Brake pads

kefconstruction

Active member
Apr 21, 2023
148
120
Hull
I'm wondering if this is normal after about 200 miles the pad seems to have seriously deteriorated noticed a sequel while out on Saturday just taken pads out to clean and noticed this, brakes are
TRP Trail Evo, 4-piston, sintered metal pads, 220mm front rotor, 203mm rear rotor

PXL_20231120_222105408.jpg PXL_20231120_222153131.jpg PXL_20231120_222202156.jpg
 

Stihldog

Handheld Power Tool
Subscriber
Jun 10, 2020
3,567
5,027
Coquitlam, BC
I don’t think the rotor is any better. Metal on metal …and the heat that causes. Check for rotor wobble also. Make sure the callipers are centred and secured. Test that each piston is moving correctly.
 

KnollyBro

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Dec 3, 2020
1,004
2,348
Vancouver
I'm wondering if this is normal after about 200 miles the pad seems to have seriously deteriorated noticed a sequel while out on Saturday just taken pads out to clean and noticed this, brakes are
TRP Trail Evo, 4-piston, sintered metal pads, 220mm front rotor, 203mm rear rotor

View attachment 129503 View attachment 129504 View attachment 129505
OMG man.... how did you not hear the brakes making a horrible sound every time you applied them for the last 25 miles? :oops: What kind of trails are you riding on, puddles of mud? At least it you are OK and its only money to repair the issue.
 

E Bob

Well-known member
Feb 15, 2021
360
359
torfaen
Has he worn the spring away, along with most of his pads ? Dude really needs look after his bike, Check your pads after every wash..
Had a bike shop put one pad in backwards once... got a new disk and set of pads out of them.
 

irie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
May 2, 2022
2,597
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Chichester, W.Sussex, UK
If the pads were fitted with the spring in front of (instead of behind) the pad then I guess that's what you could get. If so, the rotor will be toast and as @KnollyBro says, must have made a hell a racket.
 

E Bob

Well-known member
Feb 15, 2021
360
359
torfaen
that spring is supposed to go inside "or infront of" , not outside.. its to push the pads apart, so back off the disk
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,008
9,435
Lincolnshire, UK
That is a symptom of not bedding in new pads properly.

I failed to properly prepare a bike I was lending to a mate who was visiting from abroad. I fitted new pads to the rear, but forgot to bed them in. When I remembered, it was too late so I asked him to bed them in as we set off on the trail (there was a group of us). It was raining heavily and the notoriously gritty trail was very wet. I was at the front and he was at the back, so I couldn't keep an eye on him.

He never said anything to me, but he went through both pads to the backing plate and destroyed the springs in 12 miles! :eek:
 

Cb750stu

Well-known member
Subscriber
Nov 6, 2020
504
472
United Kingdom
That is a symptom of not bedding in new pads properly.

I failed to properly prepare a bike I was lending to a mate who was visiting from abroad. I fitted new pads to the rear, but forgot to bed them in. When I remembered, it was too late so I asked him to bed them in as we set off on the trail (there was a group of us). It was raining heavily and the notoriously gritty trail was very wet. I was at the front and he was at the back, so I couldn't keep an eye on him.

He never said anything to me, but he went through both pads to the backing plate and destroyed the springs in 12 miles! :eek:
😳 Were they made of butter and was he cycling with the brakes on 😂
 

E Bob

Well-known member
Feb 15, 2021
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torfaen
😳 Were they made of butter and was he cycling with the brakes on 😂
Chocolate I think, Milky Way… Pads won’t wear super fast if they have not been bedded in properly, you may get squeaks or a judder, but now way do sintered pads wear away on one little trail ride, theres probably a racing pad that’s short lived, but that will be the big boys abusing brakes. Iv swapped from carbon back to sintered on a race bike, R1, And destroyed both the disks and pads in one race, brembo T disks too… But that’s was because I didn’t remove the carbon from the disks properly, not relevant to this though
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,008
9,435
Lincolnshire, UK
😳 Were they made of butter and was he cycling with the brakes on 😂
They were the same pads as I always fitted at the time, Shimano sintered something or other. The brakes were fine when I checked the bike over before and after the ride (except the pads after). His normal stamping ground was in Greece, near Athens, so the continuous heavy rain was not to his liking. This was all pre emtb.
 

irie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
May 2, 2022
2,597
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Chichester, W.Sussex, UK
that spring is supposed to go inside "or infront of" , not outside.. its to push the pads apart, so back off the disk
That's what I meant. We use the same shaped pads on our Trek Rail 4 piston Shimano calipers. Looked to me like the spring may have been fitted crooked with one end in front of the pad surface.
 
Last edited:

E Bob

Well-known member
Feb 15, 2021
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torfaen
That's what I meant. We use the same shaped pads on our Trek Rail 4 piston Shimano calipers. Looked to me like the spring may have been fitted crooked with one end in front of the pad surface.
He's just wore all the surface away, spring along with it
 

kefconstruction

Active member
Apr 21, 2023
148
120
Hull
Will get a pic of rotor later, ride a lot in rain and mud!! But shouldn't do that, never even botherd checking pads since having it, but I will now going forward
 

kefconstruction

Active member
Apr 21, 2023
148
120
Hull
That is a symptom of not bedding in new pads properly.

I failed to properly prepare a bike I was lending to a mate who was visiting from abroad. I fitted new pads to the rear, but forgot to bed them in. When I remembered, it was too late so I asked him to bed them in as we set off on the trail (there was a group of us). It was raining heavily and the notoriously gritty trail was very wet. I was at the front and he was at the back, so I couldn't keep an eye on him.

He never said anything to me, but he went through both pads to the backing plate and destroyed the springs in 12 miles! :eek:
What would be best way to bed in?
 

kefconstruction

Active member
Apr 21, 2023
148
120
Hull
OMG man.... how did you not hear the brakes making a horrible sound every time you applied them for the last 25 miles? :oops: What kind of trails are you riding on, puddles of mud? At least it you are OK and its only money to repair the issu
That can happen even after ONE very wet ride. You have failed in your maintenance tasks. Replace them earlier. You may have damaged your discs as well now. Check them regularly.
Definitely will check them alot more
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,008
9,435
Lincolnshire, UK
What would be best way to bed in?
There are absolutely loads of YouTube vids on how to do it. Of the many I have seen they appear to be two main ones:
Ride your bike with dry pads.
Ride your bike with wet pads.

I have always done it dry as it is less faff and it works OK, when I do it properly.

PS: Try to avoid tyre squeal as it shows that you have locked up the wheel and not building up friction on the pad/disc interface.
 

hainman

Member
Apr 8, 2021
74
42
Glasgow
Seen a few ways on bedding pads in
Huge sharp stoppies
Or slow brake dragging
I find Shimano bed in really quickly but I always rub the pads on a hard surface to take the top layer off first
 

E Bob

Well-known member
Feb 15, 2021
360
359
torfaen
i wouldent put too much thought into it, pads wear uneven, 2 pot, 4 pot, its just how it is, yours look quite even actually. You just need check your brakes every few rides. Do it after you wash the bike. Theres also no rocket science in bedding pads in, its only to clear off the surfaces, just go steady on the brakes for a few mins, No long drops getting them hot,simples.
But it wasn't not bedding them in that done that to your pads, its the fact you didnt check them.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,567
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Weymouth
The damage to the spring is the clue. The spring was not fitted properly in the first place which means the brake pad was not releasing from the rotor on one side and being presented to the rotor at an angle when the brakes were re applied. The accumulated rubbish on the pad shows that it was not being wiped......it only gets wiped by the rotor if the contact is along its full width front to back.
Those pads are toast...........best to check the rotor for damage as well.

Brake pads have a sacrificial initial layer. Bedding in is merely a process designed to remove that layer without causing the main material surface to glaze. The way to do that is to first clean the rotor with IPA/brake cleaner, then ride the bike, preferably on tarmac and apply the brakes quite hard but only for a second or two..without making the wheel skid. Dragging the brakes will cause too much heat build up and glaze the pad...hence short stabs at the brake. It literally takes only about a dozen of those short stabs to complete the bed in.
 

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