Removing squeaks from MTB disc brakes

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
May 18, 2016

















Happy birthday to my deceased brother.  He perished about 3 years ago from colon cancer that metastasized to his lungs.  He died of difficulty of breathing.  Well he was an inveterate smoker.  He smoked even after his colostomy.

Our topic for today is the removal of squeaks from the disc brakes used in MTB.  I experienced it.  One of the bike companions last Saturday had to bear with the unpleasant noise when he brakes:

It could come from:

1.  dirt on the brake pads
2.  oil and other contaminants on the rotor
3.  uneven rotor surface.

1 and 2 could be remedied by:

1.  Cleaning the disc/rotor with rag with alcohol, or with liquid detergent (Joy)

2.  The pads could be cleaned by rubbing the discs coated with gel (Joy or Smart liquid detergent) Or rubbing the pads on sandpaper.

3.  The rotor could be resurfaced by having sandpaper on a flat surface rubbed in the direction or rotation

These should remove the squeaks on the disc brakes. I am learning a lot of things:  centering the disc brakes and cleaning the disc brakes, resurfacing the rotor

PS:   I all ready did this on both of the brakes of my Mosso MTB. It is so easy to do. Saved P50.00 for the bike shop fees.  I unscrewed the disc brakes, removed the pads, used detergent and sand paper to remove the disc grit and dirt.   For the front brake, it took me less than 20 minutes to do.