Brake blocks: keeping your eyes open for regular wear and tear

Inspect your brake blocks frequently for wear, replacing them as they get thin and pick up grit and swarf. Worn blocks make for a useless braking surface and eat expensive rims for breakfast. Ignore this important task and your rims will wear right through the rubber of the block to the metal innards of the moulded pad. Brake blocks have a wear line indicating when they should be changed. If you can’t see a wear line, change the pads when they’ve worn to the bottom of the grooves moulded into the pad.

Even if you don’t wear out blocks very quickly, you should still change them periodically as they harden with time and don’t work as well. Every couple of years should do. In between full changes, check on the condition of the pad and improve it. This is easiest to do with the wheels removed. Release the brakes and remove the wheel. Look at the condition of the pad. It should be flat and even, without visible contamination. If you can see flecks of metal, use a sharp knife and carefully pick them out. If the pad has been sitting too low or at an angle, it will wear unevenly, leaving a lip that gets caught under the rim and prevents the brakes from letting go properly. This is a waste…

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Bike Maintenance Tips, Tricks & Techniques (Digital) - 1 Issue, Bike Maintenance Tips, Tricks & Techniques 3rd Edition

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