Brad Bike

I've been told to:
(1) pull off my rotors, wipe them down with rubbing alcohol, lightly sand them, and wipe with alcohol again, being careful not to touch them with bare fingers or get any oil/grease of any kind on them
(2) pull out my brake pads and sand then down
(3) reassemble everything and re-bed my brakes.

My questions are:
(1) do these steps check out?
(2) what grits of sandpaper should I use on the rotors and brakes pads?
(3) do you guys it necessary to re-bed after washing the bike or riding in heavy rain even without going through all the above steps (except maybe rubbing the rotors down with alcohol)?

Thanks!

cyccommute 

You might try brake cleaner instead of alcohol. Or use acetone rather than alcohol. Brake cleaner is generally an acetone/toluene mixture now. It’s a bit more effective than alcohol on the oils that can get on rotors. You may need to just change the pads. You may also need to change the pad material.

You are on the right track. For sanding the pads, a fine grit (250) should work. Make sure the paper is on a flat surface and the pads are flat to that surface. You don’t want to sand the pads and have them be beveled because you sanded them at an angle.

Be aware that all this may not work. If the pads are contaminated with oil, the oil gets further into the pads than they will with rubber. Disc brake pads are more porous and hold oil much deeper.