How To Set Up Cable Disc Brakes On A Bike| Bicycle Maintenance Basics

Disc brakes are a common feature on bikes now as they offer increased braking performance in all conditions. Cable operated disc brakes on road bikes offer a cheaper alternative to hydraulic brake callipers and are easy to set up and maintain. In this video Ollie explains the basic components, initial setup and how they work as well as offering some tips to get the most stopping power from the brakes.

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Brakes are not only an important safety feature on your bike but can also help you ride faster once you learn when and how to brake. Do you use cable disc brakes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below 🔧

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[gcntech]

Do you use cable disc brakes? Let us know 👇

[TiberiusMoon]

Pro tip: Tighten the caliper bolts a bit at a time switching from top to bottom, tightening one of the two bolts fully in one go will cause the caliper and rotor to shift off centre.

[GaryPerlmutter]

Thanks so much after watching this I was able to adjust my brakes correctly. Very clear instructions !!

[mysteriomonkie]

Should have watched this before spending 5 days trying to centre my brakes by eye. Nice one.

[Hardi]

My 5 years old merida cyclocross bike has trp spyre-c disc brakes. I have cut slot for the brake cables into mounting brackets, with power grinder. Because the bracket originally had some almost like alligator teeth surface to sandwich the cable with. On front brake someone at bike shop where I bought it(it was new bike), had already done it nicely, probably with dremel. But I made the rear one too(It was difficult, but I could do it almost well(it's good enough), with a big power grinder). I had to do it, because it was destroying brake gable.. There was only 2 strains of wire intact when I took it a part. I had adjusted the cable few time as the outer shell had seating in while in use and I guess i had everytime damaged it by undoing and re-tightening it.. But now it's very good. Does not destroy my expensive cable at all, and doesn't slide off too even when squeezing with full strenght.. Rather the plastic brifter lever might break I think. I use jagwire bolished stainless steel cables. They are very good. I also took the calipers apart one and half winters ago. and greased bearings inside, because they had got rusty inside.. And brake bads did not return anymore. And then I made mudguards for brakes to protect them from water and dirt pouching back down to brakes from mudguards.. It helps a lot. Before I even lost front brake one time, even though there was over 1mm compound left on pads. Somehow the spring that comes with pads had got between disc and bad and broke.. I believe it was because sand and tiny rocks raining down from mudguards of wheels. I had to ride home without working front brake that was also making bad sound when metal spring rubing against disc and I was worried all the time that the front wheel may get jammed because did not know if there might be some lose parts somewhere that can get stuck.
Also about the outer casings. There's actually a certain radius how much you should pend that casing. So that the end of casing that you cut flat, when it was straight, would still stay flat even after you have routed it on bike.
I replaced the original merida handlebar on my bike with richey comp evo max handlebar. And then I noticed that on this new handlebar from richey. The bends that the cable had to follow were perfect.. My big appreciation to enginers/designers from Richey. I think they had taken it into account when designing it. All the bends on my merida frame seems wrong.. Only on that new handlebar they are good. I tried to cut other ends flat after routing the cables, but.. it was difficult.

[Pienimusta]

2:24 Henry screaming somewhere "CONTAMINATION!!"

[walcottav]

I'll pile on the mechanical-hydraulic bandwagon. TRP and Yokozuna's are great with the added bonus of using standard brake levers. A video addressing this type of brake would be appreciated!

[GQ]

If you’re struggling with the caliper moving around as you tighten the mounting bolts down, look for paint overspray between the caliper and frame. This is common and can be fixed with a bit of sandpaper!

[walshman]

Nice one. Clear and thorough. Will come in handy on my commuter bike!

[raffiecowie-stewart]

Thank you for this.
Probably just saved me £30 or more. I can do the rim brakes but lacked confidence with discs.

[woozertoo]

OMG...a flat bar bike on GCN?! It’s not that often you find unicorns on this channel 🙃

[firstman]

Another video bookmarked for upcoming first e-bike build. Thank you.

[eaudet]

Great man! Thanks, best explanation on the web!

[joeyc]

I am looking at cable actuated hydraulic callipers. Would be interesting to see how effective they are compared to the other options and maintenance needs, got their own reservoir. Pad material you didnt mention semi metallic as the third type.

[motojc]

Thanks. My new bike (brake) is making a scratching noise. I think your procedure should solve it. I'll try it tomorrow.

[JVW-qpwx]

Excellent video! Easy to follow, thank you for posting it.

[petinka]

Great video and it had been fun see a break test between the different bike breaks.

[paulbrown]

If your having trouble with rotor rub when you tighten your calipers bolts, add an extra washer, this stops the caliper moving when tightening the bolts and you get your calipers centered with your rotor every time.

[richardhaselwood]

This would have been a very useful video about 5 years ago when I got my TRP equiped disc brake ;)

[carbonsuicidemtb]

Great video, but I would like to point out that resin pads can "glaze" under high temperature, resulting in a bad loss in performance, you can sand off the glazing, but that can be nightmare in itself keeping the pads surface even, so if you live somewhere with long descents, buy metal (sintered) pads, Shimano's ice tech discs really help too