How to stop disc brake rub: Pro tips to avoid nasty scrapes and squeals

[@andrewbrockway5857]

If only all cycling maintenance guides were as good as this one. The diagram at the start really helps and the instructions are super clear. Really helped me tackle the issue - thanks !

[@rswow]

Hard to listen too though, with the background music. I need to fix the breaks on a new bike, but every video I watch I turn away from cuz of the added music in the tutorials.

[@bitturnzero]

This is the most straight forward/straight to the point/easy to understand/well explained disc brake rub fix video I've ever watched!

[@ericedmundson4407]

I love that you took the time to draw the brake set up on white board ...

[@Len_J_]

As the arc de triumph

[@tienhulin]

So clear! One of the best videos on fixing disc brake rubbing.

[@abdu_jilani]

I watched 5 videos before this.. and this is by far exceedingly best

[@Metal_Face_Doom]

Great tip on why not to rely solely on loosing the caliper and grabbing the brake to center the rotor.

[@yumouwei2661]

After trying every method to align my rear caliper it turned out the eyeballing method was the most straightforward and effective one.

[@chiefrocker12]

Outstanding. Best disc brake truing video to date. As a self taught bike builder, all my bikes over the past two years are now disc. These tricks and suggested tools is what I was lacking. Looking forward to more tips. Cheers.

[@Cyclistmagvideo]

Thank you, glad it helped!

[@bikechapel]

Thank you so much. My bike is just 4 months old & I haven't yet brought it in for the free new-bike checkup, but I noticed the back wheel had some friction when I was lubricating the chain on a stand. Your video and a torx bit helped me properly center the caliper over the disc. I'm old AF so I don't need extra friction at this point.

[@Sydney_xCatx]

Thank you! The best explanation of how to adjust disc brakes that I have ever seen. Finally my disc brakes are working as well as my caliper brakes.

[@JP-om3ou]

Great video. I still like the simplicity of rim brakes

[@duroxkilo]

they are simpler because we're so used to them.. but they have well kept secrets for the inexperienced :}

[@magnumllama400]

@@duroxkilo tell those

[@KipSch]

I totally agree with you that visual method is way way better than the brake lever hold method. I tried 3 times with brake lever hold method n still have faint rubbing sound. But visual method works with just 1 attempt. But have to becareful during tightening, I alternative tighten while checking on the gaps too. Fantastic video. Thanks n luckily I watched your video!!! Thanks much!

[@bertt1014]

This is the best video I've seen on this problem. Thank you

[@Planetarchitect]

By far the best explanation and instructional video on fixing disc brake rub. Well done !

[@johnweir6516]

That tip with the card was brilliant, it was taking me ages getting it not to rub on a new bike and this worked right away! Thanks so much for this video.

[@luketazelaar6430]

Just watched this video and fixed my brake rub. Had tried all the methods already, apart from centering the whole mech by eye... bang, fixed! Thanks 🙌

[@Len_J_]

Best video on this frustration. Bravo sir, excellent 👌

[@wesleyb250]

Very thorough and informative. I can't help but wonder what is the benefit of disc brakes on a bicycle if they are so complex to keep in adjustment?

[@hcw199]

Because the cycling industry wants to sell expensive carbon wheels.

[@marceloaranguizpasche7826]

Excellent video, I watched several about the same “how to” topic, this one was the best.

[@joylipana3681]

Thanks! Very helpful. There's a weird sound on my disc brake, sounds like mouse esp when riding uphill

[@unochild]

Yet to buy a new disc brake bike that doesn’t come with the brakes rubbing out of the box. So much faff. This is the best video on the subject by a mile mind. I always use the business card trick now, if it’s tight it also helps push the pistons back too.

[@danweiler8715]

Best hydro disc adjust video on KZbin. Thanks for this…

[@MrBeav1018]

Dude Thank you so very much ive been trying everything to stop rubbing . It was driving me crazy trying to figure out what was causing this.

[@JanMG]

Outstanding, that rubbing is driving me crazy. Now my rotors are true Happy days!

[@edjack1993]

Great video. Love disc brakes but, man, they are a faff sometimes!

[@fotomaniacs]

Thank you for your video instruction!! Very informative!!!

[@DevinWiles]

best answer so far, thank you!

[@navjotsayal]

I bought a new cycle and disc brakes are so bad aligned! The wheel stops after few rotations when rotated freely

[@guest491]

Im just happy my job offered a pension. Now I can afford buying disc brakes monthly as well as all the gadgets that go with discs. My rim brakes have been on my Roubiax for at least 8 years and are flawless

[@hayabusa27]

This is heaven sent, finally I can twist my rotor 😅

[@fromproximab9839]

Really good tutorial. Can you tell us the name of the blue gadget which looks like spatular?

[@paulp8159]

Super helpful. Thank you!

[@cozmotone]

Excellent instruction.

[@bernieraverty4319]

Great teaching

[@michaelmowery1058]

Thank you! Great video.

[@georgerocks5191]

if you were to apply brakes, release and then align caliper, you might find this works better than just aligning caliper with pistons retracted.

[@steveshoe123]

Massive help, man. Thank you !

[@pinto530]

Thanks. Good and thorough explanation

[@stevec9102]

I am sorry, I didnt understand the brand or make of the little orange disc bender. Did you say Dram or Sram?

[@mavirek]

My wheel appears to wobble. Would that be the cause of disc rubbing? Or can a wheel wobble independently from a disc rubbing? face-orange-raised-eyebrow My bike was shipped to me for some assembly; I heard that the disc brakes can be damaged in transit. I could see the wheel wobble when I took my first spin, and I could hear the mechanical disc brake rubbing at the same time. My powers of observation were not strong enough to tell if the two things were in sync, but I have ordered the tools you noted to try an adjust the situation myself--just as soon as I understand.

[@jeffsaraiva7099]

very well explained and demoed!!

[@Slamminbassplayer]

Damn this guy has that good hair.

[@andrewsmith7250]

Brilliant video, thank you so much for this.

[@kevinhawker2946]

Excellent video, but I’ve been frustrated with the Campag/Ekar DBs. It seems the rotors d/n stay true for very long, and alignment of the brakes has been a complete faff!Anyone else w/ the same experience?

[@gerryfrancis3350]

I live in an apt, no garage or tools. If I had known what a pain in the arse disc brakes were I'd never have bought my new bike.

[@hartleyhare99]

Me too. No stand etc Does your head in😢Still cant seem to fix it😢Fcuk me, its a push iron not a mercedez☺🤢

[@schockfrost]

Excellent job! 🙏🏼

[@LordSummerIsle73]

Is it common for disks to be slightly warped

[@CBRadiouk1]

nice video i also like the fact that the wheel is very free running. Some will have notices the weight of the valve takes it to the 6 oclock position. I have a pretty low mileage mtb, and the wheel bearings are a little tight. So TMZ when my new tire turns up its, sort the brake rub and properly adjust the wheel bearings front and back.

[@JHOFF111]

What is that little roter straightener called? I should have one

[@kalexander841]

great video thanks

[@christopherreid6972]

What is the name of the plastic orange tool called?

[@pattskatoey3139]

Great tips.

[@sergiothegrower]

For a caliper that only moves one piston the disk brake is suppose to be closer to the non moving piston side. True or false?

[@dannyvu2968]

My stock Promax calipers have this design so I would like some insight on this question as well

[@brendaleetv]

I hate disk brakes! Either its the caliper space to rotor is so tight on the hydro systems no space whats so ever on some bikes,or the rotor is so bent that only a n

[@hartleyhare99]

Great advice!🇬🇧👏👏

[@adrianmatilla548]

What other tool can you use to bend the disc if you don’t want to buy those?

[@inspiredtotired8369]

Adjustable spanner.

[@bhb2568]

Your hands. The disks bend quite easily.

[@sergiothegrower]

Players wiped clean of grease

[@amosj.c2410]

How can you unbend the discs

[@wellingtonnurse9064]

Don't pads suppose to touch the rotors? I just put new pads on but I don't see no space between the pads and the rotors and there's no rubbing I was wondering if that's ok..

[@miijjk]

No matter what I do my front left brake pad is always hitting the rim I have adjusted it in and out

[@leroybrown8705]

Excellent 👍 👍 👍

[@abaragamingyoutube3319]

Love from india

[@loveloreal]

My front wheel of a new bike is hitting the caliper. I'm disappointed. I don't know what to do about it

[@fredparker3384]

What can be done if I only get the rub when I stand??

[@irvingabbott6]

Sticky disc, how can we fix it.

[@antosuryono]

Thanks man :)

[@peterd.9674]

Thanks for a thorough take on this subject, lost me at the business card but that's alright I got it saved for watching 10 to 20 more times. Fun.

[@peterd.9674]

I mean to say its very helpful but I'm slow lol

[@cyclewise6926]

Was that tool made by Sram? I can't seem to find it

[@GameStrata]

Mine came in my SRAM bleed kit. Google 'sram disc brake bleed block'

[@grantbarnes3678]

I didn’t see the light between the pads and rotor.

[@robbydragi]

Video would be better if the background music is off so it's better to hear the disc rub ;-)

[@blitzfultime]

nice.

[@rudysianturi5223]

The technology is not fully there yet

[@mochno1]

i hate disc brakes

[@andyjame1971]

I’m enjoying the bike so far kzbin.infoUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA My only real complaints are the brakes and the pedals. I feel like a bike designed for bigger people should have much larger pedals and more heavy duty brakes. I’ve only gotten two really good rides out of it, minimal downhill action, and the brakes feel like they’re already going out. A larger person has more momentum, so I think this wasn’t thought through very well. Also, I wear size 13-14 wide shoes. My feet cramp up on these pedals that are clearly made for smaller feet. Since I’m not a pro rider (and I don’t think many are who purchase this bike) I don’t think that the straps on the pedal are necessary at all. None of this takes away from the enjoyment I get from riding, however. I’ll just head to a bike shop to improve on a few things.

[@cakrawalajingga]

When I did this, I was just getting it worse...silly me

[@sobi20]

I think the brake squeezing technique may actually be better. Say You center the caliper scientifically and equalize left and right gaps, say You have 2mm gap left and 2mm right. Then say that left piston travels 2mm inside and 2mm outside when released, while the right is a little stuck and travels 2mm inside, but 1mm back. The "scientific" method result is that You have uneven space when the brake is released and when the brake is squeezed, the right pad makes contact first. Which seems to be wrong outcome. When You use the brake squeezing technique, i think it kind of by itself finds the true center, but not according metric, but according to how the pistons behave in the non perfect reality. Isn't it the case and the brake squeezing technique actually has better results? The one problem i have with it is that when tightening, the caliper moves a little with the tightening momentum, slightly misaligning the caliper. But that's where the spacer tool should do the trick.

[@Cyclistmagvideo]

In our experience, the squeezing technique often doesn't produce a correctly centred caliper, so no, it doesn't have better results. If calipers operated perfectly symmetrically it might be the best method, but unfortunately they don't. Thanks for watching!

[@dannyvu2968]

I thought to myself the same exact rationale @sobi20. The squeeze and hold technique takes into account the sludgy (or not) piston. Theoretically, no matter brand new or weathered, it should center caliper body relative to piston’s current condition at time of calibration. I don’t think OP understands the logic behind this method. Contradicted himself as he tried to explain its faults. However, I agree with OP in that it doesn’t automatically produce desired results. In his experience the squeeze and hold method statistically was less successful than his own prescribed method. After numerous attempts, I myself have yet to find “success” in the squeeze and hold method. Of course it’s just step 1 in a long recipe but my next attempt will begin with the eyeballing method shown here and see if i can’t gain some traction.

[@SciD1]

Why the F do they make the gap so small??? 🤬

[@TerrorSpark5]

perfect. many thanks :) ...from a roadie i was sceptical, but considering I passed a threesome of roadies on sunday actually keeping left to allow the traffic to flow - i might be warming to you pollution breathing weirdos!

[@anti_globalista]

Once rotor deforms from overheating during strong breakings, God himself can't restore its geometry. I would say the whole design of disk brakes is flawed and only thing that would remedy it is wider calipers with long break pads excursion that would leave enough space for disk to wobble.

[@xake]

How to stop disc brake rub ? get a rim brake.

[@Jordan-em2gq]

No

[@jeffjefferson7175]

How to not get killed by Ted bundy? Get killed by jeffery dahamr.

[@dominicbritt]

Is it too hard for you to understand? 14 year old MTBers can cope with it 😢

[@dh7314]

Dinosaur

[@user-d32658]

Rim brakes are old fashioned inferior tech. I live in the Alps and would never go back to rim brakes. They are just unsafe.

[@rosomak8244]

This guy is forgetting to add that this is only going to work for a surprisingly short while. Disc brakes rub. Live with it or recognise that it is a silly technology.

[@theprogrammerrolandmc3039]

This guy used to use his tongue before he bought the tool i will i will use common sense and not buy a tool because the calipers are seizing and force muck and crud into the gaskets ruining the caliper.

[@phosius7268]

Disc brakes. The worst invention of all times. Better off with no brakes!

[@PoltergeistWorks]

Have to say the only advantage they give you is they don't damage your wheels like rim brakes. Yes they do work better in wet but OMG can they fucking squeel and make your ride miserable :( Ironic how they are meant to work better in poor conditions, but also the uber tight tolerances don't go well with poor conditions whatsoever! And they are such a pain in the ass to maintain...

[@whatwelearned]

Please proceed to ride at speed towards a cliff with no brakes to test your theory.

[@janeztomazic5546]

your first statement is a bunch of crap