Bought my bike in 2021. I never serviced the brakes and the pads are already nearly worn. I got replacement but don't really want to buy new rotors. Can I just clean them up and get away with it?
by Clothes_Great
Bought my bike in 2021. I never serviced the brakes and the pads are already nearly worn. I got replacement but don't really want to buy new rotors. Can I just clean them up and get away with it?
by Clothes_Great
15 Comments
Clean the rotors, change pads. Nothing wrong with these.
Not even a single pair of pads? They’re fine. Rotors will last several pairs of pads. The way to determine whether they need replacing is to measure their thickness and compare it against a minimum service limit (sometimes printed on the rotor).
Clean the rotor with a solvent or isopropyl alcohol then insert new pads.
None of the pictures show the actual thickness of the rotors. They look fine from the side, but if you wanna be sure just measure, there should be a minimum stated somewhere. I usually go through like 10 sets of pads before rotor replacement.
You only need to change your rotors if the thickness falls below the minimum the manufacturer states. It’s normally stamped on the rotor itself. Also, of course, if the rotor gets contaminated with some oily substance your best bet is to trash it. You can try all manner of things to bring it back, but it’s often not worth the headache.
It’s tough to measure the thickness but if you can get your hands on a used micrometer, you’ll never have to guess again if it’s time for a new rotor.
Get a cheap caliper for your home toolkit so you can measure things – that way you’ll be certain! I bought a digital one for like 20 bucks, but I think you can get them even cheaper.
is that jbweld on the post mount?
They are not like Honda front brake rotors, they’ll last many brake pad replacements.
I have the exact same set of brakes/rotors on my Marlin 7 2017. I went through 2 sets of brake pads and the rotors are still looking very good.
Nice Aventon!
I’m almost 3 years in and still on my original rotors. On my third set of brake pads tho. The isopropyl cleaning did wonders for helping with the sound when it became an issue.
You got a lot of questionable advice here, so I will add mine:
Rotors are not expensive. So you may as well replace.
My bike had weak brakes for the longest time.
Nothing helped:
* tried new resin pads
* tried new sintered pads
* tried bedding in
* tried break cleaner
* tried bleeding hydraulics
* tried remounting callipers on frame
Still weak performance. But then I bought new rotors, and that finally fixed brake performance.
NOTE: I paid C$34 for one set of sintered pads, and C$12 for the rotor, on Amazon.
The cost for a rotor is negligible. Probably USD$8 or so. (Which probably is better quality than OEM where the manufacturer went for the cheapest option.)
No. At least not that we can see. Given the age they should he just fine. All bike parts are made to last about 5 years under medium heavy usage. Generally they’ll only need to be serviced when they are less than 1.5mm wide(but this isn’t always the case as differently hardened materials can be stronger or weaker. Always check the specification. If you’re afraid yours might be worn, just order new ones online and ride until the new ones arrive. Chancer are high they’ll last you that long, unless the rotors are completely rusted(in which case you likely have bigger problems)
They don’t cost a lot. I tend to change mine as often as I do the pads!
You can measure the thickness and determine what they’ve lost and what the minimum for your setup is.
Measure the thickness with appropriate tools (vernier caliper, micrometer, etc) to be sure.
Yet to meet anyone that actually wore out a rotor. They might replace it because they impregnated it with chemicals past the point of being able to clean it, or warping it past the point of bending it back to true due to heat or a crash.
Yours are fine. You can clean them, you can even sand them.