I took my 2 year old Scott department store bike out for a mud ride yesterday. Towards the end of the ride I noticed the my rear brake was extremely soft. During the ride the rear brake had been real sweet cause I had just adjusted it. This morning I look at the rear pads and they are almost entirely worn down. Before I rode that had at least half left. They nearly crumbled right away. Any idea why this happened? The front brake seems fine.

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probably poor pad quality..and they just went up...look into some kool stops.

Haha your department store bike sucks. Mine doesn't (as much). Hah!

You screwed up a set of grips, who are you to knock on a person.

Maybe your rear brake locked-up 1/2 way thru the ride & you didn't notice ....

I think you should raise your seat up a bit, and let about 8psi of pressure out of your front tire.

Actually, the saddle is a bit low, and the front could use less psi.

DJ and kona...what is with you two and random conversations in threads?!

No idea.

Maybe the pads were ready to go. they are so low now that I can't really adjust them. I may or may not get more. It's my beater bike and I don't care about it too much. They are good ole promax brakes. I might just pick up a cheap set somewhere and throw them on. wouldn't mind getting those nice long brake shoes that come on better bikes. hmmm. oh well, i'm broke.

My guess is that the rubber dried out due to sitting for so long. Was the bike stored in a garage that gets really hot?

Chances are they just dried out. What's wierd is the front ones didn't.

Do you use more back brake when you ride?

If so, consider changing your technique. You get more stopping power and control while stopping if you use more front brake. If you are skidding your back tire, you are not in contol. Think anti-lock brakes.

You should use about 70% front brake/30% rear.

Next time you ride start with 50/50 and then increase your front as you go. If you lean back while applying your brake you WON'T flip over the bars.

Christ, stop picking on me. I already asked you once. Plus, they still work. They're not completely rounded and I can put them on and off, just one screw is almost completely rounded. I once again ask you to stop picking on me.

Not to mention - I had my own problems, I caused my problem. It was his bike being bad, not his fault, so they are completely irrelevant. There are different kinds of problems you know. What you said is basically like me saying

"You shouldn't be talking about someone else's bad computer, when you screwed up your video card". (To anyone).

No need to rebut this since you basically did it for me. In other terms, Don't knock on someone's equipment if they worn it out and not if something is wrong because a person messed around with something without reading the directions or using the wrong tool then blaming it on the company for the person's own screw up. If you realize this , it will stop.

In the end, I never blamed them. I just thought that they could've made the screws stronger thats all. It couldn't hurt me or you, but if you all think its fine as is, go ahead. I'm entitled to my own opinion right, and I'm not really dissing anyone in the forums.

Yes, I read the instructions. No, I'm not paying 10 dollars more just so that I can get an allen key set. No, I can't find any stores that sold the keys one by one, nor did any sell 2.5mm. I tried my best.

I'm saying their department store bike sucked (everyone has in the xmart bike threads). Then my "user error" gets brought up. It still doesn't make much sense to me.
I guess what you mean is that I shouldn't say that his xmart bike pads suck because I almost rounded an odi screw.

It's probably not the context or anything, it's just your comment sounds kind of mean. Probably why Kona is miffed, because you didn't say something nice Be nice!


NOOBS!

hahahahaha

Then you will continue to have problems because you don't have the right tools. SAE wrenches are [size=3]NOT[/size an acceptable substitute for metric. You will continue to ruin parts that cost more than $10 until you choke back some juvie pride and buy the right set of wrenches. Jeez just go to Harbor Frieght and get a cheap set.

I paid a good $21 for my Pedro's hex wrench set. I believe the are made by Snap-On (correct me if Im wrong), and they were worth every one of the 2100 pennies. The ball end part is great and helps to get the job done faster. Thats what you get from high quality tools.

Cripes, you can get a cheapo set for a couple of bucks literally anywhere.

Not knocking good tools at all. (You should know me better than that)
I've got a set of actual Allen branded wrenches with the ball tips. They were a X-mas gift, but I know they were about $18.
What I am saying that having a cheap set of properly sized tools is far better than using the wrong tools that are "close enough" because "close enough" is never right

i gotta get a set of allen wrenches. i have a blackburn multi tool set and it you cant put any force on it. so little, in fact, that i couldn't get my set tight enough to stop from moving during a ride. defiitely should stop by home depot or the local store and grab a set. having the right tools are great, sometimes you can get by with doing it "primitive pete" style, but its often best to just use the right tool. however, i use to build computers using a leatherman, not that you need much anyways.

A multi tool is for emergencies, to get you home. If you use a multi tool as a tool kit at home you will end up with rounded allen bolts and a worn multi tool. I can't think of anything cheaper, yet more necessary, than a set of allen wrenches.

I own several sets of allen wrenches. I've got a set of T-Handles, a set of L-shaped, and two or three mini-tools, not to mention the set I have for a 3/8" socket set.

I love tools almost as much as new bike gear!

Sorry for derailling this thread. Umm, I guess I'll invest my money, but at the time, I didn't think of it. The 2.3 something worked out well at the time and I didn't think it would round the screw. Okay?

Now we can help out the dude who got his brake pads worn.

I'll say kool stop. Or avid wranglers (or whatever, theyre really really nice).

I use a multi tool set for my allen set. Strongest allen keys I have ever used. 3 years running and 2 stripped bolts (both of which came to me dang close to stripped)