Brake Issues

7

702

New Member
Region
USA
City
Las Vegas
New guy here, purchased a new Pace 500.2 from a local dealer a week ago. I have issues with both brakes and wonder if there is a solution.

Rear brake squeals but works just fine, any suggested remedies appreciated.

When applying moderate pressure, front brake sounds gritty and feels like something is grinding. Pads look to be correctly installed, mount bolts are tight, nothing visibly obvious.

Hoping for some suggestions that I can look into before returning to dealer check out my issues.

Thanks!
 
Usually if it's just a wear-in issue for the squealing a few really hard stops will get rid of it. If it does not the pads might be glazed or fouled.

The fronts on my aventure -- once I got a working set -- sounded pretty scratchy when new, but that went away around the 80 mile mark.

Sadly I just glazed my fronts again on a hill I usually avoid coming down, but I've got replacements handy. There are a number of things I recommend to people starting out that I learned the hard way to have handy. An extra full set of brake pads, a spare brake rotor, a bleed kit, and a decent amount of hydraulic fluid topping the list.

And I really recommend learning to service your own brakes because a bleed should be done anywhere from every three to six months just to be safe / sure. It's not something you want to skimp on maintaining. Likewise since you can on extreme braking glaze the pads -- literally "melt them smooth" so they barely work and do nothing but squeal, being able to replace them regularly isn't a bad idea.

Seems like a money-sink at first, but it's well worth the added safety of a breaking distance measured in feet instead of yards.
 
Squeaking brakes can have multiple causes.

Start by cleaning to rotors with alcohol ( eg metho) , then bed them in - I apply gentle pressure and ride at walking pace to evenly coat the rotors, then as the noise reduces I progressively increase pressure. DO NOT STOP during this process - that'll leave a bit of uneven coating on the disc. Then try 2/3 hard brakes from speed to really get them working. It makes a significant improvement to both power and feel to do this properly

Then make sure the calipers are aligned - lookat the gap between pads and disc as you apply the brakes slowly, it should be even. If not, loosen the mounting bolts, apply brakes, tighten bolts. Repeat until perfect.

If all this doesn't fixxit, look for buckled discs / loose connection, even spokes that are loose and feeding back.
 
All good adivice so far, but on a brand new bike like yours, take it back in to the dealer and let them figure out what the issue is, and get them to explain it to you. There's not a lot about brakes you shouldn't be able to work on yourself, but let your dealer do it this time.

TT
 
Great tips, thank you. In particular, I did notice that the front pads did not have an even air gap between the pads and the rotor. I'll monkey with that in the morning as it's about 115* in my garage right now.

Regarding the pads, how long do they generally last, and where/who do you guys purchase them?
 
Thee must be 50 videos on YouTube for noisy brakes. The life of brakes is dependent on your weight, your riding style, how often you adjust them if they are mechanical, and the number of hills you go down. I buy replacement pads for my hydraulic brakes on Amazon about every 3,500 miles.
 
even setup right you can have a little noise for some reason. like I had a stick piston well two sinks its 4 pistons. and could not get the brake to center. finally checked better saw the stuck pistons cleaned them and all worked well. but I have a little noise now where I didn't to before and cleaning does not fix it. no big deal but you never know.
 
Did the caliper adjustment, then rode 25 miles. The rear is better but the front is the same. I have over 200 miles on it and would think the break in is complete. I'll take it to the shop next week and see what they think. I also adjusted the derailleur and it now shifts much better. This is my first eBike and so far it has exceeded my expectations. Thanks again for your comments.
 
Bike dealer that I purchased the bike from installed organic pads in the front this morning, and it's much better. Not perfect, but much better and I can live with it.

The rear is back to screeching and is worse than ever, so I ordered a new rotor and organic pads. Hope this is the fix.
 
Deacon Blues said:
Changing pads is a good idea, but I don't understand why you would replace the rotor, unless it's warped.
Click to expand...
I want to eliminate any possible cause of this awful squealing, and I already replaced the pads once and that did no good. Fingers crossed this fixes it.
 
Instead of putting out money for a new rotor do the following things to your old rotor:
1. take the rotor off the wheel and give it a light sanding (i.e. 220 grit sand paper)
2. throughly clean the rotor with Varsol, brake cleaner, etc. Personally, I use brake cleaner.
3. Install the rotor wearing disposable gloves to keep the rotor clean.

There is no difference between a new rotor and a used rotor that has been lightly sanded and cleaned. If fact, when I install a new rotor I give it a light sanding and cleaning with brake cleaner before I install it.
The pads will make the difference.
 
Deacon Blues said:
Instead of putting out money for a new rotor do the following things to your old rotor:
1. take the rotor off the wheel and give it a light sanding (i.e. 220 grit sand paper)
2. throughly clean the rotor with Varsol, brake cleaner, etc. Personally, I use brake cleaner.
3. Install the rotor wearing disposable gloves to keep the rotor clean.

There is no difference between a new rotor and a used rotor that has been lightly sanded and cleaned. If fact, when I install a new rotor I give it a light sanding and cleaning with brake cleaner before I install it.
The pads will make the difference.
Click to expand...

This is certainly solid advice, but a new Tektro rotor was only $25. I'll keep the used one as a spare.
 
New rotor and pads installed (wore gloves and cleaned rotors with alcohol). Started squealing during the bedding in process. Removed pads and applied Disc Brake Quiet from Permatex. No Joy. This shouldn't even be happening. Maybe I got them too hot and glazed the pads, who knows. Tomorrow I'll pull the pads and sand them.
 
Tars Tarkas said:
New pads are going to squeal. Let them break in for at least a couple of weeks. Or keep trying random stuff.

TT
Click to expand...
it does not take two weeks to bed in new pads. it taks about 10 almost stops on flat ground to bed them in. If it takes 2 weeks something is wrong.
 
702 said:
New rotor and pads installed (wore gloves and cleaned rotors with alcohol). Started squealing during the bedding in process. Removed pads and applied Disc Brake Quiet from Permatex. No Joy. This shouldn't even be happening. Maybe I got them too hot and glazed the pads, who knows. Tomorrow I'll pull the pads and sand them.
Click to expand...
it could be caliper misalignment or a piston that stuck causing uneven pressure.
 
You would think that after nearly 500 miles the pads would be good to go, which is why I threw some parts at it in an effort to fix the problem. The dealer worked on the front, and initially it was better, but it reverted to the same weird noise. I discovered the noise was coming from loose spokes. I called the local dealer I purchased the bike from to schedule it in for warranty repair. He did even better, and asked me to return the bike and exchange it for a new one. Can't argue with that, so I loaded the bike up and went to the shop. This new bike had the same rear brake squeal, so I rode a 500.3 and it didn't do it. Then I rode an Aventure.2 and it didn't do it. Then I rode a couple more and none of them did it. Turns out I really like the Aventure.2 better, so he gave me full purchase credit of my 500.2 toward the Aventure.2. It's in my garage now, problem solved.
 
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