Originally Posted by sirjag

Couple things I have learned recently, wanted to share here for some additional learning, and perhaps someone can learn from my mistakes....

1 - had my bike in stand, was replacing my stock 110mm stem with a 120mm stem (trying to get a little more reach) and I had no idea the bottom of the headset would fall to the ground! spacers and ball bearings went everywhere...how embarrassing. I put everything i could find in a bag and took to LBS to get it all back together. I couldn't find anything online with the order of spacers and bearings so I had to take it in unfortunately...They didnt charge me anything, and allowed me to watch and learn when they put it back together! So I can do this work on my own from here on out.

2 - I use some of that silicone based bike cleaner/spray to wipe down the bike each 100miles or so. I always spray on micro fiber rag then wipe the bike down taking care to not get on the brakes (my giant has disc). Well i didnt take as much care as i thought and now my bike sounds like a freight train when stopping and the power is way way reduced. I have taken the pads and calipers off the bike and cleaned with 90% IPA, no effect. Then i soaked in dawn kitchen soap, no effect....What can i try next? Do really need to replace the pads? Can I bake them out in oven? And at what temp should i use??

thanks for reading and any help that yall can offer!
JAG