Disc Brake Pads - When to Replace Them and How

Have questions about your brakes? We are here to help. In this blog post we will walk through a few questions that we have heard frequently

• When do I know when it is time to replace my brake pads?
• How do I know what kind of brake pads to buy?
• Once I buy brake pads, how do I go about replacing them?

We will help you walk through all those questions and more in this blog post

When do I know when it is time to replace my brake pads?

Sram recommends that if your backing plate and pads are less than 3mm, it's time to replace. You can see highlighted in red, these pads are ready to be replaced.

How do I know what kind of brake pads to buy?

Brake pads typically come in two compounds, metallic and organic. If you are replacing your pads and do not want to replace your rotors, you should replace your pads with the pads that are in your bike currently. If you want to switch compounds, you will have to replace your rotors. In general Organic compound brakes are quieter but provide less bite, less power and shorter life expectancy than metallic pads.

Once I buy brake pads, how do I go about replacing them?

To replace your brake pads follow these steps:

• Start by removing the wheel for the brake pads you want to replace.

• Pull off the safety pin, you can do this with pliers or a flat head screw driver. This will pull straight out

• Unscrew and remove the set screw. If you are replacing Sram Red brakes, this will use a 2.5mm hex wrench

• Pull the brake pads straight out

• When you set the new pads in, the pistons can often be too far compressed from your previously worn pads. In order to make room for the new pads, you may need to use a pad spreader to push the pistons back into the caliper. You will know if you need to do this because the pads will not be wide enough to clear the brake rotor. Below is a picture of some new pads before and after spreading the pistons apart.

• And just like that you are ready to put your wheel back on and bed in your new brake pads! To do this, ride around, gaining some speed and using your brakes to slow down but be sure not to come to a complete stop, this can cause your braking surface to become unevenly bedded in. Ideally you want to accelerate to 10-15mph, gently slow down to 2-3 mph and do this about 15 times. By then the brakes should have substantial braking power.