Brakes busted
 

okay so i got a brand new bike about 2 weeks ago and my boyfriend decided he would "oil it" now he knows nothing about bikes and has never seen disc brakes before so he decided he would oil those as well, now my brakes are rubbish (murder attempt? :p), he has tried cleaning the disc with iso-propol alcohol but they are still unresponseive and squeeky if i slam them on. Can anyone help?

Buy a can of brake cleaner from the auto parts store and and spray your rotors, calipers, and pads to clean out/remove the 'oil'. Can also spray a rag and use that to wipe/clean the rotors. May have to remove the pads to get a proper cleaning or buy new pads. Try to avoid spraying directly on your hub bearings or use a piece of cardboard to shield that area. Wipe away any excess and let dry...should evaporate pretty quickly. Re-install your pads (or new pads) and adjust. Then you are going to have to re-bed the pads. Check first to see if you have brakes at a slow speed (esp if you re-use the old pads). If you do, then do about 5-7 high speed stops on some empty street or parking lot and that's it.

I'd agree with everything Sci-Fi said, especially the part about getting new brake pads. You'll probably never get the existing pads free of the oil.

More advice: get a new boyfriend. "Oil the brakes"... sheesh, what a doofus. Tell him to get lost and go oil his own brakes.

Haha +1

And don't let him get near your car wheels with an oil can.

You can try burning the oil off of the pads with a propane tourch that seesm to work for some.

get a lawyer and some good insurance LOL

http://images.encyclopediadramatica....re_scorpio.gif

I somehow think new brake pads would be a better idea.

+1 tell BF he owes you new pads, and dinner at a nice restaurant.

And don't let him "help" any more, unless it is something he actually knows about.

*DON'T* try this if you've already used brake cleaner on the brakes!

C.f. http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm

"Brake cleaners can turn into poison gas!"

Yikes! :eek::eek::eek: Thanks for that info.

Wow that's some good info.

I mean most of the stuff you use on bikes are nowhere near as (that you *need* to use) dangerous as the stuff you'd use on a car. The worst chemcials we use on bikes are chain lubes and degreaser...

I built a bike that I wanted to be the worst bicycle in my town. And it was! Just one facet that my friend and I didn't overlook: We applied plenty of Teflon lube to the rims & brake-pads. The only way to stop it, unless you had an uphill stretch coming, was to jump.

update:

tried taking the pads fully off and cleaning them but when we put them back on breaking resulted on the newly cleaned rotor getting oily so ended up buying new brake pads, but at least the brakes worked now. Got boyfriend to pay for, install and bed the new brake pads.

Good girl. Now train him to do the dishes while you do the bikes from now on. :D

Doubt very much that the OP is going to use a propane torch or welding equipment nor be close enough to inhale the fumes if heat is used. Besides, many "general use" oil/solvent and water based cleaners contain chlorinated ingredients. When heated and under the right conditions (cleaning product is still present in liquid form), chlorine gas can be created/formed and can cause long term damage as described in your links. It all depends on the percentages and many brake cleaning products are now chlorine free. Kleen-Stop's "Prep-All" is an inexpensive and excellent alternative to Prepsol, which is considered to be the best at degreasing/de-waxing and removing silicone products from surfaces that need to be clean/free of any substances. Geez, my detailing side just came out unintentionally...lol.

I can very well see how that situation can happen in a shop. Torch is used to free seized/corroded parts, not a far stretch to imagine said part/bike being coated in some sort of degreaser/clearner or some other chemical elixir before hand.

Brakes busted
 

I like both of these suggestions. Thanks for the heads up.



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Joseph

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Well, keep in mind Dirty Harry's famous quip: "you've gotta ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?'"

Who puts oil on brake pads? Seriously now.

Glad its fixed, but that is something awful dangerous, I wouldn't let him wash dishes, might cut himself lol ;)