Help with squeak or chirp on front disk brake.

[Berniejockjr]

Does anyone know what I can do to stop a small chirp or squeak that comes from my front disk brake? It happens intermediately and is very annoying. If I pull the front brake lever just a bit without engaging the break, or shutting the assist down it goes away. I do see a round disc like washer with tighten and loosen written on it but am afraid to mess with it not knowing for certain what I am doing.
Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thank you!
Cheers!

 

[walawn]

Clean the rotor and brake pads. That should fix your problem.

 

[Berniejockjr]

Thanks for the tip. This has been happening from my very first ride, and they are clean. I was thinking that maybe it just takes a while for it to break in?

 

[walawn]

Could be. But it's usually caused from contaminants on the braking surfaces. Even if you cant see anything. Some rotors ship with a coating that protects them from rust. I would buy some good brakeparts cleaner and a stiff brush and scrub both the rotor and the pads and reassemble.

 

[William Hemmingsen]

Sounds like s warped rotor to me. Your LBS can straighten it

 

[pxpaulx]

it is simple to align disc brakes (this will rule out warping as a possible issue without going to the shop). You'll need an allen key that fits the bolts that hold the caliper onto the fork. Loosen them both until the brake caliper is completely loose (not off, just loose!). Now, squeeze the brake handle as tight as possible (a rubber band or something stronger to hold it while you re-tighten would be best). Once the brake is squeezed and the caliper is clamped onto the rotor, re-tighten the two allen bolts. That will align the caliper to the rotor.

If you still have a squeak (one that happens each rotation of the wheel typically), then you do likely have a bit of a rotor warp.

 

[Berniejockjr]

Could be. But it's usually caused from contaminants on the braking surfaces. Even if you cant see anything. Some rotors ship with a coating that protects them from rust. I would buy some good brakeparts cleaner and a stiff brush and scrub both the rotor and the pads and reassemble.

Could be. But it's usually caused from contaminants on the braking surfaces. Even if you cant see anything. Some rotors ship with a coating that protects them from rust. I would buy some good brakeparts cleaner and a stiff brush and scrub both the rotor and the pads and reassemble.

it is simple to align disc brakes (this will rule out warping as a possible issue without going to the shop). You'll need an allen key that fits the bolts that hold the caliper onto the fork. Loosen them both until the brake caliper is completely loose (not off, just loose!). Now, squeeze the brake handle as tight as possible (a rubber band or something stronger to hold it while you re-tighten would be best). Once the brake is squeezed and the caliper is clamped onto the rotor, re-tighten the two allen bolts. That will align the caliper to the rotor.

If you still have a squeak (one that happens each rotation of the wheel typically), then you do likely have a bit of a rotor warp.

 

[Berniejockjr]

it is simple to align disc brakes (this will rule out warping as a possible issue without going to the shop). You'll need an allen key that fits the bolts that hold the caliper onto the fork. Loosen them both until the brake caliper is completely loose (not off, just loose!). Now, squeeze the brake handle as tight as possible (a rubber band or something stronger to hold it while you re-tighten would be best). Once the brake is squeezed and the caliper is clamped onto the rotor, re-tighten the two allen bolts. That will align the caliper to the rotor.

If you still have a squeak (one that happens each rotation of the wheel typically), then you do likely have a bit of a rotor warp.

It worked!! Learning as I go, and appreciate your help.
Thanks a ton!
Cheers!

 

[Berniejockjr]

Could be. But it's usually caused from contaminants on the braking surfaces. Even if you cant see anything. Some rotors ship with a coating that protects them from rust. I would buy some good brakeparts cleaner and a stiff brush and scrub both the rotor and the pads and reassemble.

Thank you, that makes sense. I am worried about taking it apart and got a tip to align them. That worked. I am learning as I go and will have to take them apart sooner or later to clean and change pads. Just kind of gun shy about pulling them apart when the sun is out. Afraid I will do something foolish and not be able to ride lol.
Thanks again!
Cheers!

 

[Berniejockjr]

Sounds like s warped rotor to me. Your LBS can straighten it

The rotor was straight I aligned them and it worked. It's great to know that I can get a warped rotor straightened by my LBS, I'm sure it will happen eventually.
Thanks for the tip!
Cheers!

 

[pxpaulx]

Glad I could help - the more you do little things on your bike, the more comfortable you'll become! Up until 2 years ago I hadn't really ridden a bike in 15 years, now I've got a stand and can do much of the bike (mechanical) maintenance myself. Youtube is extremely handy! I had a watershed 2 summers ago - took my easy motion back to the local dealer about truing the wheel. After the 'mechanic' told me he learnt everything he knew from youtube, that was enough for me to start doing my own work.

 

[Berniejockjr]

Glad I could help - the more you do little things on your bike, the more comfortable you'll become! Up until 2 years ago I hadn't really ridden a bike in 15 years, now I've got a stand and can do much of the bike (mechanical) maintenance myself. Youtube is extremely handy! I had a watershed 2 summers ago - took my easy motion back to the local dealer about truing the wheel. After the 'mechanic' told me he learnt everything he knew from youtube, that was enough for me to start doing my own work.

Wow, I have been looking on Youtube searching all kinds of things. Great tip!!! Thank you.
Cheers

 

[Ann M.]

Absolutely agree! Be a self starter on learning and be patient. There's a lot of basic maintenance that most folks can do and YouTube is a handy resource but it's not the only. I recommend looking at several videos or websites to compare what each is presenting before diving into a new project. It will help to make you feel more comfortable with the process seeing it from different perspectives.

 

[Berniejockjr]

Absolutely agree! Be a self starter on learning and be patient. There's a lot of basic maintenance that most folks can do and YouTube is a handy resource but it's not the only. I recommend looking at several videos or websites to compare what each is presenting before diving into a new project. It will help to make you feel more comfortable with the process seeing it from different perspectives.

Thank you Ann!
Having this forum to interact with other people has really been building my confidence. I was skeptical about buying a product that I did not know much about. The post's and replies here are giving me the confidence that anything I may encounter can be solved. I will heed your advice and look at different options and ways of doing things as they arise. It makes great sense.
Cheers!

 

[Ann M.]

What I try to remind people is that the core of an electric bike is a regular bike, so knowing how to do things 'bike' shouldn't be intimidating! Just keep trying

 

[MatteCrystal]

i just got my ebike and it is slightly warped. i tried the fix above and it worked for back tire but not front. i plan to go to the bike shop soon but is a slightly bent disk bad or just annoying? should i be worried and not ride my bike to prevent damage. Or is it more of a no big deal just a bit annoying. because personally it doesn't bother me much.

 

[J.R.]

i just got my ebike and it is slightly warped. i tried the fix above and it worked for back tire but not front. i plan to go to the bike shop soon but is a slightly bent disk bad or just annoying? should i be worried and not ride my bike to prevent damage. Or is it more of a no big deal just a bit annoying. because personally it doesn't bother me much.

Any decent bike shop should be able to true your disc and adjust your brakes for $25 +/- each wheel. I wouldn't say it's a really big deal, needing attention before riding another mile, but it should be attended to. If you had an accident with the bike, that would be a different story. This sounds like normal new bike brake tuning.

 

[gggplaya]

I just got my bike today and finished setting it up. As to be expected with every bike i've purchased, brakes always need tuning. Usually when you buy from a local bike shop, they take care of all that upon delivery so you never see these kinds of issues.

But this bike uses tektro Aries brakes, i simply looked the manual up online for setting up the brakes and it states that the pads should be 0.3mm on both sides of the rotor. I used my metric feeler gauges to set the tolerance. The right side uses an allen key to move the fixed pad into position, and i just used my feeler guage to move it between the piston and pad. I worked it in and back out until the feeler guage just passed through, albeit a little snug.

For the pad which moves when you pull the brake, that pad was pretty far from the rotor, at least 1mm out. So you have to loosen the cable with an allen key, swing the arm up and clamp down the cable again to move it closer. I did this a few times until i the feeler guage went through but just barely.

Once done, pick up the handlebars to left the wheel off the ground and spin. Should have no resistance or make noise.

PXpaul's method works assuming it was set to 0.6mm+rotor thickness gap between the pads from the factory. It's definitely the first thing to try. If it's not working, then you may want to do the proper adjustment.

If it's still a problem, then check your rotor bolts for tightness, and if that doesn't work, then your rotor is warped.

 

[Ann M.]

@gggplaya, I admire your precision and persistence at sourcing the info you need! A lot of basic adjustments can be done by the ebike owner with just a little training (and handful of YouTube videos).

 

[Berniejockjr]

I just got my bike today and finished setting it up. As to be expected with every bike i've purchased, brakes always need tuning. Usually when you buy from a local bike shop, they take care of all that upon delivery so you never see these kinds of issues.

But this bike uses tektro Aries brakes, i simply looked the manual up online for setting up the brakes and it states that the pads should be 0.3mm on both sides of the rotor. I used my metric feeler gauges to set the tolerance. The right side uses an allen key to move the fixed pad into position, and i just used my feeler guage to move it between the piston and pad. I worked it in and back out until the feeler guage just passed through, albeit a little snug.

For the pad which moves when you pull the brake, that pad was pretty far from the rotor, at least 1mm out. So you have to loosen the cable with an allen key, swing the arm up and clamp down the cable again to move it closer. I did this a few times until i the feeler guage went through but just barely.

Once done, pick up the handlebars to left the wheel off the ground and spin. Should have no resistance or make noise.

PXpaul's method works assuming it was set to 0.6mm+rotor thickness gap between the pads from the factory. It's definitely the first thing to try. If it's not working, then you may want to do the proper adjustment.

If it's still a problem, then check your rotor bolts for tightness, and if that doesn't work, then your rotor is warped.

GGGplaya,
Thank you very much for the information. I have to buy a metric feeler gauge, then I am absolutely going to tune the brakes in the way you described. It will be the first thing I have done mechanically (on this bike) to this bike since purchasing it. I have 170 miles on it and I'm sure the breaks could be tuned. I really appreciate you taking the time to teach me how to do this adjustment, I'm pretty sure it will be something that's done on a regular basis.
Cheers!