New bike, do I need to worry about my brakes?
04-10-17, 05:55 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: West Covina, CA
Posts: 39
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
New bike, do I need to worry about my brakes?
So I recently got a new mountain bike with 180mm front and rear disc brakes. I was coming down a very steep road and was doing a lot of heavy braking. After about 5 minutes of 30+ mph speeds and hard braking for switchbacks, I decided to check the brakes. You could smell them when I stopped. Super hot.
Total weight including bike is about 300lbs. Should I just be prudent and give them time to cool off on particularly hard downhills, should I upgrade to heavy duty brakes (if they exist), or should I not even worry?
Total weight including bike is about 300lbs. Should I just be prudent and give them time to cool off on particularly hard downhills, should I upgrade to heavy duty brakes (if they exist), or should I not even worry?
04-10-17, 06:58 PM
#2
Heft On Wheels
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 3,123
Bikes: Specialized,Cannondale,Argon 18
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 887 Post(s)
Liked 560 Times
in
346 Posts
Unless you actually glaze the brake pads don't worry about it. But at those speeds they do get hot. I glazed a set once going down a mountain road last fall. It can be an issue and they get noisy too. But you will know if you have issues quickly.
04-14-17, 08:19 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: West Virginia
Posts: 118
Bikes: Kona Big Unit Single Speed, Kona Private Jake Single Speed, Jamis Renegade Elite
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 40 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
You could upgrade the rotors possibly to something that will dissipate the heat better. Not knowing what brakes you have makes it hard to make a recommendation. Try to modulate too. Don't ride them too hard or long if you can avoid it. If your setup allows, you might check into a 203 front rotor but really, unless you are doing some serious downhill, 180's are fine. If you do glaze the pads you can scuff them back to good with sand paper. I do that from time to time anyways just to freshen them up. Brake pad material matters too.
