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Couple mistakes recently (brakes and stem)

Old 09-15-19, 02:51 PM
  #1  
sirjag
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Couple mistakes recently (brakes and stem)

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
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Old 09-15-19, 04:35 PM
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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
Some people will suggest a light sanding with 400 grit but I would just throw in a couple of new pads. Preferably organic resin type.
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Old 09-15-19, 04:43 PM
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Kool stop salmon, orange, brake pads. I started using them last year and will not go back to regular, black, Shimano or other brand name pads. They brake very well, noiselessly.
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Old 09-15-19, 04:46 PM
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Originally Posted by delbiker1
Kool stop salmon, orange, brake pads. I started using them last year and will not go back to regular, black, Shimano or other brand name pads. They brake very well, noiselessly.
That works for rim brakes, but the OP has disk.

Try the sandpaper, but the pads may be chemically changed and may need to be replaced.
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Old 09-15-19, 04:48 PM
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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
2. Try sanding the brake pads a bit.

Clean the rims really well too.

Cheers
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Old 09-15-19, 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by andrewclaus
That works for rim brakes, but the OP has disk.

Try the sandpaper, but the pads may be chemically changed and may need to be replaced.
Sorry, and thanks for correcting me. I somehow missed the disc brakes in the parenthesis.
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Old 09-15-19, 05:16 PM
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Hey thanks everybody! Ill try the sand paper, then ill get new pads....how can i ensure i have cleaned the rotors adequately?

JAG
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Old 09-15-19, 05:31 PM
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Silicone? I'd toss them.
I'd run the rotor through the dishwasher.
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Old 09-15-19, 05:38 PM
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You can nearly always get rotors clean again. I like to lightly sand them with some fine sandpaper and then wipe down with isopropinol and a CLEAN cloth (preferably a disposable shop cloth). Pads can be cleaned if they're very lightly contaminated--generally sanding is the best course of action. You can try drenching them in alcohol and blasting them with a propane torch also. But they're porous and if they're really contaminated they really just need to be replaced.
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Old 09-15-19, 06:02 PM
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Silicone is really tough to get rid of, when I worked in an auto paint shop we'd curse the owners who used silicone products because it was so hard to remove, even with sanding. I'd toss the pads then try auto brake cleaner like CRC Brakleen on the rotors, followed by very hot water with Dawn liquid and a hot water rinse.
Edit: We used Prep-Sol prior to painting, it claims to remove silicone (kinda does) but is costly: https://www.merrittsupply.com/produc...3919s-solvent/

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Old 09-16-19, 03:35 AM
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Originally Posted by dsbrantjr
I'd toss the pads then try auto brake cleaner like CRC Brakleen on the rotors, followed by very hot water with Dawn liquid and a hot water rinse.
Yep - do this. But caveat that auto brake cleaner should be used with care. I had to do this with a rotor that I accidentally got mineral oil on when changing it in my brakes. I tried cleaning the rotor with all kinds of cleaner, even alcohol as suggested further above. Nothing got it completely clean. So I took the rotor off the wheel, took it outside and put it on some clean cardboard, and used the Brakleen. I didn't want to get it on anything else.
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Old 09-16-19, 04:20 AM
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Use cotton and brake cleaner fluid or alcohol on rotors. "Cotton" is important. No other material can do what it can do. In order to get rid of the oil on the brake pads, just climb to a hill and exercise the brakes while going down. As the brakes heat up, the heat will burn all the oil at some point. It could take time though.
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Old 09-16-19, 05:22 AM
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For what it's worth, Kool-Stop do actually sell disc pads. They're not the same "salmon" compound used on rim brake pads, but I'm sure they're high quality disc pads nonetheless.

Kool Stop International - High Performance Bicycle Brake Pads Since 1977
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Old 09-16-19, 06:05 AM
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Thanks again everyone for the info. Much appreciated! -JAG
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Old 09-16-19, 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by andrewclaus
Try the sandpaper, but the pads may be chemically changed and may need to be replaced.
Just to be a bit pedantic, the pads haven’t changed “chemically”. They haven’t made a new material or compound. They have changed physically. The pad is somewhat porous and any oils that get into the pad are difficult to remove. Efforts to remove the material with a solvent will just push it further into the pad.

But, yes, the pad needs to be replaced and any lubricants need to be kept far, far, far away from the pads (moving them to Pluto might be far enough away)
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Old 09-16-19, 08:59 AM
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New pads, clean the rotors with brake cleaner(do both sides), if your worried about getting brake cleaner on other parts of your bike, remove the wheels and\or rotors.
Chill and drink the IPA.
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Old 09-16-19, 09:12 AM
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Originally Posted by leob1
Chill and drink the IPA.
Again, to be chemically pedantic, drink an IPA if so inclined but not the IPA sirjag is talking about. Both will make you sick if taken in large enough amounts but one is a lot less enjoyable than the other.
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Old 09-16-19, 02:57 PM
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Rotors have a bit of the pad material smeared across their surface. That's the only thing that will really hold on to the lubricant. Otherwise, rotors come clean come clean pretty easy -- smooth stainless steel doesn't hold on to much. I'd sand them with fine sandpaper (200-600 range) and then just wipe them off with rubbing alcohol. That will physically remove the silicone from the rotors. Brake cleaner works, but that's pretty aggressive stuff.

If your pads are metallic, you could try heating them. Here you are looking for a chemical change. But silicone resists heat pretty well. Any normal oven won't get hot enough, which is why you can use a silicone mitt to take out your roast chicken. You've got to go over 500 degrees F, with a blowtorch, to break off the organic chain of the compound and leave behind SiO2.

Easier just to replace the pads, like most everyone else said. Then be sure to re-bed your disc brakes by slowing yourself, one brake at a time, from 15 mph to 5 mph or so, about 10 times each wheel.
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Old 09-16-19, 08:57 PM
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Car factories have bans on silicon products, and aircraft painting companies won't even let a plane that has silicon on it into the hanger. The stuff is pernicious.

Any porous material coming into contact with silicon materials are done for, unless you want to use extreme measures (2700°F in a pure oxygen atmosphere for for 24 hours followed by a quench of the ashes in supercooled helium - then you throw out the ashes, condemn the furnace, and go buy new pads.)
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Old 09-19-19, 06:46 AM
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Originally Posted by hokiefyd
For what it's worth, Kool-Stop do actually sell disc pads. They're not the same "salmon" compound used on rim brake pads, but I'm sure they're high quality disc pads nonetheless.

Kool Stop International - High Performance Bicycle Brake Pads Since 1977
Like 'em a lot. I just bend the spoke-side tab so they look more like the Avid OEM pads (and easier to grab to remove, too.)
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Old 09-21-19, 02:33 PM
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For rotors I use acetone and green scotchbrite scrubbing pads.
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Old 09-23-19, 10:44 AM
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Wanted to update status of my brake issues everybody!

So they work again! After the IPA and dawn soap cleaning and soak the brakes still made a horrible screeching sound while slowing, and the slowing power was greatly reduced.

As a last effort prior to replacement I found the longest downhill I could find (hit about 33-35mph max for about 1mile) and hit it twice while holding one brake for 5-10 second increments. About ¾’s of the way down the hill the brake I was using (rear first) suddenly just grabbed!

I repeated for the front brake and had same results.

Lesson learned; don’t get oil/silicone/contaminates on the pads or rotors fellas!!



JAG
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