Bought bike used, these are pads in a shimano br-m355. Loud squeaking and barely any braking power, cleaning them now for contamination. When sanding, there was a lot of black particulate coming off, now when I sand it, it's way less, and more grey than black. I don't want to go through the trouble of cleaning and scuffing the disk rotor if the pads are unsalvagable and I need to redo everything with a fresh set. So, do you think they're salvagable?
First picture shows the sanded front pair, second picture includes the unsanded rear pair I'm currently soaking.
For context, bike shops here have a bit of a monopoly, and shipping is slow and expensive. A replacement set would cost me 50$
by ButtDingleberry
12 Comments
They ussualy cost 10 dollars a set
If there is still enough “profile” on them, well cleaned they should still last for a while and also brake well again. Do this to mine about 2-3 times before they need to be renewed.
Dental work costs more than $50. Replace the pads and ride safely.
You can clean and scuff up the pads with Emory cloth or whatever you have. Then, clean the pads thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol to remove all oils and residue. Also, clean the rotors with isopropyl alcohol. Once all back together, you should have good braking authority and quiet, reliable brakes again
Did you heat them up on the stove as well? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wewvn9VqBUw&pp=ygUUSGVhdCB1cCBicmFrZSByb3RvcnM%3D heating them can git ride of other contaminants if its really 50$ to replace. Id clean rotors and sand them as well.
I usually notice that my brakes perform much better after a heavy decent, probably due to oils getting burned.
I commute with my bike, and every time it rains, my pads get contaminated (cant tell you why but it happens) and this usually helps.
These m05 pads are less than £20 for both brakes.
Torch, sandpaper, isopropyl. Not necessarily all three, but in that order. They still have plenty of material left but when it runs out you’ll have to find a source for new ones. I haven’t had any issues with aliexpress pads. If it’s a customer’s bike I would understand the hesitancy.
If you think $10 is too much for your brakes to work properly you shouldn’t be riding a bike in the first place. What is your life worth?
I do this all the time for friends and family. 100% salvageable. Just use very fine sandpaper and use brake cleaner and really clean your rotors. Works all the time for me from very squeaky to no sound at all
There’s already some solid advice for decontaminating the pads and rotors. It’s definitely worth a try in your situation. I’d like to suggest bedding in the brakes really well after all of that.
Like a car, you need to really heat up the pads and rotors together to get them working well together. I did this by riding up a big hill and braking really hard with both brakes several times. After a few hard brakes, you should feel them grabbing more each time. Don’t stop riding, just cruise around slowly, until the rotors have a chance to cool down to prevent warping.
My ebike disks would squeal and didn’t work too well until I got them properly bedded.
Do you know where the contamination is came from? It could be from external fouling but you’ll want to rule out a leak from the pistons or caliper.