How do I center the disk? I’ve tried taking off the axle rod and flipping it around, the disc isn’t dented or anything that I can tell. The tire barely spins suddenly.
by Yes_YoureSpartacus
How do I center the disk? I’ve tried taking off the axle rod and flipping it around, the disc isn’t dented or anything that I can tell. The tire barely spins suddenly.
by Yes_YoureSpartacus
7 Comments
I’ll add – a small tiny gap opens when I loosen the axe rod. It’s like it’s all being pinched together by the tightened axel rod?
Not an expert, but did you take the wheel off when you did this? The wheel might just not be properly seated on the frame.
Loosen the caliper bolts (two bolts securing caliper to the frame adapter), 1-2 full turns os probably enough. With the bolts loose squeeze the brake lever. While holding the brake tighten the caliper bolts back to spec. Voila. You should be centered.
Note: make sure your axle is seated fully in the drop out before you do this – looks like it might not be in your photo.
If for some reason the above doesn’t work, take the pads out and very gently press the pistons back into the caliper with a tire level or some other flat plastic surface. Then Reinstall pads and repeat the above procedure and tighten everything back to spec.
*EDIT* Looking at this pic more closely, is this an avid mechanical (cable actuated) caliper? There are red dials on either side of caliper that allow you to adjust the pad position in-out. Back the outside one out a couple clicks and you’ll probably be good.
Quick release hubs with disc brakes suck. You don’t say what kind of brakes you have, but that red knob tells me they’re single-piston Avid BB7s. If so, you’ve got your work cut out for you.
Be extra certain you’ve got the axle seated perfectly in the dropout. Sometimes that’s all there is to it.
If not, put the bike in your workstand. Loosen the bolts holding the caliper. Put a piece of white paper on the ground under the brake. Look down through the caliper to see the pad gap (the white paper helps you see the gap), and align the caliper by hand so the rotor has equal daylight on both sides. Hold the caliper steady (some will tell you to squeeze the brake lever, but I don’t), and tighten the caliper bolts slowly, alternating between them without moving the caliper.
When you finally get it right, replace the bike with one that has thru-axles and hydraulic brakes. I speak from experience here.
As u/UnionCoder and u/EnoughMud8658 have already said, first thing to check is to make sure the wheel is fully in the dropouts. Set the bike on the ground, hold it perfectly upright and loosen then retighten the QR.
Your brakes are easy to adjust, but the left side of the axle looks like it’s not seated fully. Make sure to recenter the wheel before making any adjustments!
Make sure the wheel is in the dropout correctly
Loosen the bolts that hold the caliper onto the bike, onto the adapter or whatever the fuck it has.
Wiggle it around. Ensure it has movement.
Use a strap, use your extra hand, use a friend but fucking press the brake lever and lock it down as tight as it will go; hold it there.
Tighten the mounting bolts to the caliper onto the posts or the adapter or wherever fucking crazy contraption you have.
Spin the wheel. 85% of the time this will fix any issue with disc brakes.
If it does not, the next step is to look at the rotor itself and see if it is bent,
Bent rotor will be a rotational sound not a continuous sound
I can see your rear wheel isn’t in the dropout all the way. Open the skewer, lean on the seat, close the skewer. Problem likely solved. Looks like you have BB7’s so you can adjust both pads in and out with the red dials on either side of the caliper.