Levo Gen 2 Levo Turbo 2020, shredding rear brake pads and discs.

[Tetley]

Is anyone suffering excessive wear in their rear pads and discs?
My bike has a Sram Level T, 2 pot rear calliper on 200mm Sram discs, and in 1300 miles has gone through 6 sets of pads and a disc. The front is the same disc with a 4 pot calliper, and is about half worn on the original set of pads.
The rear disc is badly worn, so much so, that even new pads and the lever on full adjustment can't take up the slack, and also I noted that the pads are nowhere near in line with the wearing part of the disc, leaving several mm on the outer edge untouched, and part of the spokes are worn away. This is as it left the factory.

So, I fitted a brand new genuine Sram 203mm disc, and genuine pads, and shimmed out the calliper so as the pads contact the correct part of the disc, which set the lever right out from the bar. 50 miles later, and the lever can be pulled in and touch the bar.
On some steep down hills, I could feel the lever slowly pulling in as the pads wore away.... Discuss!

 

[Dmurphy48]

I know with my sram code brakes (without bite adjustment) I have to reset the pads a lot to get I so the bite point is further out from the bar. Basically take out the wheel and slowly squeeze the lever until the pads move a bit and then reinstall and check the bite point. Hope this helps

 

[KenX]

On a basic level, the only thing that wears discs and pads is using them! Are you braking mostly with the rear without realising it? The only other thing could be a lever problem where the pads are constantly touching the disc, try spinning the rear wheel halfway through a ride to see if the brake is dragging.........

 

[ebikerider]

If the brakes have been fitted correctly the only real reason for this much wear is you using the rear brake too much. Are you sitting most of the time when riding or getting up into the attack position? Seated riders rely on the rear brake because that's where the bulk of the weight is.

 

[ajbalfe]

Maybe excessive use of the brakes due to the brakes themselves not having enough stopping power. I think Level T are for XC bikes and the two pot on a very heavy Levo just won't get the job done. I swapped mine out for Guide RE or you could even consider Code (I am a SRAM fan).

 

[Nikolaos Tsivis]

Good day @Tetley .

Did you measure the thickness of the rotor?

What type of pads are you using?

How many rear tyres have you changed during the last 1300 miles? Are these "burning out" as well?

Brgds/Nikolaos Tsivis

 

[Tetley]

I know with my sram code brakes (without bite adjustment) I have to reset the pads a lot to get I so the bite point is further out from the bar. Basically take out the wheel and slowly squeeze the lever until the pads move a bit and then reinstall and check the bite point. Hope this helps

I'll try resetting and see if I can extend the pad's short like.

 

[Tetley]

On a basic level, the only thing that wears discs and pads is using them! Are you braking mostly with the rear without realising it? The only other thing could be a lever problem where the pads are constantly touching the disc, try spinning the rear wheel halfway through a ride to see if the brake is dragging.........

Yes I do use a lot of rear brake on the trails, especially when very steep, and slippery, but this has never been a problem with my other MTB's. Nothing is dragging, it's the steep downhills that's causing the severe wear.

 

[Tetley]

If the brakes have been fitted correctly the only real reason for this much wear is you using the rear brake too much. Are you sitting most of the time when riding or getting up into the attack position? Seated riders rely on the rear brake because that's where the bulk of the weight is.

Yes, I'm seated most of the time, but a rear brake should be able to cope with seated riding.

 

[Tetley]

Maybe excessive use of the brakes due to the brakes themselves not having enough stopping power. I think Level T are for XC bikes and the two pot on a very heavy Levo just won't get the job done. I swapped mine out for Guide RE or you could even consider Code (I am a SRAM fan).

This is a conclusion I have explored- The 2 pot uses very small pads compared to the 4 pot at the front, perhaps I need to upgrade to a 4 pot at the rear? My mate's Kenevo has 4 pots front and rear, and he's not suffering severe brake wear.

 

[Tetley]

Good day @Tetley .

Did you measure the thickness of the rotor?

What type of pads are you using?

How many rear tyres have you changed during the last 1300 miles? Are these "burning out" as well?

Brgds/Nikolaos Tsivis

You don't need to measure the disc, just have to look at it, it's absolutely knackered! I've used genuine Sram organic pads, and various pattern pads, nothing lasts.
I'm still on the original Specialized tyres, which have barely worn.

 

[killjoyken]

My guess is that brake is too weak and you're having to really clamp down and drag the brake on long descents. The Level T wasn't designed for that type of riding. I'd upgrade to Codes if I were you.

Also, you mentioned installing a 203mm rotor. Was the stock 200mm the one in the picture?

 

[Tetley]

My guess is that brake is too weak and you're having to really clamp down and drag the brake on long descents. The Level T wasn't designed for that type of riding. I'd upgrade to Codes if I were you.

Also, you mentioned installing a 203mm rotor. Was the stock 200mm the one in the picture?

This is the conclusion I'm really starting to come to, although I would have expected a Specialized to have brakes capable of at least getting down 300 feet hills, let alone real mountains!

I couldn't get hold of a 200mm disc, as everywhere was, and still is sold out. As I needed to re-shim the calliper so as the brake pads actually aligned with the wearing surface of the disc, adding another 1.5mm for a 203 disc wasn't going to be a problem-
Why Sram make the same disc in 200mm and 203mm diameters is a mystery, no one will ever notice the difference!

 

[RebornRider]

I think 2 pot brakes are not adequate for a heavy bike that needs to do some serious braking. The issue is pressure between the pads and the disk. With half the pad area, you are going to have much higher pressure between the pads and the disk. That higher pressure will lead to the accelerated wear you experienced.

One thing I see in the brake threads here is a discrepancy between guys that ride like downhill racers on 1-way MTB-only tracks and those of us who ride steep trails that are 2-way and shared with walkers and their kids and dogs. Many racers don't need much rear brake or monster rotors, but that's cuz they don't brake as often or for as long as the shared trail riders. My regular ride includes slowing from 30-ish mph down to walking speed while riding down a steep, straight slope so I can safely pass a family. I also have to slow way down for blind corners at the bottom of a slope. That is hard on the brakes!

 

[lumpy]

Try different pads like sintered metallics. Stock organic pads just don't work on big descents
I'm a fan of Truckerco pads but there's lots of options.
Also. you need to measure the rotor wear - if it gets too thin it'l break and then you'll be in a world of hurt

 

[MrSimmo]

Check out the pads from Uberbike in Sheffield; I’ve found they last longer than the OEMs, stopping power is increased and are usually cheaper.

Or fit a set of Magura brakes like I did, they eat pads for breakfast and make SRAMs look like long life items ?

 

[3dp]

A lot of good responses already - I am approx 98kg with all the gear On and ride a good mix of trails/descents in the peaks/Pennines (my Local loop has a 300m climb in the first 5km out the front door) I am using NT sintered used to use Ubers and gave up on EBC Sram or resin pads in general a long time ago
Pads last maybe 2 months or when my lever travel is too much and it’s generally 2x rear to 1x on front ( and I reckon that’s 3x on rear tyres to 1x on front
that’s how I roll
oh and the stock butchers suck - blew out 2 rears on rim tears through the rocks and I don’t jump before I switched to Schwalbe MM’s so far so good if a little quick wearing