Remember Kids, Brake Pads Are Kind of Important

"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass) 02/27/2017 at 08:41 • Filed to: Two wheels scary

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New left, old on right.

Had a bit of a code brown on my Trek last week. Found out the front brake pads were totally worn out on a downhill single track. Since I only have a front brake this was a problem. I was able to scrub just enough speed to avoid disaster and abandon the ride at the bottom of the hill. Got new pads online and am putting them in now. For $10 I should’ve done this months ago. Brake pads are a pretty easy job on bikes and on cars. Don’t ignore your brakes!

Old left, new right. A little hard to see in this picture, but I was down nearly to the backing plate (left). The way these sit in the caliper means that this is totally worn - at this point the caliper won’t push the pad far enough to make contact with the disc.

bob and john > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 02/27/2017 at 08:58

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yeesshhh. I always kept a spare pair in my emergency kit....

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 02/27/2017 at 09:10

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This is why drum brakes are better. They have more surface area, so when they’re metal to metal they can just get red-hot and fuse to the drum and save your life. Just like train wheels! They can’t escape like a pad, and all that trapped dust helps them get hot and safety-fuse!

The preceding has been a lie.

Rock Bottom > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 02/27/2017 at 09:20

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I had similar uneven wear with my old BB5 calipers, until I started rotating pads like once a month. Probably not the right thing to do, but I’m cheap and still alive so whatevs.

Got pics bike porn? I love bike porn.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Rock Bottom 02/27/2017 at 09:35

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The wear is actually pretty even. I updated the caption - the last picture is an old and new pad. The “lip” on the old pad is because the rotor is a smaller diameter than the pad material will cover. I think this is because I’m running a centerlock rotor rather than the Hayes one, but the new pads have a slightly narrower chunk of material so that should be resolved. I actually have BB5's on my other bike, so I should probably check that out. I really should clean the bike and get some decent pictures. Right now, best I have is what’s in here: http://oppositelock.kinja.com/25-years-ago-some-folks-in-wisconsin-build-the-best-mac-1791450689

Rock Bottom > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 02/27/2017 at 09:48

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Ah, that bike! I still like it.

valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 02/27/2017 at 10:43

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Genuinely curious - how come you’re only running one set of brakes?

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option 02/27/2017 at 11:57

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Goal was to build a simple bike. So it’s a single speed conversion with just one brake. I wanted something that would require as little maintenance as possible so I could spend more time just hopping on and riding. There isn’t too much in the way of hills, so one brake does the job pretty well.