Brake question

[BurbanAZ]

I do a bunch of rides where i ride my bike and my wife rides her horse. On the uphill and sand or rocks were good but on the downhill stuff she is way way slower so i end up on the brakes pretty good for a while if i don't just get off and walk. Anything i can do to keep my brakes from getting glazed or warped? It seems like im always having to adjust something with these brakes. Also it feels like i've lost a bunch of braking force in my front brakes, not really sure why.

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

What brakes do you have? Rotor size if they are discs. How much do you weigh?

 

[DaveInDenver]

Anything i can do to keep my brakes from getting glazed or warped?

Don't ride the brakes. If you must match her speed then do your braking in stages, let the bike run and then brake hard for a short time to almost a stop. Repeat. Doesn't matter if it's a car, motorcycle or bike, if you ride the brakes you will overheat and warp them. Slowing down a bunch at once generates the heat and then letting it go cools them. Plus high braking forces clean the rotor and pad faces a little to break the glaze.

 

[BurbanAZ]

i have the Tektro IO brakes with 6" Rotors. Just the brakes that came on my bike. I weigh about 200

 

[BurbanAZ]

Don't ride the brakes. If you must match her speed then do your braking in stages, let the bike run and then brake hard for a short time to almost a stop. Repeat. Doesn't matter if it's a car, motorcycle or bike, if you ride the brakes you will overheat and warp them. Slowing down a bunch at once generates the heat and then letting it go cools them. Plus high braking forces clean the rotor and pad faces a little to break the glaze.

I try not to ride the brakes and do what your saying with the braking in stages, it still seems like they are warping or glazing really easily though.

 

[java]

Go fast and wait for a while at the bottom?

You could move up to a larger rotor in the front if you need more braking force, but they dont have much more material and will likely heat just as quick.

 

[p nut]

Have you tried Shimano Ice Tech rotors? Some swear by them, although I don't have experience. Different pads could make a big difference as well. I like sinistered pads in my BB7's.

The loss of braking force may be that it's time to change the brakes? I find disc brake pads wear far sooner than my canti's.

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

Have you tried Shimano Ice Tech rotors? Some swear by them, although I don't have experience.

I have 200mm Shimano Ice Techs front and rear on my Moonlander. On my Behemoth I have a 200mm Dirty Dog front and 200mm old Shimano back. Same Shimano hydraulics on both, and I really don't notice any difference with the Ice Techs.

 

[rkj__]

Tektro IO brakes are not very impressive.

I don't mean to sound like a snob, but I think the best option is to replace the brakes. If you want to stay with mechanical brakes, Avid BB7 are top notch.

Also, at 200LB, riding long downhills, I'd bump up to 7" rotors.

 

[DJGoo]

On the glassing problem: it's a major help to hit both the pads AND the rotors with some scotch-bright.

 

[Flagster]

Tektro IO brakes are not very impressive.

I don't mean to sound like a snob, but I think the best option is to replace the brakes. If you want to stay with mechanical brakes, Avid BB7 are top notch.

Also, at 200LB, riding long downhills, I'd bump up to 7" rotors.

I agree and would also replace the brakes before messing around with rotor swaps and voodoo coatings. BB7s are great for mechanicals and have been the standard for a while but if replacing I would just go for hydraulic...even cheap used hydraulics off ebay like an old pair of juicy 7s would be so much better than mechanicals...find a bleed kit and buy brakes needing to be bled...I just picked up a pair of xo trails for under 75.00 because they needed to be bled and no one was bidding. I think the avid bleed kit cost me 45.00.
Bigger rotors will help but not much with lower level brakes...
I just bought a fatbike with a lower parts spec to save on total price...first thing that are getting replaced will be the brakes...they are mechanicals and while they do the job there is nothing like the control and modulation of hydraulics...so if you want some BB7s I will be pulling them soon...

 

[DaveInDenver]

I don't mean to sound like a snob, but I think the best option is to replace the brakes. If you want to stay with mechanical brakes, Avid BB7 are top notch.

You should really say "Avid BB7 are top notch for mechanical brakes." They never have impressed me and are simply not in the same league as the decent and top hydraulics.