It is important to be familiar with the brakes on your bike and how to maintain the brakes as the brakes play an important role in safety. In this case, if you are looking to adjust your brake pads, the first is to understand that brake pads on a bicycle, there can be slight differences between mountain bikes and road bikes but it is only very slight.
It is important to know the type of braking system your bike has. The brake pads are mainly used in rim brakes such as caliper brakes and v-brakes. To adjust the brake pads on a bike is a fairly straightforward process and does not require too many tools only an Allen key.
In this post, we will go through adjusting the brake pads. Let us get started!
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Types Of Brakes For Bicycles
They are a good range of different types of bike brakes available. There are two main categories that you will more than likely only need to really know about. These are.
- Rim Brakes – Widely in use on BMX, road, and city bikes.
- Disc brakes – Today is standard on MTBs.
Types Of Rim Brakes
This type of brake is generally activated by a lever on the handlebar which applies force to the rim of the wheel, causing the bicycle to slow down and stop.
- Caliper brakes – As used on the majority of road bikes.
- V-brakes.
- Cantiliver brakes.
Types Of Disc Brakes
Disc brakes mainly come in two types, these are.
- Hydraulic disc brakes.
- Mechanical disc brakes.
Tools And Materials Required
There are a couple of tools and materials needed to adjust brake pads on the bike. These are as follows.
- Allen keys and wrenches.
- Wipes to remove any dirt.
Why Are My Brakes Rubbing?
If you start to hear a rubbing sound, this could be a sign of the pad brake becoming worn. It would also indicate that the braking pad are not been fully released.
The First Step, You Have To Prepare
This is the first step that you can apply to every type of bike brake. In order to make your riding experience more efficient and save a lot of your precious time. You can check the position of your bike wheels along with the brake pads.
Ensure that the bike wheels are in the correct position within the dropouts. This is really a visual check and is quite easy.
How To Adjust Brake Pads On A Bike?
Here we will explain how to adjust brake pads for two different types of brakes which are caliper brakes and v-brakes.
How To Adjust Caliper Brakes?
A road bicycle is the most common type of bike that uses this type of braking system, but you can also have several mountain bikes that use these brakes. If your road bicycle is using caliper brakes, then you can only do micro-adjust by setting the barrel adjuster.
- Inspect your brake pads before any adjustments. If brake pads are worn and have passed the line wear line, then they should be replaced.
- The first step to adjusting caliper brakes is by checking the position of the brake pads. You are checking that the brake pads are connecting with the center of the rim and at the same time from both sides.
- Now with an Allen wrench, loosen the brake pads by loosening the bolts on both sides.
- In the brake pad holder, move the brake pads up or down.
- Once you are happy with the brake pads in there new position, tighten the brake pad bolts with the Allen wrench.
- Test that the brakes are working fine and the brake pads are working properly before you go out biking.
How To Adjust V Brakes?
V brake is one of the most usual braking systems that is applied on several types of bicycles, except for road bicycles. You cannot find any road bicycle that applied v-brakes within. This type of brake is widely used for mountain bikes.
- Inspect your brake pads before any adjustments. If brake pads are worn and have passed the line wear line, then they should be replaced.
- Check the position of the brake pad, that the brake pads are connecting the center of the rim and at the same time.
- With an Allen wrench, loosen the brake pads by loosening the bolts.
- In the brake pad holder, move the brake pads up or down.
- Once you are happy with the brake pads in there new position, tighten the brake pad bolts with the Allen wrench.
- Test that the brakes are working fine and the brake pads are working properly before you go out biking.
Wrapping Up
Finally, I hope this article covering how to adjust brake pads was helpful. Making sure your brakes are working properly is important, even just for your own safety as well as for others. Adjusting the brake pads is a fairly easy process and there really is no excuse for not maintaining your brake pads.
And that’s it for now! I’d love it if this post on how to adjust brake pads on the bike was helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions and let me know if there is more to add.
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