Cleaning brakes

[Polar]

Is rotor degreaser/cleaner worth the money or is a cassette degreaser just as good?

 

[Weeksy]

It's 'correct' and won't contaminate your pads... other cleaners, maybe not.

Nail polish remover is perfectly good at cleaning your rotors too as is any isopropyl based cleaner.

It's not a massive investment, for say £10 you'll get 5 years out of it....

 

[Al-ec]

Totally worth it in preserving pad life, brake function and sanity, by reducing squeal. You can also use it for cleaning the edges of the pistons, which helps improve brake lifespan.

 

[steve_sordy]

A bottle of iso-propyl alcohol (IPA) will last for years and is worth its weight in gold.
You can also do the disco inferno with it.

 

[Hattori-Hanzo]

Rather than nail polish (which can contain other chemicals not intended for brake cleaning) get some pure acetone, it's cheap, will last for ages and is an excellent brake cleaner. Just be careful not to get it on painted surfaces!

 

[Tyjay]

Wd40…..made me so much quicker on the trails more than I was expecting tbh

 

[Polar]

Wd40…..made me so much quicker on the trails more than I was expecting tbh

Not worried about quicker speed but slower

 

[steve_sordy]

You will get slower because you will not want to brake and generate the sound of a car horn every time you touch the levers.

 

[Polar]

You will get slower because you will not want to brake and generate the sound of a car horn every time you touch the levers.

Is it recommended to bed in the breaks again after cleaning rotors?

 

[Gavalar]

Is rotor degreaser/cleaner worth the money or is a cassette degreaser just as good?

Wire wool

 

[Binhill1]

Never cleaned brakes in my life and they work just fine.

 

[steve_sordy]

Is it recommended to bed in the breaks again after cleaning rotors?

I have never done that, if all I did was to clean the rotors with IPA, brake cleaner, whatever.
But if I have done a disco inferno on the pads and flattened the discs on emery paper (or wire wool), then yes I always bed in the pads.

 

[Mikerb]

Brake pads work most effectively when the pad has deposited a small amount of material onto the rotor. That is essentially what the bedding in process achieves..as well as removing small imperfections on the pad surface. So if you need to clean a rotor or pad due to contanimation, whether by IPA/brake cleaner or wet and dry/wire wool, it is best to bed the pads in again. This should be a much quicker process than the initial bedding in of new pads.
It also stands to reason that if you change the pads it is best to clean the rotor before doing the bedding in process.

I have always found the quickest and most effective way to condition/bed in new pads is to ride on tarmac and pull the brakes relatively hard for a short period of time ( a few seconds)....avoiding locking up. Keep riding for a minute or so and repeat the brake pull.............about 10 repeats is usually enough ( less if not sintered pads) but it becomes easy to tell when the brake is most effective.

 

[Polar]

Brake pads work most effectively when the pad has deposited a small amount of material onto the rotor. That is essentially what the bedding in process achieves..as well as removing small imperfections on the pad surface. So if you need to clean a rotor or pad due to contanimation, whether by IPA/brake cleaner or wet and dry/wire wool, it is best to bed the pads in again. This should be a much quicker process than the initial bedding in of new pads.
It also stands to reason that if you change the pads it is best to clean the rotor before doing the bedding in process.

I have always found the quickest and most effective way to condition/bed in new pads is to ride on tarmac and pull the brakes relatively hard for a short period of time ( a few seconds)....avoiding locking up. Keep riding for a minute or so and repeat the brake pull.............about 10 repeats is usually enough ( less if not sintered pads) but it becomes easy to tell when the brake is most effective.

Sounds reasonable but If you don't bed in pads will they get bedded in by normal use after a while?

 

[Downhillr]

Sounds reasonable but If you don't bed in pads will they get bedded in by normal use after a while?

Key part of bedding in is the heat generated to better transfer some pad material onto rotors. Just “riding along” will not work as well as the short interval, harder braking used in pad bedding process (as opposed to bedding your wife, girlfriend)!

 

[Mikerb]

Key part of bedding in is the heat generated to better transfer some pad material onto rotors. Just “riding along” will not work as well as the short interval, harder braking used in pad bedding process (as opposed to bedding your wife, girlfriend)!

agreed.............the process I described is best done and then the bike left for enough time for the pads and rotors to cool down and the deposited pad material to become properly established/stabilised.
If you just go for a ride without bedding in the pads you risk either not achieving the pad material transfer and consolidation, or apply the brakes too hard and too long first real time you use them which is likely to glaze the pads.