Firstly, when trying to put the wheel on the bike, it is a struggle to get the rotor in between the calliper. How do I align the calliper?
Just bought these brakes off here, should I get a bike shop to fit them as I really struggle with hydraulic disk brakes..

Make sure the pistons are full retracted.

Slide pads in

Slide to bits of thin card between the dics and the pads (I use business cards)

Loosely tighten the dome movey nut things

Pull brake to centre and then tighten fully

Remove card.

(They should be easy so if your finding they are not best let a proper mechanic take a look)

How do I get the pistons fully retracted?

Cheers

Take the pads out and push them back in to the calliper.

I use a plastic wood floor spacer but anything plastic and softer than the metal should work (bit of wood?)

I do have the bleed blocks, which have been in the brake calliper for a while, should that push it out enough?

The “e” clip has just snapped, anyone know of this matters, I think I may leave it now and get a bike shop to do it . 🙁

I binned the e-clips and just put a bit of threadlock on it to be sure, lasted a few weeks without threadlock so shoukd be fine anyway.

I lost the pin from mine after the E clip fell out. Now has a bolt in there, with a small nyloc nut.

You’ll get a new e clip with the next new pads.

The discs may rub for a bit, but they should settle down.

By the way, don’t just rely on the pin itself.

I snapped the c or e clip (whatever it’s called) and a few weeks later i was shooting down a bit of singletrack, went to slam on the brakes as i was going faster than normal and there was a sharp hairpin coming up.

Pull the brakes.. No brakes. I end up not turning, and letting go of the bike and reaching for a tree as the bike rolled down the bank which was the other side of the corner.

Pin had worked loose and pads had fallen out. Not good. Lesson learned, keep the clip on the end of the pad pin.

Do you know where I can get one these pins from?
Also thanks for the help, I had a break and now I have figured it out.
😀 Thank You Tiger

What’s the idea behind using business cards when centring?

I presume to keep a gap between the pads and the rotor, it wouldn’t fit for me but it may work.

Sometimes you’ll get a rotor / wheel / frame (or fork) combination that just doesn’t want to play properly and some people have ended up spacing their rotor half a mm or so outwards. Just a thought.

I always find the just pull the lever on and then tighten the bolts up method to be pretty useless. Much better is to loosen bolts spin the wheel, brake a couple of times, spin wheel again and then tighten while it spins (watch your hands). I’ve always found this leads to far less drag and more equal set up.

Infact, after succeeding with the front one, the rear doesn’t want to stop rubbing. I have tried to align it by loosening the bolts, applying the brake and then tightening them, and also doing it by hand. Tiger, I can’t fit business cards in between the rotor and the pads.
Anyone know anything else I can do to align the calliper and stop this rubbing?
The rotor can not be bent as I only got them out the packet today.

Cheers

Now done the spin the wheel method as well but still no luck..

Take it out for a spin & get the brakes smoking hot before you fanny about any more, you might just be surprised 😉

Take it to a bike shop .

With the e clip pin thing I’ve brought a packet of 3mm split pins from halfords . Work great change them when you change pads. JObs a good un

I will take it out for a spin, as soon as i get the gears sorted on the bike.
🙂

are these CR ones? (think I just saw your name on another post?) If so you have a bit of adjustment on the how close the pad is to the disc on the barrel adjustester on the lever body just before the hose.

So my advice would be to try and line it up as best as possible by eye (be gentle when you tighten the caliper bolts or you pull it out of alignment) then try and retract the pad with the barrel adjuster a little if you still get rub. If that fails go for a ride and use them a bit, then repeat.

Heres what I do

Fit caliper and leave the bolts slightly loose – 1/2 a turn
Spin wheel FORWARDS and apply brake
Release brake and spin wheel – This time gently apply the brake until the pads just start to touch the disc. Now brake slightly more and hold the wheel and pull it so your pulling it against the power of the brakes – you should hear the disc rubbing against the pads – i.e. quite a bit of effort and friction but wheel should move a bit at a time. (Obviousley you cant have the brake fully squeezed or the wheel wont turn). Next press the brake fullt and try to rotate the whhel forwards, it wont wont cos the brakes on but it will apply pressure to the calpier – keep the forward rotational pressure on the wheel, the lever pressed in and at the same time tighten the two bolts – a tiny bit at a time, swaping from one to the other until they are tight. Release wheel and brake. Take bike out – go down the road get up to speed then break hard. Repeat about 10 – 15 times.

WTF are you doing Willber? 😆

Push the pistons in carefully with a ring spanner or something thats not going to kill them.

Put the wheel in.

Loosen the bolts enough so the caliper moves freely.

Pump the brake and hold it on.

Do up bolts and thats it.

If it didn’t work, repeat the last 3 steps until it does.