Mechanical Disk Brake Pad Life
 

I have a new E-Bike with 350 miles of rolling hills so far. I never had mechanical disk brakes before so don't know much about them. How long can I expect the pads to last? When should I pull them to check?

You don't need to "pull them" to check. FME just look at the thickness of the pad material. Some are so easy to remove the pads that you can just pull them and check. Others (BB-7) not so much.

I have a set of BB7 pads that have over 13,000 miles on them and still stop just fine. Keep them clean and you will use them for a long time. They are on a "road" bike that has been used as a commuter and touring bike over various terrain .

I get pretty good life out of my pads. Where I ride I don't brake much though.

The brakes on my ebike definitely work harder. That might reduce the life a bit, but like said above on all my bikes I can see the pad material without having to remove them.

For an e-bike probably a lot lower they can eat up pads. I wouldn't buy an e-bike with cable brakes though that is probably a good sign that other components aren't up to snuff. If it is a super lower power e-bike maybe cable brakes might be ok but a lot of the cheaper single piston brakes with tiny pads don't work well.

I have cable actuated V brakes on my 1500 watt ebike. Stops my 240# body from 40 mph just fine.

I have mechanical disk brakes on my off pavement touring bike. I find the pads don't last, although the metal oxide pads last longer than the resin pads. Its pretty easy to check if they need replacing if you can see them clearly. I have an ebrake on my ebike, so brake pads dont get much wear.

I have a fat bike and ride very few hills, the pads are still good after about 1,000km
I have a full suspension Ebike I use in the mountains and the pads (resin) last around 10,000 meters of descent

Thanks everyone, for your advice.

It depends a lot on weight, terrain, dirt/grunge, etc. I'd check them at least every year, although after one year you should get an idea of how fast they are wearing. Typically your front brake is going to wear a lot faster, and keep in mind that one of the two pads may be wearing faster than the other, so look at both inner and outer. you should be able to eyeball this without touching anything.

Funny and true.
I would hypothesize that it works because
- you don't have cheap or worn out brakes
- while these guys are using rotors less than 200 mm, your rotors are probably closer to 600 mm (give or take)

;-)