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Mountain biking can be fun and exciting, but it can also be dangerous if your brakes are not working properly. Brakes that are adjusted improperly can cause you to lose control, crash, and injure yourself or other riders.
Mountain bike brake adjustments are the topic of this next section, so keep reading to learn more.
How to Adjust Mountain Bike Brakes
The Tools Required for Brake Adjustment
There are a few different types of wrenches that can be handy to have around when you’re doing bicycle maintenance. An adjustable wrench is useful for tightening nuts, and cone wrenches can be helpful for adjusting brake calipers. A brake screwdriver can also be handy for adjusting brake screws, and vice grips can be useful in tight spaces. Adjustable pliers can also be helpful for adjusting brake levers. Having a few different types of wrenches on hand can make it easier to do routine maintenance on your bike.
Here are some of the tools you’ll need for brake adjustment:
- An adjustable wrench
- Cone wrenches
- Brake screwdriver
- Vise Grips
- Adjustable Pliers
Since disc brakes are used by the majority of modern mountain bikes, adjusting them differs from adjusting breaks on a traditional bike. The correct way to adjust the brakes on your mountain bike is as follows:
Step 1: Determine what kind of braking system your mountain bike has
While cross-country and all-mountain bikes offer both mechanical and hydraulic disc brakes, downhill and racing bikes typically have hydraulic disc brakes. Identify the brake levers’ proper adjustment.
The way hydraulic brakes adjust is the main difference between a mechanic and them. While mechanical brakes use a twisting motion for adjustment, hydraulic brakes use a push and pull motion. Look for wear and tear as you inspect the braking system.
As worn-down disc brake pads age, surfaces may become uneven. For the braking system to work properly, the metal components of the brake pad must be smooth.
If you see uneven surfaces, you may need to replace the brake pads or rims on your bike before you ride it again.
Step 2: Getting the brakes just right
Learning how to adjust your brakes is the most crucial step in this process. The handlebar-mounted levers can be moved, twisted, or both to adjust disc brakes.
In either case, you want to make sure that your lever is in its highest, closed position so that, as you adjust your brakes, it doesn’t make contact with any other components of the brake system.
“Up” and “down” are the two primary ways to adjust the disc brakes on a vehicle.
First, make sure that the brake levers are all the way up before you move them. If you move or twist your brake lever into its lowest position, it may touch your brake pads and stop the brakes for a moment.
Move the lever all the way to the top, and then adjust it by moving it forward or backward until the brake power is just right.
If it is hard to reach all sides of the levers, you can put a washer behind the end of each lever. This is to make it easier to move your lever. The washers make the lever easier to move, which lets you increase the amount of braking power.
The second way to adjust disc brakes is by moving them back and forth. Move the lever away from the handlebars until you find the braking force you want. Bring the lever back toward the handlebars to lower the brake force.
Related: How to Tighten Your MTB’s Brakes
Step 3: Adjusting the rim
If your brakes are not strong enough or don’t work right, you might need to change the angle of your brake pads.
Brake pads have a front and a back, and most of the time, you’ll have to move them separately to get them just right.
First, make sure that your front brake pad is perfectly lined up with the front brake rotors so that they touch and move back and forth as one unit.
When you brake, it can be hard for the brake pads to move forward if the back of the brake pads is pushed up against the brake disc.
Step 4: Performing maintenance and adjustments on the brake pads
A dependable brake pad should come equipped with a wear indicator. In most cases, the age of the pad can be determined by looking at a piece of perforated paper.
If your pads show little to no wear, you can continue to use them until there is visible wear on them. If, on the other hand, your pads show significant wear, you should throw them away. However, you should consider replacing your discs if they have become discolored and the pads show a significant amount of wear.
When it comes time to change the brake pads on your bike, you have a choice between two different brands. To begin, take the old brake pads off the brakes and replace them with new ones.
Put the point of a screwdriver with a flat head under the inside edge of the brake pad that is closest to the wheel to accomplish this. You will need to pry it up until you can get a grip on it with your fingers in order to remove it from the rim.
This can be difficult to do because the pad has a number of small springs attached to it, and those springs have a tendency to fall out along with the pad if they are not being held down by something. You should be able to remove the springs by positioning your thumbs under them and then pressing up on them.
A metal bracket that extends around the perimeter of the rim is equipped with a series of tiny clamps that secure the pads in place. Pull each clamp to the rear until the brake pad is freed from its location in the holder.
When they have reached their forward position, slide them off the wheel and remove them. After you have installed new brake pads on your rim, you need to make sure that the clamps that are surrounding it are also replaced.
Altering the angle at which the brake pads are mounted is an alternative to replacing the pads themselves. In this scenario, you will require a screwdriver with a Phillips head on its tip.
You’ll be able to tell which screws are which because one of these two screws is completely vertical, whereas the other screw is adjustable and can be moved in any direction.
The braking power of your bike will be significantly altered as a result of this type of brake pad adjustment. When you have a wider angle, your braking will be more effective. However, you will have less control over the handlebars, which will make it more difficult for you to steer your bike in the opposite direction.
How exactly do the brakes on a mountain bike work?
It is essential to have a solid understanding of how brakes function before proceeding.
If you are using disc brakes, you have to do a little digging to understand if your bike leverages a mechanical or hydraulic braking system.
Different types of brakes have different mechanisms for stopping, but they all rely on simple principles of physics. For a disc brake, such as a mountain bike brake, the front wheel diameter will determine the size of the caliper and rotor.
All brake systems use the same basic physics principles, but the mechanisms for stopping are different. If you’re using a disc brake, the diameter of the front wheel is going to be an important factor in determining the size of the brake rotor and caliper
Mechanical disc brakes are typically mounted to an axle, which is then connected to the frame via spokes in the hub of the wheel.
A disc brake caliper is mounted on top of the rotor and clamps onto the disc as it rotates at a predetermined speed. The rotor is the component to which the caliper is attached. When the disc and rotor rotate at different speeds, there is a braking action that takes place.
When this takes place, there is an increase in friction between the two components. This increase in friction is what causes the wheel to come to a stop. When utilizing disc brakes, the application of a specific amount of brake pressure is required in order for the brakes to function appropriately.
However, if you are using rim brakes, you have the option of either using a mechanical or hydraulic braking system. When you apply force to a hydraulic rim brake system, a caliper piston creates friction on the wheel. This helps to slow the bike down.
The amount of pressure that is applied can change depending on the rider’s level of brake force as well as the rider’s adjustment of the brakes. If an excessive amount of pressure is applied to the brakes, or if you have not brought them to a certain point, they will not function properly.
When everything is functioning as it should, there shouldn’t be much, if any, movement between the brake pads and the rims of your wheels.
There should only be a small amount of space between the pads and the rim. A major part of adjusting brakes is bringing the two components together to create friction.
Also Read: Know Whether Disc Brakes Can Overheat Or Not?
How Should the Brake Be Tuned for Maximum Power?
Are you going somewhere that has more challenging terrain? It’s probable that you didn’t anticipate having to ride your bike in such wet conditions, right?
There are two different approaches you can take in order to improve the stopping power of your brakes if you are experiencing the issue that they are not powerful enough.
Using a tiny screwdriver, you can change the angle at which the brake pads are installed.
Altering the tension of the brake spring is another method that can be utilized. It can be found in the space between the brake pedal and the drum brake, which has an arm attached to it and runs almost vertically to its shaft. That arm is attached to a cable at the other end.
Remove the cable that is attached to the brake and runs to the right handlebar.
The brake cable is fastened to an arm that is located on the drum. As you bring it firmly toward you and insert it into a hook on a spring tensioner, pull it tighter toward you. Right above the rear fender, which is a triangular piece of metal that covers and protects the chain case, is where you’ll find it.
Now, use your foot to depress this pedal somewhere in the range of five times. After that, you should feel the spring tensioner releasing its hold on the sprockets it was previously holding.
Now comes the challenging part: get your slotted screwdriver (or another tool) and insert it in the space between the sprocket and the piece of metal shaped like a triangle.
After that, rotate your wrist in order to remove it. DO NOT pull with too much force or you might end up bending the drum! This is the reason why we stated that getting rid of it could be challenging. However, once it is removed, you will have the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of your brakes.
Conclusion
It can be very useful to know how to adjust the brakes on your mountain bike. This is significant because good brakes will improve your riding, whereas bad brakes can cause an expensive accident, an injury at work, or even death.
Thankfully, adjusting the brakes on a mountain bike usually isn’t complicated to understand and doesn’t call for expensive equipment.
You can increase the effectiveness and dependability of your own brakes if you know how to adjust them and how they operate.
The information in this article should have helped you learn how to adjust the brakes on a mountain bike and what equipment you’ll need.
If you are still having issues after making these adjustments, it is best to bring your bike into a shop so that they can help make sure it is set up correctly.