My brakes on the Whippet were rubbish. Using superstar organic pads.On removal they were glazed. Normally I bed in by crash stops down the gentle slope outside my house.
Last week I rode to the top of our biggest hill put fresh sintered pads in got up to full speed and lots of crash stops. My brakes are now bloody amazing.
Are the organic pads now dead? Could I take the glaze off and repeat the process on the big hill?
Do you only get one chance to bed pads in? All my other brakes are now not as good as the Whippet ones and Superstar have run out of sintered pads.
You could try sanding the surface and bed in again but cheap pads IMO are only fit for the bin
I'd disagree. Discopads Semi metallic have worked for years for me. Much better modulation than Shimano sintered and last about the same Shimano organic in the dry, but with the cost differential it works out much more economical.
For me its an excellent fit & forget all weather compound / pad.
I usually skim the pad surface on my mono block in driveway before I pads in
Watched a Santa Cruz syndicate mechanic wet both pads and then skim then to take the new layer off pads
I'd sand them and give them another go.
Watched a Santa Cruz syndicate mechanic wet both pads and then skim then to take the new layer off pads
Might deglaze an glazed pad but does nothing to bed them in. Bedding in is 3 things. conforming the pad to the disc, curing the pad under het and pressure and depositing a thin layer of pad material on the disc
Sanding them and bedding in again might get the glazed pads working but IMO / IME cheap pads are just rubbish
My method of bedding pads on bike and car.
Ensure the disc is clean if using a different make / compound of pad.
A few gentle stops to shape the pad to disc.
Then get the pads hot. I find a big long hill and apply my brake and pedal hard until the pads fade. That means they get hot so they stop retarding. This burns off the binding compound.
Then ride with no brakes to cool everything.
This method is advised by Magura, Mintex and Ferodo.
It can also revive glazed pads.
Heat, pressure and a thin deposit are what you need. Sharp stops can leave uneven deposits on the rotor.
I do mine by cycling up and down the road dragging one of the brakes. After a while, you feel a step change in the braking performance. Pretty knackering but very effective.
As above the best tip I've seen was the santa cruz mechanic rubbing them together with water ...then a few stops I have the best bite I could ever need
I use the same method as onzadog, where howling discs come from is uneven deposits on the discs making them grab and release causing vibrations.
You can definitely feel the change in brake effect once you apply the brake and keep riding and having to move to a lower gear.
Interesting comments as even though my brakes are great it does feel like I have a loose headset.
Heat, pressure and a thin deposit are what you need. Sharp stops can leave uneven deposits on the rotor.
I find a big hill, accelerate to about 15 mph, brake hard down to about 5 mph, and repeat until I feel the brakes start to bite. You just need to heat the surface of the pad and rotor, brief, hard braking sessions are enough to do that. You don't want to get the brakes smoking hot and pull up to a complete stop.
Marshy's technique has always worked for me, I live near a big grassy hill so get up to a decent speed then drag the brakes, by the time I'm at the bottom a few sharpish stops and theyre already biting perfectly.
