5 Essential Disc Brake Tips & Tricks | Maintenance Monday

Do you own a disc brake bike or are you thinking about getting one? Worried about maintenance? Well, Alex is here with some essential advice for looking after your disc brakes - just follow these five tips and tricks!

0:00 Intro
0:14 Bring the Right Tools
0:57 Change the Hydraulic Fluid
1:41 Keep Pad Spacers Handy
2:18 Stick to a Reputable Brand
3:14 Keep Rotors & Pads Clean

Useful Links

What are your top disc brake maintenance tips? Let us know in the comments below! 💬

If you liked this video, be sure to give it a thumbs up 👍 and share it with your friends!

Watch more on GCN Tech...

🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
Ostersjon - Ooyy

#gcntech #gcn #cycling #roadbike #maintenancemonday #bikemaintenance #biketech #discbrakes

Brought to you by the world’s biggest cycling channel, the Global Cycling Network (GCN), GCN Tech is the only channel you need for all things bike tech – past, present and future.

Simply put, we’re obsessed with tech: we seek out and showcase the best in bikes, components, tech, accessories, upgrades and more from races and events, tech shows and product launches across the globe to bring you the best in road bike technology.

We’ve also got great maintenance videos to help you get the most from your bike; pro-bike tours from all the biggest races; special features and the weekly GCN Tech Show. We also take a deeper look into the future of cycling, apps, smart tech and virtual riding.

Join us on the channel and the GCN App to submit your content, vote on the latest tech and keep abreast of exciting new trends.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Watch our sister channels:

[gcntech]

What are your top disc brake maintenance tips?

[sbsb]

Good video. After watching it I very much want to go back to rim brakes.

[sebaslap]

Just went back to rim brakes after a couple of years. I hope bike brands don’t stop producing them ❤️

[bicyclist]

I've been riding disc brakes for about 25 years now. I ride Hayes hydraulic on my mountain bike. Call me old school, but I believe disc brakes belong on mountain bikes not road bikes. This is accurate and interesting. Please keep up the good work. Thanks.

[AntonMuller]

"Easy and simple" as you rightly put it - same goes for that video that says it all in 4 minutes' time, greatly appreciated thank you !

[ebikescrapper]

Use isopropyl alcohol,  instead of the fancy disk brake cleaner, cheaper and does the job.

[stevek]

I love the sound of disk brakes in the morning. They remind me of school--blackboards.
Listen to a CX race, "sqeeek sqeeek!"

[mikec]

A video about the different pad types would be handy for noobs like me. Does my head in all this sintered, ceramic, metallic. Then again, you may have already covered this. I suppose I could look!

[adccars]

If my rim brake rubs. I can adjust them while I'm riding 😌 🦸🏾‍♂️

[jedisdad]

Heck the reputable brands have no stock! Been trying to find Shimano Pads here in Houston Texas USA and no luck!

[bohansen]

Dont use oil on the chain - wax is a way not to get your bike to dirty overall and your chain is not black all the time. Cant get oil on the roters as there is none on the bike 😊

[davet.]

Buy a disc brake spacer tool (5 for $10 on amazon) and dial in the alignment. Bed in your brake pads properly.

[earlybirdadventures]

Is there any way to adjust the brake lever travel or contact point on SRAM Rival AXS brakes? I am able to adjust the Reach using the reach adjustment, but now the brake lever touches the handlebar before the brakes are fully applied. Any ideas on how to decrease the brake lever travel? Unfortunately the Rival AXS does not come with a contact point adjustment screw.. Thx!

[glennoc]

I've switched to a more generic rotor with great success. $20 vs $90 is a no brainer.

[SecwetGwiwer]

Thanks to disc brakes, my club ride now sounds like a bagpipe player being kicked to death every time we come to a stop.

[raishinhimura]

Since this is the newest video. Is there a video about the weights of all bike materials and quality build like pros and cons

[blakeabrego-lerma]

You can clean your brake pads very well from oil and grease even after it's been on for a good amount of time, just sand them a little or even scrap the on the cement if you don't have sand paper; it truly works wonders.

[multibike]

Tip #0 buy hydraulic Disk Brakes rather than cable actuated ones.

Btw you really don't have to change mineral Oil unless there's something wrong, while DOT fluid should be changed every 1-2 Years.

[JektorII]

Especially in the winter: keep the brakes free of salt. That broke my sealing rings and almost cost me new calipers after only one winter.

[ryanseah]

Curious question can I use alcohol to clean the rotor to remove oil and grease?