I realized my Shimano 180 RT-86 rotor has been contaminated by oil or something that won’t come off. I installed new pads and it just slides through without braking.
I’ve hit it with isopropyl alcohol a few times and tried brake cleaner as well. No luck removing the black looking areas. Is this thing just dead?
by BlindMilkman
6 Comments
If the rotor was contamined then you contaminated the pads. You need either more new pads or try to sand the pads down.
You also need to bed the brakes in. It takes a minute for the braking power to come up
Keep it mint. Don’t ride tbe bike. 👍
Rub the pads on like 600 grit sand paper on a flat surface until they have a uniform look. I would scuff the rotor too. Brake clean everything and wipe down with clean paper towels and you should be good to go.
Sand the pads and rotors down with 400 grit. Or replace pads and just sand the rotor.
I tried using new pads that were not contaminated after using alcohol/brake cleaner. Still nothing
The metal got colourised by the heat. It is not a problem when you cleaned it already with isopropanol. However the reason your brake is not biting properly with new and cleaned pads could be that you did not bed them in properly.
It could also be that you got air in the system, does the leaver feel firm or spongy?
If you have air in the system the pads are not biting with enough force to properly bed them in and they will glaSs.
You can recognise glassed pads by a shiny metal like surface.
1. Clean everything again
2. Bleeding the brakes could help
3. Clean everything after Bleeding
4. Sand the pads with 240 grit and clean them with isopropanol
5. Bed in the brakes PROPERLY watch a how to video