Hi everyone,
after removing and reinstalling my front wheel with the quick release, I noticed that the brake rotor slightly rubs against the brake pad intermittently while spinning, causing a subtle intermittent noise.
The wheel still spins freely for several seconds, Could this cause extra resistance while riding?
I already tried reinstalling the wheel and it improved, but there is still a small rubbing noise.
Could the caliper need realignment, or did I maybe reinstall the wheel slightly off-center?
And so how could I fix it?
by AlexRedditSes
10 Comments
Reinstall wheel making sure the axle is fully seated in the drop out. If you still need to recenter, loosen the two 5mm bolts. You might want to bring the non-actuating pad in board (with a 5mm) and back it off once the caliper is center. You use the barrel adjustment for the cable and the 5mm to space the pad throw.
You’ll want to tighten the caliper while the brake is pulled
If it’s intermittent is it possible that you hit the rotor while the wheel was off and bent it?
You can try re-centring the caliper and that may help. There are videos on YouTube that show you how to do that. It’s not difficult.
High chance the wheel doesn’t sit in the dropouts exactly the way it did before – or not tight enough. Just try to readjust. If that’s not enough, readjusting the caliper is easy as well.
OP:
* check to see if the wheel is seated properly and reseat if necessary (which you’ve done)
* loosen and realign the caliper (seek instructions online)
* you’ve mechanical (as opposed to hydraulic) disc brakes which only actuate the outboard pad when braking; the inboard pad (the one that’s touching) is fixed; that inboard fixed pad can be adjusted away from the rotor, check the spoke side caliper for an adjustment (or consult literature on your model of brake).
put bike upright on a hard even surface, undo quick release, wobble bike from side to side, retighten quick release.
front wheel just isn’t seated correctly. no biggie.
1) You have a mechanical Disc Break.
So a lot has been said: Check the Right Position of your Wheel in the dropouts.
2) If not solved, go and find the adjustment screws – specific for your type of brake. These sit somewhere close to the brake pads. One on the left. One on the right.
Screws serve to bring the pads closer to the disc.
2) for hydraulic brakes, which is not your case. use the tool to widen the space between the pads while your wheel is dismounted. Install the wheel, spin it then gently brake.
If the rotor is not bend (rotate the wheel while looking down à la picture), it is the rotor that is not perfectly centered between the disks (the picture indicates this). Re-adjust the wheel while looking down like the picture you took. Once centered clamp the wheel tight.
Triban, right?
I had this issue as well.
QR could be too tight or not tight enough.
Here’s what I usually did. Mounted the bike, top tube between my legs. Put the weight of my torso on the handlebars, bent down and reached for the QR lever. Open it, wiggle the wheel a bit and close it.
The weight of the body ensures that the wheel axle is properly seated in the fork.
Unrelated, but I’d remove the quick release skewer and put it on the other side. You don’t want to get the oils from your hand on the rotor. Having the skewer on the other side just makes it easier
I know, every time we remove and put pack any wheel it can happen. Obviously something is not the same now. You first check if the wheel is aligned right. If you think it is, then you realign your break.
I think on the photo you can actually see the wheel is tilted to the right on the top side. If the out side break pad is touching the break wheel I am right. You need to center your wheel better.