Front Brake Pad rubbing?

[redders]

Hi all,

The other day I got on my bike and when I went to use the front brake, I noticed a difference with the stiffness of the brake lever. It felt like there was much less 'play' in the lever before it stiffened up & started braking. Brakes were working seemingly fine though so I put it down to the temperature outside as it was quite early morning.

On again in the afternoon and I noticed it again. Once I got home and was wheeling the bike around, I noticed a rubbing noise coming from the front wheel, which I don't think was there before. One of those things though where I'm not sure if I noticed it because I was expecting something wrong, or if there was a genuine change.

A few searches on this forum yield several different results. I've found some threads that say a slight rubbing noise is normal, and others that say strip the brakes down / take it to a garage.

Basically I don't know whether it's normal or not, but I can say I noticed a difference the other day when I got on the bike. Not sure what could have changed, perhaps gunk on the brakes making them sticky??

Really new to biking, done zero bike maintainence in the past, so don't fancy starting with something so critical as the brakes. Is there a quick way I can tell if they're okay, or is it best just to take it to a pro?

All help appreciated!

Cheers,
redders.

[Dave20046]

Is it possible for you to jack the front of the bike up and see if the wheel spins freely?
The pads should make contact with the disc but it should still spin freely (with a slight pad-on disc whirring sound).
If that seems okay and the brakes appear to work (i.e slow and stop the bike properly)...is it possible the change was in your head?(not to be rude, just sometimes I could have sworn things feel different from the last time I rode it ,and usually, it either feels okay the next time I get back on it ....or I've broke it)

[TamSV]

A bit of noise is not unusual but it does sound like you've noticed a reasonable change.

Can you get the front wheel off the ground and give it a spin? You'll quickly know if it's dragging.

EDIT : beaten to it :D

[Biker Biggles]

Probably worth a basic clean and brake grease of the pistons anyway.And the sliding caliper bit whatever that is correctly called.Preventive maintenance like that means you wont need to take the things apart.

[andrewsmith]

Probably worth a basic clean and brake grease of the pistons anyway.And the sliding caliper bit whatever that is correctly called.Preventive maintenance like that means you wont need to take the things apart.

I would start with that unless something becomes apartant during the clean up.

Done mine today and it aint pretty after 6 months of muck build-up.

[davepreston]

Really new to biking, done zero bike maintainence in the past, so don't fancy starting with something so critical as the brakes. Is there a quick way I can tell if they're okay, or is it best just to take it to a pro?


2 critical points there

Probably worth a basic clean and brake grease of the pistons anyway.And the sliding caliper bit whatever that is correctly called.Preventive maintenance like that means you wont need to take the things apart.
apart from taking it off the disc to get at the things then of course the pads ??????????
then grease it up mmmmmm where ??? sliding caliper bit ????

I would start with that unless something becomes apartant during the clean up.

would you now mmmmmmmmm also what would be aparent to you if youve never seen the inside of a brake

personally i wouldnt touch a god dam bolt or liquid (especially to the thing that stops your high speed highly vunerable vehicle from crashing into everything) until i had someone i know and trust who is competant to work on bikes with me to guide me through what needs to be done. this stops people from killing theirselves by putting things back together wrong

with someone there you will learn how to do it for yourself at a later date but have the knowledge its done right at the time

what dave numbers said stands true, an easy and SAFE check without you messing about with things you dont know about yet,


thankfully you seem to have the knowledge to understand the critical nature of the part your dealing with ,so havent jumped in ham fisted

ignore the above posts they obviously didnt FTFQ

as said get a trusted mate to look it over or if youve no compitant biker mates DO take it to a garage for a look , because most (read decent ones) wont charge you for looking, most wont mind if you ask to watch and learn if they do need too while they fix it, and you know your bike will stop when asked


come on lads read the fecking op before giving advice
i do dispair sometimes

[rictus01]

Really new to biking, done zero bike maintainence in the past, so don't fancy starting with something so critical as the brakes. Is there a quick way I can tell if they're okay, or is it best just to take it to a pro?

All help appreciated!

Cheers,
redders.

A bit of noise is not unusual but it does sound like you've noticed a reasonable change.

Can you get the front wheel off the ground and give it a spin? You'll quickly know if it's dragging.

EDIT : beaten to it :D

really? noise normal you say, I'd suggest you get yours looked at, nothing should drag, scrape or rub with your brakes when wheeling it about if anything does they need attention.

Probably worth a basic clean and brake grease of the pistons anyway.And the sliding caliper bit whatever that is correctly called.Preventive maintenance like that means you wont need to take the things apart.

I guess you didn't read as far as the end of the first post "done zero bike maintainence in the past", brakes are not for learning on, and to suggest someone of this ability does it is frankly irresponsible, fortunately the OP seem to understand the importants of them and will hopefully seek informed advice.

redders, stick you location in your signiture and perhaps one of the more knowledgeable member could have a look for you, but if in any doubt, get it to a bike shop or someone you trust, don't start playing with it and expect to ride the bike again without it being checked out, of course it's your neck, but as you seem to be aware of your own current limitations, please don't be convinced to start playing with such a vital component .

Cheers Mark.

[warrenhewitt10]

to be fair my brakes have a verryy slight rubbing noise when im wheeling the bike somewhere, moreso in the wet. However the brakes are always cleaned and copper greased say every 1000-2000 miles.

But yes I also advise you dont start learning on the brakes, theres quite a few things you could do wrong there that will be hard to fix....

[TamSV]

really? noise normal you say, I'd suggest you get yours looked at, nothing should drag, scrape or rub with your brakes when wheeling it about if anything does they need attention.

I assumed the noise the OP mentions is barely perceptible as he says it's possible that it existed before. I didn't say that though, so point taken.

[redders]

Hi guys thanks for all the tips, I'll catch up with this later during my lunch break!

[yorkie_chris]

come on lads read the fecking op before giving advice
i do dispair sometimes

Preston what's with you giving decent brake advice... I remember the state of yours!!:p


If you're willing to be very methodical and careful, I reckon you could get through a brake clean-up alright... but there's a lot of chances to naff it up!

[glang]

Hello mate, to try to explain a bit: u have problems with corrosion behind one or more of the brakes piston dust seals. Its quite common for water to attack the aluminium of the caliper where this seal locates then the white powder produced forces the rubber seal to 'grip' the piston. Normally as u release the brake lever the piston returns back into the caliper ie away from the disc but with the corrosion problem this doesnt happen and the piston stays out so keeping the pad in contact with the disc. This results in more noise, over heating of the brakes and reduced brake lever movement (the piston is already out so directly u squeeze the lever you have braking). The solution, as the guys say, is an overhaul/clean up of the calipers with removal of the the dustseal to scrape out the gunk and its important to do it asap otherwise you'll rapidly damage pads/discs.
Hope this helps, glang.

[redders]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. Currently I have no way of lifting the front wheel off the ground to give it a spin, but I might look for a jack/stand this weekend.

There's a good dealer not too far from me, I think I'll just take it down there to get it checked over, mainly for peace of mind. If they do need to do anything I'll ask if they'll give me a 'lesson!'


redders, stick you location in your signiture and perhaps one of the more knowledgeable member could have a look for you
I'm based in Newbury, Berkshire - if anyone's around that would be much appreciated! (Will update my profile now!).

Cheers,
Ed.

[Biker Biggles]

Probably worth a basic clean and brake grease of the pistons anyway.And the sliding caliper bit whatever that is correctly called.Preventive maintenance like that means you wont need to take the things apart.

If you read the above carefully it says it is "probably worth" a bit of "preventive maintenance" to avoid future problems.
If the OP doesnt feel he can do that Im not suggesting he should.
Profuse apologies to all those who took offence at the post.:smt058

[redders]

Thanks everyone - took the bike to the garage today & he said the brakes were fine! Felt a bit silly but much happier than I'd have been if they weren't fine & I ended up ploughing into the back of a lorry or something ;)

On the plus side, he also rotated the switch gear as it was in an odd position stopping the clutch lever from being pulled all the way in - also meant that the horn was previously in a really awkward to reach place - something I never even thought about moving. Does mean the horn is now where the indicators were previously - ended up pipping it a few times on the way home instead of indicating! oops.