Align the calipers using feeler gauges, 0,5mm always worked for me on shimano calipers/discs. Slide them in between disc and pads, and it should compensate for usual bent disc issues. always worker, never had to spend more than 10 minutes on it.
The first business card hack just saved me a trip to the bike shop thanks. My own hack is to use an elastic band to hold the the brake lever engaged while I tighten the calliper.
I used this video to quickly and easily resolve a front disc brake rub problem on my new Sunn Venture bike. Thank you for a well-made video, clear instructions and a process that yielded the exact result promised, first time!
🎉🎉🎉🎉 ❤😊😊 thank you!!! I fought with my brake rub forever. I sat with the problem no less than a half dozen times. Tightening and loosening the mounting bracket and holding the brake lever over and over again. Little did I know all I needed was a buisness card. Thank you again!
Thank you to Dan for letting us know how much it's gonna suck when it comes to maintenance! (I'm in flat Florida - I'll stick with old-school brakes on the road bike, but still use disc brakes for the mountain bike)
It took me a while to find a business card, it's 2020 after all...but after that it worked beautifully. Who knew my real wheel can spin that nicely. Thanks a lot, GCN!
Guys, its about time someone made a decent video like this. Thank you. Over the last 18 months I have had to learn these hacks the hard way, so this video is well timed considering the increase in disc brakes usage these days.
A few commenters are citing the maintenance tasks in this video as "a good reason not to use disc brakes" but to be honest I see no real difference between maintaining a cable actuated set up vs disc. 1. Cable calipers can and do get "sticky", the pivot points become gummed up after a while and you need to spray with de-greaser. 2. Cable calipers often need to be aligned, I have both a disc set up and a cable set up, both high end parts (ultegra and dura ace and the cable calipers need to be realigned fairly regularly. 3. As traditional pads wear you need to re-adjust the cable to maintain the same braking feel, also traditional pads wear out faster especially in bad weather. 4. Bleeding a hydraulic disc brake is easier than indexing a stubborn front derailleur, easier than re-installing windows on a computer and easier than getting a 3 year old to eat his vegetables. It really is not a big deal and it is a task that needs to be done once per year at most, about the same frequency as replacing cable. Do the people complaining actually work on bikes? Disc brakes really are nothing to complain about AND you do not need to purchase them. But for anyone lookinf for a smooth pulling brake action, that does the same thing every time, try the discs.
You might say I was a curmudgeon, scoffing at the mountain bikers with their disc brakes. Then I finally got a bike with mechanical disc brakes. I find them to have better stopping power, be more reliable (especially when it's wet out), and easier and quicker to adjust once I had done it a couple of times. I thought this maintenance hack video made centering the brakes look much more complicated and time consuming than it has been in my personal experience. And, now that I have a Mountain Bike with hydraulic disc brakes, I might just need to upgrade to hydraulic disc brakes on my road bike. Hardly any force necessary to engage the brakes and great feel and modulation available.
I work on my bike all the time and, from my own experience, dealing with disc brakes (my gravel bike), is a lot more work than my normal brake caliper road bike). A few of the things that you didn’t mention are: bent rotors (happen easily if you fall), unadjusted brakes if you use the brake lever by mistake when the wheel’s off, and bleeding of the system where you can expose components to mineral oil. Also, replacing these things is like a factor of 3 vs the cost of brake pads.
i remember messing up my flat with oil and taking 2 days to bleed my hydraulics, than realizing they still have air inside and doing the whole process again. i hated it. but, as with most first times, its just a learning curve and now i happily bleed or build a hydro bike from scratch with no problems and in little time.
The business card trick was golden! I spent hours trying to get rid of disc rub yesterday, and ended up giving up. But putting a business card in the rotor for centering got it perfect for me in
I have a B'TWIN road bike with disc brakes and a few years ago I came to get on my bike after work and found neither of my brakes engaged properly. I honestly thought I'd been sabotaged, ended up having to get home by other means and picked the bike up in my car a few weeks later. It's been in the garage collecting dust for the last 3 years, and I didn't know what to do with it but I may try getting the brake fluid checked. Thanks.
Thanks very much for this video. I bought in an online shop a gravelbike and I had exactly that problem. I knew it was the brake stopping the wheel, but your explanation was very clear and helpful! Thanks again. My bike is ready for its first trip tomorrow morning....
Was experiencing an ever so slight disc rub on my brand new Trek Emonda - which drives me crazy. It hardly impacted the spin of the wheel, but the slight rubbing it made while doing maintenance on the bike stand really irked me, im a bit of a perfectionist. I'm relatively new to cycling, therefore I was very skeptical about my abilities to fix it myself, but thx to this video, I was able to center the pads by using the first method shown! Two thumbs up, a like, and a sub! Thank you!
Thanks so much! Life saver! I’ve just switched over to these brakes having just got my new bike - Checking everything late at night, so your advice was a real life saver!🙏
you guys totally screwed us over with this maintenance monday... I can't be the only one that's dying to see more of your custom bike. Still loved this video though, will use.
Glad I found this video with a bike/brakes similar to mine. I wish the bike had come with an instruction manual for the brakes. I couldn't gather much from the specs. Every other aspect of the bike I'm familiar with, but the hydraulic brakes were new to me.
Brilliant. Just purchased a Madone, my first aero and disc bike. I've always worked on my own bikes and was worried (read as intimidated) on how I could do repairs/adjustments while on the road. Now I know how. Thanks.
Brilliant. The front brake was ever so slightly rubbing. I tried centering the caliper - didn't work. I took pads out and checked the pistons right was out out and pushed it back but didn't realise that the left one was the problem because it was stuck. I then viewed this video. So I cleaned the right one and then held the right one in so the left one was forced to come out when I depressed the lever. I cleaned that - reassembled and after a few brake and release cycles all was good. Thanks GCN. BTW I am running discs (because they came with the bike) but because it enables the bike to use fat tyres - 650b 47mm. All day comfort and off road fun. However I would have been just as happy with V-brakes but no one makes a integrated drop bar V brake lever and shifter.
Dear GCN team, while I appreciate you are picking up the at times neglected "sticky piston" issue, I think that (a) the 'clean rag' is just a bodge - using cotton buds dipped into alcohol actually is the hack and also (b) a bulky and/or flexy tire lever is just a bodge while the metal housing of a small blade knife* is the perfect hack (you can grab it with two fingers and hold the non-sticky piston back while forcing the sticky one to eventuall come out). Kind regards from a part-time mountain biker! *) e.g. Tajima LC-301, to name just one model
I own two bikes, one with caliper brakes and the other with disc brakes. I much prefer the feel of the disc brakes. I have about 3,000 miles on the bike with disc brakes and have only had to carry out maintenance once (sticky piston).
A video so useful, I've bookmarked it. Just got my first hydraulic disc-equipped bike after being an Avid mechanical fan for years, so this just hit the spot. And answered the question - how hard can it be?
Taking delivery of my first Disc road bike on Friday Woo Hoo. These hacks covered my worries! Helpful Video cheers guys! Keep up the good work....All the best Andy
Good tips, thanks. I like the business card trick! Just did a long, wet and muddy cyclo last weekend (on my disc bike), for the first time in my riding 'career' i was certain i could do an emergency brake/stop on the long downhills (and needed to!). Have to do some ever so slight bending of the back-disc though, since my caliper is a bit off-center. Got a special tool for it, but i'm sure a spanner will work as well.
Thanks for this easy brake maintenance tip. I just picked up my Trek Domane SL6 Disc and I noticed both front and rear brake pads rubbing against the discs. A bit disappointed the LBS didn't properly check the discs after assembling the bike...
Hey Dan, If you tip the bike all the way up to tap the air out of the rear brake line while squeezing the lever, won't you expose the brake bleed valve to air? Your bleed bucket will be tipped so far over that the brake fluid will no longer cover the bleed hole. My suggestion is to lift the front wheel off the ground far enough so the rear brake line points uphill to the bleed valve -- but not nearly as high as you showed. You'll need to watch the fluid level in the bleed bucket so you don't go too far. Then you'll need a friend to lift the rear wheel off the floor a few inches and tap it down to vibrate the bubbles out. Otherwise, a great video. Thanks.
Great video. Just one thing, I think you misspoke at about 9:00 calling for an "8mm allen key", when you meant to say 8mm crescent wrench (or spanner as you folks say ;) )
Good choice of business card. I'll try that hack. Similar hack on Seth's Bike Hacks, but didn't work for me, this one looks better. Will let you know the results.
Love to see the bouncing bike hack done on the rear brake with Shimano's fluid bucket system - it's impossible. That's why, much as I love Shimano's groupsets, I use Sram hydro brakes - properly sealed system and bleeding is a doddle with no mess either.
Thanks GCN! I have excessive amount of hoses on my road bike, could you possibly do a video on how to shorten/trim existing Shimano Hydraulic Road Disc Brake Hoses. Specifically hoses with an inline Shimano Easy Hose Joint System. Thanks in advance!
very helpful solving the riddle of disc brakes. I just replaced my pads and I could not get the discs to stop rubbing despite having pushed the pistons back into the caliper. I tried the business card trick and it worked out great. My wheels spin freely now - better than they ever have actually. thanks! (still prefer rim brakes though. Less fiddly, easier to work on, easier to travel with, lighter and a recent TDF win. Save the rim brake!)
Have you got any hacks of your own? let us know 👇
To encourage the air bubbles to leave the hoses and calipers you can also tap both of them gently with something
Clean your pads with Fairy Liquid rubbing them together with the solution on the face to remove any contamination making them look shiny and new !!
A great hack to prevent problematic discs....buy rim brakes.....
Spoken like somebody that has never used disc brakes.
Align the calipers using feeler gauges, 0,5mm always worked for me on shimano calipers/discs.
Slide them in between disc and pads, and it should compensate for usual bent disc issues. always worker, never had to spend more than 10 minutes on it.
Working on your bike - keeping the muscle tissue in the arms of cyclists alive since the 1800's.
For real tho
The first business card hack just saved me a trip to the bike shop thanks.
My own hack is to use an elastic band to hold the the brake lever engaged while I tighten the calliper.
Just came across this. That business card fix was great. Been trying to sort a noisy front disc for months. This sorted it in 5 minutes! Thanks GCN!
i dont know why it worked, but it did!
Mate! LOVE the business card hack. That one sorte out the rub on my new disc bike. Thanks!
Likewise! Genius
Here too :)
Same here, worked perfectly.
Thanks a million🤘
Was on the verge of tears before this video. thanks for doing this, guys
I used this video to quickly and easily resolve a front disc brake rub problem on my new Sunn Venture bike. Thank you for a well-made video, clear instructions and a process that yielded the exact result promised, first time!
This business card trick is magic. Thanks. You helpen me feel proud of solving a bike problem that has been annoying for months!
HUGE Congrats on reaching 1,000,000 subscribers guys. So much deserved for you all.
Well done!!!
Thanks Chris!
5:24 "Somebody that actually knows what they're talking about" 😂🤣😂🤣 Love you guys!!!
have a fondo tomorrow in the wet and 5:17 saved the day for my brake improvement! i owe you guys and mechanic Tom a pint or 2!
🎉🎉🎉🎉 ❤😊😊 thank you!!! I fought with my brake rub forever. I sat with the problem no less than a half dozen times. Tightening and loosening the mounting bracket and holding the brake lever over and over again. Little did I know all I needed was a buisness card. Thank you again!
Thank you to Dan for letting us know how much it's gonna suck when it comes to maintenance! (I'm in flat Florida - I'll stick with old-school brakes on the road bike, but still use disc brakes for the mountain bike)
After ages faffing about trying to align my brakes the business card worked a treat! Cheers GCN
After spending hours trying to fix pads rubbing against rotors, business card hack did it for me. Thanks for posting this.
It took me a while to find a business card, it's 2020 after all...but after that it worked beautifully. Who knew my real wheel can spin that nicely. Thanks a lot, GCN!
The business card hack is genius! Well done Dan Lloyd! Legend!
Just tried the business card trick....MAGIC!! THANKS!
Just switched to a disc brake bike, and this video was very useful. Thank you so much.
I think the first thing you should check for is a bent rotor GCN, then go to brake alignment
Guys, its about time someone made a decent video like this. Thank you. Over the last 18 months I have had to learn these hacks the hard way, so this video is well timed considering the increase in disc brakes usage these days.
A few commenters are citing the maintenance tasks in this video as "a good reason not to use disc brakes" but to be honest I see no real difference between maintaining a cable actuated set up vs disc.
1. Cable calipers can and do get "sticky", the pivot points become gummed up after a while and you need to spray with de-greaser.
2. Cable calipers often need to be aligned, I have both a disc set up and a cable set up, both high end parts (ultegra and dura ace and the cable calipers need to be realigned fairly regularly.
3. As traditional pads wear you need to re-adjust the cable to maintain the same braking feel, also traditional pads wear out faster especially in bad weather.
4. Bleeding a hydraulic disc brake is easier than indexing a stubborn front derailleur, easier than re-installing windows on a computer and easier than getting a 3 year old to eat his vegetables. It really is not a big deal and it is a task that needs to be done once per year at most, about the same frequency as replacing cable.
Do the people complaining actually work on bikes? Disc brakes really are nothing to complain about AND you do not need to purchase them. But for anyone lookinf for a smooth pulling brake action, that does the same thing every time, try the discs.
You might say I was a curmudgeon, scoffing at the mountain bikers with their disc brakes. Then I finally got a bike with mechanical disc brakes. I find them to have better stopping power, be more reliable (especially when it's wet out), and easier and quicker to adjust once I had done it a couple of times. I thought this maintenance hack video made centering the brakes look much more complicated and time consuming than it has been in my personal experience. And, now that I have a Mountain Bike with hydraulic disc brakes, I might just need to upgrade to hydraulic disc brakes on my road bike. Hardly any force necessary to engage the brakes and great feel and modulation available.
I will never go back. Hydro discs all the way. The best part? Stopping power in the rain.
I work on my bike all the time and, from my own experience, dealing with disc brakes (my gravel bike), is a lot more work than my normal brake caliper road bike).
A few of the things that you didn’t mention are: bent rotors (happen easily if you fall), unadjusted brakes if you use the brake lever by mistake when the wheel’s off, and bleeding of the system where you can expose components to mineral oil. Also, replacing these things is like a factor of 3 vs the cost of brake pads.
i remember messing up my flat with oil and taking 2 days to bleed my hydraulics, than realizing they still have air inside and doing the whole process again. i hated it.
but, as with most first times, its just a learning curve and now i happily bleed or build a hydro bike from scratch with no problems and in little time.
Dan removed wheel at least 4 times in this video, that's one big difference.
Thanks Lloyd for the business card hack this is genius ! Worked a treat !☺️
This totally worked on my Jamis Renegade C2. Saved me a trip to the shop. Thanks!
The business card trick was golden! I spent hours trying to get rid of disc rub yesterday, and ended up giving up. But putting a business card in the rotor for centering got it perfect for me in
CONGRATULATIONS ON 1 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS GCN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Chris! Exciting stuff.
-this was the first tile i have had any good use of my Buissnesscard since 1995, and it worked, thx alot :)
I am a newby to disc brakes but in general TH-cam standards Dan is excellent at presenting the facts and tips. Very helpful. Thanks.
Dude !!!!! Thanks for solving my issue with the business card hack !!! That one is awesome !
Just got my first bike with discs and had a slight rub on the front... very useful video and cured the problem immediately. Cheers...
Great tips, i am getting very confident at adjusting my brakes now. Semi retired too, so lots more time. Thanks GCN.
I have a B'TWIN road bike with disc brakes and a few years ago I came to get on my bike after work and found neither of my brakes engaged properly. I honestly thought I'd been sabotaged, ended up having to get home by other means and picked the bike up in my car a few weeks later. It's been in the garage collecting dust for the last 3 years, and I didn't know what to do with it but I may try getting the brake fluid checked. Thanks.
Thanks very much for this video. I bought in an online shop a gravelbike and I had exactly that problem. I knew it was the brake stopping the wheel, but your explanation was very clear and helpful! Thanks again. My bike is ready for its first trip tomorrow morning....
This was an enlightening vid. I've had disc breaks before, but never learned this stuff. Nice work GCN.
Disk alignment worked a treat. Many Thanks
cheers GCN. i was happy with these hacks, but the Sticky piston is definitely something i will be trying.
Business card trick is AWESOME!!!!!! It just helped me
Was experiencing an ever so slight disc rub on my brand new Trek Emonda - which drives me crazy. It hardly impacted the spin of the wheel, but the slight rubbing it made while doing maintenance on the bike stand really irked me, im a bit of a perfectionist. I'm relatively new to cycling, therefore I was very skeptical about my abilities to fix it myself, but thx to this video, I was able to center the pads by using the first method shown! Two thumbs up, a like, and a sub! Thank you!
Thanks so much! Life saver! I’ve just switched over to these brakes having just got my new bike - Checking everything late at night, so your advice was a real life saver!🙏
you guys totally screwed us over with this maintenance monday... I can't be the only one that's dying to see more of your custom bike. Still loved this video though, will use.
Appreciate the business card trick! Worked like a charm
Buying my first disc brake bike this summer - this has been very helpful. Thanks!
Glad I found this video with a bike/brakes similar to mine. I wish the bike had come with an instruction manual for the brakes. I couldn't gather much from the specs. Every other aspect of the bike I'm familiar with, but the hydraulic brakes were new to me.
That alignment on brake technique worked great on my Giant Revolt Advanced 3
Brilliant. Just purchased a Madone, my first aero and disc bike. I've always worked on my own bikes and was worried (read as intimidated) on how I could do repairs/adjustments while on the road. Now I know how. Thanks.
The namecard method definitely worked for me.
The business card worked a treat!! thanks
Your business card trick for flat mount calipers works a treat. Even old mate Calvin's fixes didn't work for me.
Thanks for the business card hack. took a few tries to do it but it worked.
Tip #1 worked like a charm! Thank you!
Great video. The first remedy worked like a charm
Wish I'd known about the alcohol spray trick when my first disc brakes pistons were sticky. Nice tip.
Useful video David, hopefully these will work for my spongy brakes instead of keep going to the bike shop!!
lots of great info, and i dont even have a disc bike. would love a mech hack video for various canti's, as the setup and toe in is always a pain.
Great video. The two first methods did the trick. Thanks so much.
The business card hack is amazing!
Great video, it did help me solve the rubbing problem.
Brilliant. The front brake was ever so slightly rubbing. I tried centering the caliper - didn't work. I took pads out and checked the pistons right was out out and pushed it back but didn't realise that the left one was the problem because it was stuck. I then viewed this video. So I cleaned the right one and then held the right one in so the left one was forced to come out when I depressed the lever. I cleaned that - reassembled and after a few brake and release cycles all was good. Thanks GCN. BTW I am running discs (because they came with the bike) but because it enables the bike to use fat tyres - 650b 47mm. All day comfort and off road fun. However I would have been just as happy with V-brakes but no one makes a integrated drop bar V brake lever and shifter.
Really super hack!! 60 minutes fiddling with the (totally new) discbrakes and thereafter 4 minutes to get a perfectly rolling wheel..
I've shied away from hydro brakes for some time now, I simply didn't understand how it all went together. No longer, now though. Thank you.
More power to you guys, sending love from India
Thank you for the hack with the business card. Really sorted my problem. All good now :)
The first minute solved my problem, thanks a lot!
Dear GCN team,
while I appreciate you are picking up the at times neglected "sticky piston" issue, I think that (a) the 'clean rag' is just a bodge - using cotton buds dipped into alcohol actually is the hack and also (b) a bulky and/or flexy tire lever is just a bodge while the metal housing of a small blade knife* is the perfect hack (you can grab it with two fingers and hold the non-sticky piston back while forcing the sticky one to eventuall come out).
Kind regards from a part-time mountain biker!
*) e.g. Tajima LC-301, to name just one model
saving this video for future reference. thank you Dan, thank you GCN.
Thank you a lot for the tip with the business card, it works perfectly.
Another great video , learning a lot about disc brakes . Disc brakes are awesome . Love the braking power and Confidence it gives me on the road
Congratulations on reaching 1 million subs Global Cycling Network!! Well deserved !
thanks!
I own two bikes, one with caliper brakes and the other with disc brakes. I much prefer the feel of the disc brakes. I have about 3,000 miles on the bike with disc brakes and have only had to carry out maintenance once (sticky piston).
Thanks Dan I will try and fix the brakes on my cross bike now i have seen how you do it.
A video so useful, I've bookmarked it. Just got my first hydraulic disc-equipped bike after being an Avid mechanical fan for years, so this just hit the spot. And answered the question - how hard can it be?
the businesscard really works... thanx
Etienne Berbers yeah i just fix it by myself!!!!
Good video guys. If I had discs, this video would be a godsend.
Taking delivery of my first Disc road bike on Friday Woo Hoo. These hacks covered my worries! Helpful Video cheers guys! Keep up the good work....All the best Andy
How has your Disc road bike gone over the course of your first year?
you'll never go back to calipers :)
Good tips, thanks. I like the business card trick!
Just did a long, wet and muddy cyclo last weekend (on my disc bike), for the first time in my riding 'career' i was certain i could do an emergency brake/stop on the long downhills (and needed to!).
Have to do some ever so slight bending of the back-disc though, since my caliper is a bit off-center. Got a special tool for it, but i'm sure a spanner will work as well.
Great vid, sorted my brake rub out. Same bike as mine too! Thanks
Thanks for this easy brake maintenance tip. I just picked up my Trek Domane SL6 Disc and I noticed both front and rear brake pads rubbing against the discs. A bit disappointed the LBS didn't properly check the discs after assembling the bike...
Wow... For me absolutely new hacks, thanks! Very nice video
Hey Dan, If you tip the bike all the way up to tap the air out of the rear brake line while squeezing the lever, won't you expose the brake bleed valve to air? Your bleed bucket will be tipped so far over that the brake fluid will no longer cover the bleed hole. My suggestion is to lift the front wheel off the ground far enough so the rear brake line points uphill to the bleed valve -- but not nearly as high as you showed. You'll need to watch the fluid level in the bleed bucket so you don't go too far. Then you'll need a friend to lift the rear wheel off the floor a few inches and tap it down to vibrate the bubbles out. Otherwise, a great video. Thanks.
I was thinking exactly the same thing, good fix!
One million subs!!!!!! Congratulations! You deserve it
Great video for disc brake newbie on new road bike, thanks GCN
Thanks! That was the quickest bike fix ever :)
Please do a video showing adjustment of the new Bontrager rim brakes (specifically on the Domane SLR6). Thanks
great tip with the business card
Congrats on 1,000,000 subs!
Sorted my rubbing disc brake by following this advice
you finally reach 1 million subs nice job guys keep up we are by your side
Thanks Stefanos!
Amazing, fixed my problem within a minute of the video start! Thanks, i'm off on me bike :)
Thanks!!! the business card hack worked!
Good job. Finally, videos are becoming useful again
Thank you going to try the card trick soon
Great video. Just one thing, I think you misspoke at about 9:00 calling for an "8mm allen key", when you meant to say 8mm crescent wrench (or spanner as you folks say ;) )
Those spanners are some funny looking Allen keys
Argh, you beat me to it!
Kconstantine91 damn, I was going to comment on the 8mm / 9mm open ended "Allen keys" 😀
oh you caught that too.
Good choice of business card. I'll try that hack. Similar hack on Seth's Bike Hacks, but didn't work for me, this one looks better. Will let you know the results.
Love to see the bouncing bike hack done on the rear brake with Shimano's fluid bucket system - it's impossible. That's why, much as I love Shimano's groupsets, I use Sram hydro brakes - properly sealed system and bleeding is a doddle with no mess either.
I will try the first tips. Thanks for the vid
The business card hack worked for me. Thanks!
It's a goodie!
Thanks GCN! I have excessive amount of hoses on my road bike, could you possibly do a video on how to shorten/trim existing Shimano Hydraulic Road Disc Brake Hoses. Specifically hoses with an inline Shimano Easy Hose Joint System. Thanks in advance!
very helpful solving the riddle of disc brakes. I just replaced my pads and I could not get the discs to stop rubbing despite having pushed the pistons back into the caliper. I tried the business card trick and it worked out great. My wheels spin freely now - better than they ever have actually. thanks! (still prefer rim brakes though. Less fiddly, easier to work on, easier to travel with, lighter and a recent TDF win. Save the rim brake!)
You're very welcome Chris, we love being able to help out!
the bleeding one's not really a hack- its just how to bleed your brakes, to make it easier, just tap your hoses all the way up