Pine needles in brake caliper
 

Living in the southern US, we have a few pine trees. And the paths, trails I ride are always littered with pine needles. I know that some debris will always get into my brake calipers and I have been diligent about cleaning them after rides, but lately this has been getting ridiculous. Typical path:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4d4351eb01.jpg
Pine needle path

I had a Kona Dew with the Clarks M2 hydraulic disk brakes, and now have a Dr. Dew with Shimano Altus brakes and a front fender. Specifically, the rear caliper is mounted horizontally on the chainstay on both bikes. The Clarks got so packed with pine needles that the rear stopped working altogether and had to be rebuilt. And this weekend, I had to stop a few times to unpack the needles from the Altus caliper; then do a full cleaning when I got home. As in the picture above, I am not riding through bales of pine needles, they are just unavoidable here.And I am running 650bx47mm Specialized Pathfinder Pro tires.

My other bike, a Specialized Vado with Shimano BR-MT200 brakes, has never had this issue in 2600 miles.

Anyone have clever ideas to prevent the pine needles from getting pulled into the rear caliper while still allowing airflow? Again, I expect some debris, it's natural; but that they get so packed as to stop working is confounding. (Aside, the jockey wheels also get completely wrapped in the needles but those wheels seem to chew the needles up and not impact their movement.)

Maybe something like a flint-catcher mounted on the back of the rack to knock the needles off the tire before they get near the brake?
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...eccf9584c9.jpg

THey are probably climbing up the kickstand... :)

Disc brakes. That catcher will be about a foot too high. Designing a caliper with an integral shield shouldn't be hard but apparently no one has seen the need to. A retrofit shield should also be possible but I do not have disc brakes and am not signing up for the task of designing it.

Edit: read the OP. Rear wheel. Sorry JohnD, my comment wasn't right. And being a rear caliper, you could mount something like the glass catcher on the seatstay, only instead of a wire, it should be say a half dollar coin of lightweight aluminum with a narrow slot just wider than the disc. Maybe bent into a "V" to shed the needles off to the side instead of piling up. R&D time. (There are probably grants out there to fund research on best disposal of used needles that could be had with the properly worded application. :))

I had problems with the rear derailleur and cassette clogging up when forced to ride through piles of leaves. I started riding with a spoke hidden on the bike, bent to yield a handle on one end and a hook on the other. The next time I used that spoke was to pull the chain thrown off by a twig that got caught. The spoke might be too crude for your needles, but still, you might need some instrument for them, before and even after you develop some protection.

You could take a small dia. bottle brush, bend the end into a U shape that would lightly touch the disk brake surfaces and use zip ties or tape or ??? to fasten the brush handle to the stay with the brush positioned over the disk section before it rotates into the caliper. If it works you could make a more elegant setup but try this first.

The Dr. Dew does not have a kickstand, I no longer have the bike in the picture. I do take some small needle-nose pliers and a piece of small diameter coat hanger to get the junk out during rides.

JohnDThompson and Crankycrank thank you for the suggestions - gives me something to try this evening. If I get this resolved, I'll post the solution.

Looks like a pretty place to ride a bike.

Do you have a picture of the needle cloggage? It might help folks get some more ideas to run up the flagpole.

we’ve run through areas with heavy pine needle accumulation and no issues

multiple times

hmmm … will need to pay more attention next time

Understandable as the bike photo in the op is not the subject bike. :wtf:

Even without disks its a good idea ta check your bike after a pine needle ride. But what a ride. Although at times kinda slippery our single track through the pine trees was nice, soft, and quiet.

I miss them as they are no longer around. They were destroyed by ebike riders trying to play like dirt bike riders (motorcycle) and now they belong to dirt bikes only...

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7671509bc.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d7c082ef4.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a70e0f929.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...16f546e21.jpeg

we often run through leaves - dry and wet

never had a problem with them (fouling the drivetrain or brakes)

hmmm

Bike in question and bike in photo have the same type of brake mounted in the same location though. :foo:

My particular situation was of a pile of fluffy leaves blown by the wind into the passage. My wheels were buried maybe 10" deep. In situations like in your photos, I usually just get twigs in the drivetrain or leaves under the fenders. I learned that I still should stop and get them out, not only to get rid of the mild nuisance but to prevent the situation from escalating.

agree - plus you don’t know what could be hiding under the piles of leaves

we almost always kick it down a notch when we are riding through heavy leaves - regardless of the surface … crushed limestone, dirt, or black top / pavement … actually MUP / rail trail paved surfaces can be the worst when there are heavy leaves over raised areas or cracks (due to roots under the surface or heaving / breaks from freeze / thaw)

they do make a cool sound though when they are dry :)

I do not, but if my initial efforts to eliminate this problem do not work, I will post a photo.

***

Here is the bike in question, since it seems I confused some folks. The orange-ish bike in the previous photo is a '23 Kona Dew Plus, again I no longer have that bike. I am now riding a '22 Kona Dr. Dew - similar geometry to the Dew, but steel frame, different drivetrain and brakes (brakes mounted in identical location). This picture is prior to swapping the Maxxis DTR-1 tires that it came with for the tubeless Pathfinders on it now.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2529213569.jpg

maybe the pine needles are transported from the ground to tire to rack (as the tire rotates) and then down onto the caliper ?

maybe if you rode slower the pine needle journey / trip would be shortened ? :)

different tire ?

do you have a go pro to mount in that area ? :)

I usually deal with leaves, and like [MENTION=553936]t2p[/MENTION] it's usually stuck in a fender. On those rare occasions when it gets into the brakes or chain, the leaf of interest usually becomes dust pretty quickly.

JustaJoe how long does it take to jam up your brakes? Could you stop every 15-30 minutes and swipe an index card through each side of the disc? Or if the card folds, go by a hobby shop and get a piece of sheet metal, cut and file the edges, and use that instead.

Alternatively, perhaps get some slick tires to reduce the lofting lugged tires do to the needles?

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6d3282f22.jpeg

maybe you can fabricate something small that will sit over / near the caliper … to catch the pine needles … so they are not ‘ingested’ …

sorta / kinda like the rear part of the disc brake protector on the motorcycle (pictured above) … just the rear portion of the protector where it sits over the caliper

?

NRT?

Leaf debris was an issue, lately it’s been water and construction.

.

This has happened with: WTB Byway tires (slicks), Maxxis DTR-1 (low, tight blocks), and the Pathfinders. I don't have a GoPro but can maybe rig something up for my phone to capture it.

As above, tried slicks, same thing. I'd guesstimate somewhere around 20mi is when the brake gets severely impacted, and I now carry tiny needle-nose pliers and small gauge coat hanger piece to remove the needles during my ride.

I was thinking a dork disk on that side of the wheel might help, but I don't have one. I tried a few mock-ups last night with card stock - made different shape "shields" for the area, but none did it for me. I'll do more mockups and if one looks promising, I'll re-make it out of thin aluminum sheet. Now that I type this, a design has come to mind....

Yeah. They might also be getting tossed up by the front tire. If so, a front fender that drops down further might help. Figuring out what is the most common way the needles get to the caliper would help. If you know where they are coming from, you could fabricate a shield of some sort.

top two pics: Sandy Creek trail (near Franklin PA ; crosses over the Allegheny River trail)

bottom two pics: Butler-Freeport trail

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ccd1e2ac8.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b33e01ff0.jpeg

could not find pics of heavy pine needle accumulations

but did find pic of mrs t2p standing next to a small white pine …she’s a white pine fan girl

But if ya do its just part of the ride...

Wonderful...