When it comes to MTB brakes, there’s a few things I really like.. need actually, and I’m super picky about this: I want them to feel really firm, and the bite point? Grabby with great modulation, and to be absolutely rock solid so that I’m confident out on the trails (FYI I laughed A LOT when re-reading that last sentence – but I’m not going to edit it out just for giggles!)
Ok so I mean, brakes are our saving grace out on the trails! So just as fast as I like to go.. I want to be able to slow down just as fast too.
You really want the brake pads to dig into the rotors and really slow you down, but it can be really hard to actually do this in certain situations.
I’m gonna talk exactly about that, how to get your brakes dialed, bleed/flushed, and feeling super strong afterwards. Ready for the trail and ready to save you from a bad accident.
So, the tools that you’re gonna need:
- Variety of allen keys, which should already be on your multi tool. If you don’t have a multitool, seriously, don’t ride without one. I use the Crankbrothers 19-in-1 from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2OdFryn
- Bleed system kit specific to your brake brand manufacture.
- Zip ties, or what you like for cable management
- Cable snips.
Contents
The First Sign of Brake Problems
Before you go replace brake pads, or levers or cabling to your brakes let’s just cross off the easy stuff first.
Inspect your lines, calipers, rotors, levers, and make sure everything looks ok!
Next, test the basics! So squeeze the lever and see if your front and back brake work as they should.
Next, let’s say the brake lever goes straight to the grip. This is the first sign that your brakes need a little bit of attention. Squishy brakes are inconsistent and don’t give you much confidence on the trail. So you’ll need to look into it.
Disc Brake Maintenance For Your Mountain Bike
If I pump the lever a few times, and it goes solid again that’s a good sign there’s some air in the hydraulic system.
The first thing I would do is do a full bleed of the system. You can find numerous youtube videos and articles about how to do that and it’s pretty routine. Let me know if you would like to know how in comments.
So, if you have your brakes all bled and got air out of the system, hopefully that just cleaned the whole thing out and now you have great performing brakes again.
But let’s say it’s still not 100% as firm as you would like, and this is really where my big tips come into play.
Basic Servicing of Mountain Bike Disc Brakes
- What I want you guys to do is loosen the two bolts holding the brake caliper to the frame (just do front and back one at a time first). Just so you can actually wiggle it back and forth. No need to remove it, just loosen.
- Okay, so with that calliper loosened, go up to the brake lever, squeeze and pump it a few times, and allow the brake pads and caliper to bite the disc rotor itself.
- What youre trying to do here is make sure that all the pistons are working. Watch everything work and if there’s anything that doesn’t look right, you’re probably looking at brake caliper issues that should be addressed.
Centering Brake Caliper to Disk Rotor – EASY METHOD
- Look down into the brake rotor now. If it’s not quite centered. You’ll have to adjust it by hand. Don’t worry, it’s easy.
- If you haven’t already undo the caliper bolts again just enough to get the caliper loose, but not completely off, and then squeeze the brake lever.
- Now tighten the caliper bolts while simultaneously holding the brake lever down.
- This will ensure centering of the caliper with brake engaged – which will also be centered when the brakes are disengaged!
- Super handy technique and an eye-opening AH – HA! moment when I learned it myself.
- So make sure that a gap can be seen between the rotor and the pads, and then once I’ve got that centered you’re good to go for the other wheel!
You might not get this the first time and it might just take a couple of tries to get it right – actually, getting someone to help you will make it a whole lot easier also. Squeeze the lever as a final check and feel the brakes working without getting on the bike. We’re gonna make sure that they’re both working evenly before riding of course.
Okay, so now that we’ve got it centered the next step is making sure that the rotor is actually spinning and running freely, and that it’s not catching onto the disc brake pads causing premature wear and all sorts of other potential issues.
How to Improve the Feeling of Bike Brakes – THE TAP METHOD
So, before we go on to really making the brake feel solid, there’s one final check to do: check all the little bleed nipples where the hose mounts onto the calliper, and also up in the brake lever. Make sure they’re really tight, they’re secure, so that no air can actually get into them which can cause the brakes to degrade in performance.
Air introduced into a hydraulic brake system, if you haven’t figured it out already, is a bad thing.
Onto the TIP OF THE DAY that will really get the best performance out of your brakes: THE TAP METHOD
So, if you don’t already have one, you’re going to have to put on a bleed “bucket” onto your hydraulic brake lever. This is kind of a new thing from Shimano, since the old syringe method still introduced small amounts of air into the system. This is the one I use from Amazon for my Shimano brakes: https://amzn.to/2A486mC
- Undo the hydraulic fluid bolt on your lever.
- I have Shimano brake system, so I put the bleed bucket onto the lever
- If you’re running a different brake system then just check out the manufacturer’s recommendations on what kind of fluid you need.
- All you’ll want to do is pop in the bucket about 1/4 full fluid,
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Next is when the hack starts
- Okay, so now what you want to do is start pumping the brake. Pump / squeeze the lever a lot while SIMULTANEOUSLY going around every part of the brake system (calipers, lines, lever) gently tapping it with a random tool or rubber mallet. Why? This will force air bubbles that may be in the system to get moving and out of your system. (Think of it sort of like flicking a syringe with fluid in it to get rid of the air bubbles!)
- It’s best to start tapping at the caliper, and work your way through the lines, and then up to the lever, and then making sure to do this a couple times to help move those air bubbles.
- This helps esure that there’s no air actually trapped behind pistons, or on any part of the assembly. Just keep going until we start to see some little tiny air bubbles coming up through the “bucket.”
THAT WILL HELP SO MUCH. It’s an awesome method for those who are particular with their brakes and ride all the time.
What you basically want to find is that when you pump that lever there are absolutely no bubbles coming up through the system and into the bucket anymore. This will make the brakes feel as firm as your brakes can be, and that you’ve actually got them all the way from down at the piston / calipers, all the way up through the lever on your bars.
This is a great hack to get your brakes feeling super strong!
As always, get out there and Rider’ Up!