denada

hey. my disc break pads are rubbing the discs a little bit.

i found out this evening walking my bike up my apartment stairs. it's past 3am. i have to go to bed right now. my bike is how i get around. i have **** to do tomorrow. it cool if i ride it into the city in the morning and then fix the rubbing later this weekend?

or is that going to cause some irreparable damage? i mean there's no way i noticed it immediately anyway.

i'm new to disc breaks. i cannot imagine getting out allen wrenches and figuring this out before i have to leave tomorrow morning. i so do not want to bus it. neither of my other bikes are set up for commuting.

thanks

subgrade

The sound might irritate you - that's the worst that could happen. If it's rubbing just a little bit, it's unlikely you'd notice the drag, and it would take extremely long for it to cause any noticeable wear.

Amt0571

You can ride it and everything will be ok. The sound may be bothersome though. I can't stand it.

Wilfred Laurier

It is not going to damage anything.

Make sure your wheel is fully seated in the dropouts and the quick release is tight. Brakes that were not rubbing then suddenly are rubbing a potentially a sign that the wheel has shifted, and that could mean the QR is not sufficiently tight.

But sometimes rubbing just happens. If you lift the bike and spin the wheel and the rubbing doesn't seem to slow the wheel down much (just the gentle 'schwing schwing schwing' sound) then you have nothing to worry about.

denada

i appreciate the quick replies. i don't notice when riding. the wheel spun as i was carrying it up the stairs and i heard it. then i got into my apartment and did exactly that; lifted the bike and spun the wheels and i could hear it. but it was night and i needed it to get places this morning. so again, i appreciate the clearance to ride.

the wheels are seated and tight. i don't think it was anything sudden. more something i suddenly noticed. now that i have a moment maybe i'll do what youtube says. loosen the break, squeeze, and retighten. if that doesn't work it'll have to wait until next time i take the bike in for something serious. i know from past experience to not start taking apart the bike i need to get places over some minor problem because it looked in easy in the video.

it's that. it sounded a bit louder last night because of sleet and salt and rain getting all up in the parts. but after wiping it down with a towel and leaving it for the night i had to listen to hear it this morning.

thanks all.

Cyclist0108

Sometimes mine do that when it is time to change the pads, so it is probably worth inspecting them. If they are still nice and thick, you can try recentering them by loosening the caliper mounting bolts, moving the caliper, and then re-tighten. Sometimes it helps to apply the brake while doing that (but I find I still often have to fine-tune it manually). If that is insufficient, or you have to replace the pads, the next thing to do is to reset the pistons by pushing them back into the caliper. To do that, carefully wedge something between them (I use a flat-blade screwdriver with an old set of pads that I don't have to worry about scratching) and gently twist and push the pistons back. Center visually, and fine-tune the position as above.


PS: It's "brake", not "break".