Brake Pads Glazing

jjthewhale · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:14 pm

Hey All, I have mechanical disc brakes (Avid) and the rear tends to lose grip, Im assuming it is glazing, I have heard numerous antidotes but cant remember any of them, can I get the down-low on brake pad maintenance?

Chadster · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:24 pm

I have had good experience with lightly sanding the pads and then baking them for 25 minutes at 350 degree oven. I've only tried this on Avid pads, not 3rd party ones...

Red Hot Sloth · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:37 pm

I lightly sand the pads with some 220...just enough to get the glaze off.
Then the rotor wants some attention as well. Put the bike in the stand or hang it or whatever, squeeze the rotor with 000 steel wool and give it a good spin, then clean with denatured alcohol...just like new. :cheers:

Robo · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:42 pm

EBC Red or Green Pads. You can find them at Beyond Bikes for most makes. These are soft so wear out a bit quicker, but don't glaze and don't squeal.

I used to sand pads down to eliminate squealing and power loss once they glazed over, but found the problem tended to return within a few rides.

luna · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:09 pm

You running sintered or organics?

jjthewhale · **Posted:** Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:08 am

luna wrote:

You running sintered or organics?

Probably sintered, stock with my trek HT, red

02bullit · **Posted:** Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:34 am

I've heard of people using emory boards as well.

Ld00d · **Posted:** Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:53 am

i love the organics. they do wear a lot faster (i finished them at sweetwater saturday), but they make a lot less noise and they've always worked for me.

the noise they do make is kinda cool. i don't even know how to describe it...

Brian · **Posted:** Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:09 pm

Red Hot Sloth wrote:

I lightly sand the pads with some 220...just enough to get the glaze off.
Then the rotor wants some attention as well. Put the bike in the stand or hang it or whatever, squeeze the rotor with 000 steel wool and give it a good spin, then clean with denatured alcohol...just like new. :cheers:

Flashback... I think this was your response to one of my first questions/posts on the other site and it worked perfectly. Funny how far we've come, everyone is over here now and we no longer have squeeky brakes. :lol:

b5driver · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:57 am

Red Hot Sloth wrote:

I lightly sand the pads with some 220...just enough to get the glaze off.
Then the rotor wants some attention as well. Put the bike in the stand or hang it or whatever, squeeze the rotor with 000 steel wool and give it a good spin, then clean with denatured alcohol...just like new. :cheers:

Pads in or out when you clean the rotor like this? If you get alcohol on the pads, will that damage them? Thanks to all for the great info. :cheers:

Brian · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:22 am

I pop the pads out because it makes them easier to get to and to keep the contact surface as flat as possible. Also I only use alcohol to clean the rotors after breaking the glaze but it won't hurt the pads if you get some on them. The higher "proof" alcohol works best, something like 80-90% isopropol.

Red Hot Sloth · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:36 pm

Brian wrote:

Red Hot Sloth wrote:

I lightly sand the pads with some 220...just enough to get the glaze off.
Then the rotor wants some attention as well. Put the bike in the stand or hang it or whatever, squeeze the rotor with 000 steel wool and give it a good spin, then clean with denatured alcohol...just like new. :cheers:

Flashback... I think this was your response to one of my first questions/posts on the other site and it worked perfectly. Funny how far we've come, everyone is over here now and we no longer have squeeky brakes. :lol:

I think we have now come full circle lol.
I've been doing it this way since I went to hydro-disc years ago...gotta love a good thing.

The alcohol isn't harmful to the pads and it doesn't "empregnate" them so there is no ill side effects from using it. I always take the pads out when lightly sanding them with the 220. As far as the steel wool and alcohol on the rotor pads in or out doesn't really matter as long as you make sure to not leave chunks of steel wool in the caliper area.

Brake Pads Glazing

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