SRAM Rival hydraulic disc brakes. Front brake. Cyclical rubbing of the rotor on the top of the pad, as seen in the video.
Is this an indication that the rotor is not true? Or the wheel not true? Both?
I attempted to recentering the brakes by loosening the frame bolts, applying the brakes a few times, releasing the brakes, and then tightening the frame bolts. The best result I can achieve is in the video.
Any tips? I am thinking of bringing it to a bike shop since it seems like some finer adjustment is required than I am capable of.
Rotor rubbing pad – wheel or rotor not true?
byu/piratebay_org inbikewrench
by piratebay_org
20 Comments
The rotor is warped. Take it to the LBS and they should be able to true it
Wheel(rim) true won’t affect rotor just hub-axle bearings
This is normal as long as it’s not adding noticeable drag, which looking at the video it is not. I’ve had this on every bike, with both shimano, sram, avid and trp brakes.
It’s the rotor. Easy fix by bending into alignment
Keep your hands on the brake when you retighten. The rotor looks a little warped though…I’ve seen worse. Looking at the caliper placement, from the perspective of the video, it looks slanted a little bit. The top is more towards the for side and the bottom is closer to the spokes. I’ve had luck jamming a business card on each side as a “spacer” then tightening the caliper and removing. Good luck
Looks like just the rotor warped a little. Not too bad. Park Tool sells a nice tool designed to bend the rotor back to true. You can also probably carefully bend it just a little with household tools/your hands. YouTube!
Just bend the rotor a little with something similar to Park Tool DT-2
This is 10 times straighter than most of mine….😂 You can straighten it yourself, or have it done, but in my experience this rotor is well within tolerance. Better to have your actual brakes well adjusted, and learn how to adjust them yourself so it just barely doesn’t rub, but still works well… it’s a fine line. Just know if you the path of attempting to always have a laser straight rotor, it will inevitably end in grief and tears. Good luck!
Rotor is bent. Use the Park Tool DT-2.
I don’t even use a tool just find the part of the rotor that is rubbing with slight pressure bend it by hand the opposite direction. It really doesn’t take much force.
The park tool rotor straightener works better than a crescent wrench because it has more depth .
That said, there are many different brands of rotors and some of them are extra springy requiring you to bend it way further than you think you would need to.
https://preview.redd.it/rd7t19vm3l7f1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a9a7d5170f6f75ba65464a1ef89c29b45c5944b
🤷♂️
Honestly unless it’s affecting braking or creating noticible resistance when riding I’d run that.
Get to flexing it. Adjustable’s work fine. Or get the proper tool. Take your time. Warping is pretty standard on metal things that get hot often.
You need to use a tool to bend the rotor where it wobbles. Rotor alignment tool
As others have said here, you can manually true the brake rotor. Either with the specific Park tool, or with a (cleaned) adjustable wrench. If you decide to true it manually yourself, remember that less is more. Make mini micro adjustments until there’s no rub. For me, the noise would be distracting/annoying even though performance is not affected by what is shown in your video
After many attempts of recentering the brakes and riding it around a bit and braking hard, I was able to solve the issue without trueing the rotor. We’ll see if it lasts… If it doesn’t, I’ll attempt trueing the rotor
Before ever truing a brake disc, check the axle for any play.
You will have a hard time truing the disc, when the wheel wobbles …
I would try centering it also.
I recommend you to not use the usual adjusting brakes method of pressing them before tightening, instead do it by sound or by eye so the brakes angle equals the disc/wheel oscillation.