use everyday, use it! Your welcome.
I have a diddy little butane torch lighter. If I really go to town with it I can probably do the same thing right? I heated the pads a little bit but was scared I'd melt them.
My brakes became less effective and very noisy, wailing like a banshee every time I applied them, it was completely doing my head in and actually spoiling the enjoyment of riding my bike. I cleaned the rotors with a rag and isopropyl alcohol, removed the pads and (carefully, on a patio slab outside) heated them with a gas torch until they started smoking, kept adding a little heat until the smoking stopped, allowed them to cool and rinsed with water, rubbing the pads against each other under a tap. Refitted the pads and within just a few lever pulls the brakes were transformed to like new, quiet and very strong. I'm not sure how they got contaminated but this heating trick has worked wonders to revive my brakes and eliminate the horrendous noise they were making.
Nice video Doddy, as ever. Very well explained. I did notice something odd at about 7:14 though. You stopped rubbing the pad on the sand paper but the rubbing noise carried on. Have you guys taken a leaf out of the Red Bull sound effect book? And a very minor thing but near the end of the first paragraph of the description you need to sort your you're from your your ; ))
I think it’s because he was doing the scrubbing and the voice over at the same time, and they cut to another clip because it was more visually pleasing
It is because the noise was from the live speaking and scratching from Doddy and the first scratch video was an add in over his voice and scratch noises
Yeah, I know they can't be expected to get the video done in 1 shoot, it has to be edited together and voiced over in places. It just conjured up a lovely image of Doddy only pretending to sand the pads while Blake stood just off camera, high on brake cleaner fumes, going sshhh shhh shhhh.
They said do not use solvents to clean your brake pads other than brake rotors no problem. Brake pads should use clean running water only. Is it correct?
i get a squeal noise when my brakes are cold, i'd say around 10°C. i noticed that by riding my bike in winter and in summer time. is that a possibility or i'm just crazy?
this video isn't accurate. My screws were Torx and had blue loctite on them, very difficult to remove. I ended up stripping one which created a whole new problem.
Henry C wouldn’t recommend it due to possibly warping the rotor beyond repair, just isopropyl alcohol and some 600 grit sand paper and you will be good
what about brake shudder? installed new pads and they were fine and then going down a hill they started to shudder.. tried sandpaper but then they were worse..
I had contaminated discs once. I took my bike to the shop and the mechanic said I would need new rotars and pads. I didn't want to spend the money as I was quite new to biking at the time. So I went home, did some research and tried to alcohol method. Didn't hear a single squeak after that. Surprisingly effective, though I do suspect there is a downside to doing this, though I don't know what.
Sometimes when your bike is squealing, your braking pads are just worn out. Oh yeah and another one: if your break pads are symmetrical, the left and right pad can be interchanged. So if you interchange the left with right one accidentally, it might start squealing as well because of the wear patterns formed previously.
I could be wrong, but from the car side of things (And motocross) using brake cleaner on pads is not a good idea as it can break down some of the compounds in the pad causing them to literally disintegrate?
if brake cleaner penetrates the pad material, it dissolves the resin that bonds the material to the pad, like in a car. The resin then bubbles up through the material when it gets really hot as it has been chemically changed, and causes massive brake fade and glazing of pads.
Yeah, I would sand them and clean with alcohol, but I would not use brake clean on the pad material, whether it's "made for bikes" or not. Better safe....
Have you ever heard of putting brake disc, and pads in a oven, to remove contamintation? I had someone recommend it to me, but wasn't to sure about it.
@@mazinalansari88 locate your disk brake caliper, try find some model number on it. This may result in you removing your caliper from the frame but look around for any model number, then search up that model number followed by 'shimano' on Google and you should be able to see the pads you have. Worse case scenario if you can't do any of the above, remove your pads, search up Shimano disk brake pads and try to find the ones that look exactly like yours. Hope that helped
One qustion,im new into this mtb stuff and i spilt some chain oil on disc brake and it got on brake pads,can i clean brake pads if i take them out and clean them with brake cleaner or smth like that or do i need to buy new pads,sorry if my english is bad.Kind regards
I think it would be beneficial to clarify to viewers when using WD-40 products when the products are specialized, and not the standard WD-40. I could see this causing massive confusion and some damage if someone does not know better
120 is rough as a cow‘s tongue... :) On the rotor I would assume sth. like 600 and even higher. Also I would apply only gentle pressure. You don’t want craters on your disc, just a bit of rougher surface. Me personally... I don’t have the best feeling about this technique.
How do I make my brakes squeal more? I like to keep my braking pads clean as I like to be able to brake, but I miss the squeal. It's good for scaring people off and turning people's heads generally. How would I make brakes more squealy without compromising the braking ability? (The squeal has to be natural sounding too, because I don't want people to realize that I'm a menace)
I had used a disk brake cleaning spray from wilko. The first time i used, it was perfect. Unfortunately the 2nd time the spray went rogue and my brakes weren't working anymore but if i sprayed some water on the brake pads they worked. As soon as the water dried back to sq 1. Followed this process and the brakes are back & works superb.
Copperslip does work on cars and motorbikes, but NOT on mountain bikes, because the pistons are not metal. It won't do anything other than make a mess.
Copperslip, or Copper paste works wonders when used spareingly on back of brake pads where contact with pistons is. Prevents shudder and therefore noise when brakes are used. Brake noise does not always come from pad material on rotor.
Please remember too - WD 40 was not designed to be a lubricant, although it does lubricate for a short while. Its primary purpose is as a water displacer ... hence the name WD. The number 40 was the formula they stuck with.
The best way to clean the brake pads, is put them into boile water. All of the particules and oil will stay on the surface. In the first time remove the water and after the pads. You can do the same with the disc. I accidentally put lubricant on my discs and pads and cleaned them like that and it's free..... Thanks for this video.
My rear SLX M7100 brake seems to have lost it's bite. Not long been bled and doesn't appear to be any leaks. Only thing I can think is spray from the dropper post lubricant may have got carried in the wind on to the rotor?
I tried EVERYTHING, spent weeks cleaning, sanding, soaking, scrubbing, brake cleaner, mud on the rotor, the copper grease... everything. Nothing worked until I tried baking the pads. 200°C in the oven for 30mins on a clean baking try and just like that, they are like brand new! Still needed bedding in again properly but now they could stop a freight train in its tracks. Don't waste your time, if you think it's contaminated, just bake your pads. No open flames, no blow torches, just as easy as pie. Get it?
We've heard of this working but can't recommend it as in some cases (and with cheaper pads especially) the pad can become unbonded from the backing surface which is dangerous for obvious reasons! This is our safer method that you just have to work at
Thanks for the reply. I've heard of this as well but only in rumours. I'm not sure it has actually happened to anyone that I've heard of. Plus, don't the pads reach higher temps. than this when in regular use at a bike park for example? Is it more dangerous because it is sustained heat rather than fluctuating, dissipating heat? I'm interested to know. Ultimately, buying a new set of pads is the best option, but I've tried your method and it didn't work for me, even after repeating it a few times before I found out about the baking trick.
@@AdamEronenPiperId rather not chance it with baking my pads. Rumors start somewhere its happened to someone and I dont want to be going down a steep techy decent and lose my pads. But if it works for you thats great
If you use sandpaper, ensure there is no residue or else the pads will likely glaze over when bedding in. I'm going to try steel wool as an abrasive, next time.
Thank you so much for making this video! It solved my squeaky break problem and led me through step by step how to fix it and I was able to do it perfectly. I’m normally not a handyman so I really appreciate this. Great video!
As a request could you do a maintenance video on swapping Formula / Avid type brakes to something like a Shimano set. I have been having a lot of trouble with the set on my bike and after working my way through litres of DOT4 fluid to resolve the issues I am ready for a change. From the research I have done it seems like a common(ish) upgrade route but I cannot find a video to help me with the decision. I am riding a Cube Limited Race hard-tail. Hopefully this is something that is of interest to others.
A fast and easy way to de-contaminate the pads is to take them out of the caliper and torch them to burn off contaminants. To un-squeal the rotor, use squeal-out and rubbing alcohol.
Yup, I remember doing this with my girlfriend (she's a mechanical engineer). Her front brake got contaminated, so we start this process of salvaging the brake. Buuuuut didn't use any industrial degreaser, just kitchen degreaser and soap, then sand, then again soap, rinse, repeat. In the meanwhile she was polishing the rotor, went a little overboard, ended with an outstanding mirror finish...she got carried away haha. Was a funny afternoon, her brake lasted another six months, then was time to replace the pads.
This is a useful video GMBN! Is it a good idea to clean the disc and pads with alcohol every now and then to remove dirt and grime left even after a normal bike wash? Here's a video idea: All the stuff you need to know but nobody tells you before you buy a bike. Like bedding-in new brake pads, how often you should have your shock and fork service, and just how bloody expensive it is if you can't do it yourself. If I followed the manufacturers recommended service intervals for my FOX float I would spend more money every year servicing my bike than I do with my car!
Just did this. Works a treat. Although the first thing I did was soak them in brake cleaner (peatys) and set them on fire for a couple of minutes. Once all the oil is gone then scrub them to restore the surface. Also scrub the rotors to scuff them up. No more squeaking and super power.
Hi Everyone, My brake is making this weird bubbling noise and I dont know how to fix it. Sounds exactly like the video below. The front brake is affected with moderate braking, but the rear one works perfectly fine. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oRGUJi-UQgg.html I have Sram Guide R 200mm , brand new bike ridden 50km still happening. Took pad off cleaned with isopropyl, cleaned discs too, no joy Please someone help!
Got pins on my brakes, would like to swap for bolt and catch pin. Shimano Deore 6100 203/180 on my Orange. Brakes have been awful since purchase, so will run through this, although I think I have a leak.
I’m enjoying the bike so far ru-vid.comUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA My only real complaints are the brakes and the pedals. I feel like a bike designed for bigger people should have much larger pedals and more heavy duty brakes. I’ve only gotten two really good rides out of it, minimal downhill action, and the brakes feel like they’re already going out. A larger person has more momentum, so I think this wasn’t thought through very well. Also, I wear size 13-14 wide shoes. My feet cramp up on these pedals that are clearly made for smaller feet. Since I’m not a pro rider (and I don’t think many are who purchase this bike) I don’t think that the straps on the pedal are necessary at all. None of this takes away from the enjoyment I get from riding, however. I’ll just head to a bike shop to improve on a few things.
I've seen loads of videos on 'how to' clean brakes, but no mention of how often. Weekly, monthly, annually, every ride? Does it it depend on where you ride? I was cleaning my pads & rotors with IPA after every second ride & finding that they were very dirty. I was taking off loads of muck, but it didn't seem to make much difference to the brakes' performance. Any suggestions?
Sorry Doddy, your viewers will expect you to know your greases. Copper grease is indeed used in the motor industry as you described on the back of brake pads. It's also used on other brake componenst such as the brake pins. Copper graese has an incredibly high melting point which no automotive brake can generate and whatever vehical you drive/ride your brake componenst will have copper grease on them. That said, bicycle brake squeal is wholly attributable to contamation of the braking surfaces, and on that we agree.
You can get rid of contamination on pads and rotors easy. No sense in buying a new sew set of pads and rotors every time cuz it happens so often. Rotors are not cheap. Simply remove pads rub with a clean brush and isopropyl alcohol, rub clean with blue rag or paper towel, sand with 220 grit in a circular pattern until pad color is normal, wipe off any sanding residue with clean blue rag or paper towel. Wipe down rotor with blue rag or paper towel and isopropyl until clean. Reinstall pads and wheel. Go out and bed in the pads and rotor by gaining speed and braking hard on the uncontaminated pad until braking power is restored. Now your pads and rotors should be free of contamination, quite, and powerful while only spending a couple bucks. If you need a video there are tons here on RU-vid. Works pretty much every time
You do realise everytime you say disc rotor you are saying the same thing twice lol. Disc disc. Lol. A rotor is the American name for a brake disc. Its nuts because even Shimano packaging has disc rotor written on it lol. Guess it depends how you say it. If you Disc brake rotor then I guess that's ok. But if you say Brake disc rotor then you are saying brake disc disc lol. Also fire is your friend. Otherwise residue can be left in areas you cant reach with a cloth such as all the vent holes in the disc.
