wheels53

I just got back from a salty ride on my mountain bike. After I hosed off my tires at home, I was pushing my bike down the driveway and noticed a scraping sound coming from disc brakes.
It sounds a little like when you need new roters on your car. Is this normal and will it dry out, or do I need to clean the brakes after every ride?

smurf hunter

Clean the rotors with rubbing alcohol. Ideally do the same for the insides of the pads.

It's also possible the rotors get slightly bent and scrap as they rotate. You can gently bend them straight with an adjustable wrench.

wheels53

I'm starting to wonder if I went in over my head by getting disc brakes, instead of regular brakes.
I don't know much about adjusting regular brakes, let alone disc brakes.

smurf hunter

Hang in there. It took me quite a while to learn the ins and outs, but they stop sooo much better.
I've commuted on disc brakes for a few years now. The only downsides I find are: heavier than rim brakes and it's slightly more complicated to take wheels on/off.

wheels53

I might need to take a class. I'm not going to touch these brakes with the exception of the alcohol pads, and let the experts handle it.
The only thing is, every time I ride the brakes need attention.
The rim brakes hardly ever require attention.