Lots of times you read "don't foget to bed the pads in".
But what's everyones process for this ? How do you do it optimally ?
I've read a few variations, so thought i'd see what STW prefer
TBH, I just go for a ride and by the end of it they're fine.
If a previously used disc with a different pad compound, I'd give the discs a rub with some sandpaper first.
If not, then essentially it's just getting the pads/disc hot enough to transfer material from the pad to the disc, by performing lots of hard braking from whatever speed I can get up to on the road outside my house, breaking down to an almost stop, then repeating until the brakes get to full power. Rear brake first, then the front.
Put a bit of water on them, rub them together, stick them in, seems to work without any need for heating them up with hard braking. Shimano resin.
New bike= just ride it, maybe give the brakes a few moderate squeezes.
New pads on old disc, give the disc surface a light rub with sandpaper, then same as above.
Some repeated sharp braking on a goodish safe downhill (road or easy track), ideally with puddles.
get em hot. the aim is to get the surface of the pad to mate with the disk perfectly increasing braking power.
i do some hard braking /stoppies on the hill outside my house until the bite gets better then its good to go for a ride.
you could just go for a ride but the first corner could be interesting if you need to stop!
What scotroutes said has always worked me.
No need IHN - others have said the right things 🙂
I'll often just go for a ride otherwise I'll ride down a slight hill and do 20ish hard stops which seems to do the job.
I put new pads in and then go ride reps on the road outside the house, maybe 10-20 runs up/down progressively breaking harder.
Putting new pads in and going riding is fine, except if it's wet etc or you're straight into the steeps as then you'll most likely trash the pads quickly.
Only way to do it properly is with a proper machine
Anything less and you will be killed to death on the first ride.
Big road hill and lots of sharp stops until they feel good. Or the less preferable method of sprints and sharp stops if no hill is available. The latter is tough if you are in a flat grass field somewhere. Ideally you will have lots of ready bedded in pads with you before you end up swapping pads in a flat grass field.
The pad type also makes a difference, hope green pads barely need any bedding in. Whereas sintered pads need getting proper hot to be fully bedded in.
I normally just belt up and down the road outside the house getting up to about 20mph and jamming both brakes on as hard as I can. After 3 or 4 stops you feel the power building usually. That’s with guides / codes and either standard sintered pads or Uberbike race matrix.
I’ve found the blue Hope pads take a little longer to get up to full power.
I normally just ride.
Last set I tried the water thing. I couldn’t tell the difference tbh.
Put a bit of water on them, rub them together, stick them in
Very much this. I saw it as a tip from Marshy, Minnaar's old mechanic and it's great
Magura's instructions are pretty insane: ride to ~20mph and come to a complete hard stop.
30-50 times per wheel!
I do it but realistically 15 or so, not 50, I like living. Definitely a noticeable difference after a few stops though, so I wouldn't ride normally without doing it.
+1 for just ride.
Also of late I’ve been doing the water and rub together for a couple of minutes. Works perfectly.
Some after market pads are just rubbish though. No amount of bedding in can polish those turds!
rub together for a couple of minutes
A couple of minutes? That's about a fiver's worth of pad material!
I take the new pads out the packet
Give them a wee buff down on my monoblock driveway then fit then and do a couple of Stoppies then good to go
Assuming the brakes in question are for Weeksy Jnr - "just ride" isn't the best idea when its a DH track. Hilarious/painful results can ensue
https://www.galferusa.com/technical/maintenance-tips/
https://trickstuff.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/200930_Anleitung-Bremsbel%C3%A4ge_e_KL_JB.pdf
https://trickstuff.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/200603_Bremsscheiben_E_KL_JB.pdf
https://www.cyclingtips.com/2018/03/road-disc-brake-bed-in-process-end-vibrating-noise/
https://magura.com/en/EUR/the-bedding-in-procedure-of-brake-pads
https://magura.com/en/EUR/disc-brake-pads
at about 26:20 in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-CJiPer42Y
at about 4;30 in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKzOrfm1F3s
at about 3:25 in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGDnKHNkFF4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUV2Eo9ERSk
EBC motorbike
at about 2:20 in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYWqMGySvb0
at about 4:30 in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxeXp_QnQdA
at about 3:40 in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiuBkx8Y-0
https://www.ferodo.com/en-gb/blog/give-brakes-a-break.html
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/viY7DW2muoM
Just bought MrsReady a new Eeb so needed to bed the new brakes in. Stuck it in turbo, dragged the brakes while pedalling for a bit, then a few short sharp stops. Not sure if that technique works, but I'm sure she'll let me know if it doesn't.. 😶
Hope you didn't bed in the rear brakes on turbo, if using a direct drive turbo! 😉
Clean disc with alcohol/disc cleaner.
Install new pads
Ride on the flat with the brakes slightly on for a few minutes.
Ride down a hill dragging the brake.
At the bottom quench the disc and pads in water
Ride back up the hill then descend down again dragging the brake
Quench the brakes again
Ride back up the hill and descend dragging the brakes but this time pull the brakes enough to stop a few time
Quench the brakes again.
Ride on the flat with the brakes dragging until they dry and start to bite.
They should now be working a lot better and shouldn't be making much noise.
They aren't really bedded in until you've got some dirt/grime in there.
Essentially you want the pads to shape to the discs and also for the transfer of some of the pad material to the disc
That's what I do and am happy with my brakes performance. This only take about 5-10 minutes, helps that I live on a hill.
I'm now going to give the pad rubbing together technique the next time though as this sounds - almost - too easy. 👌
I'm lucky, as the road from my place to pretty much anywhere is descent, climb, descent, climb, descent, climb...
Descent.
Gets em nice and toasty.
Big hill.
Get to 15 - 20 mph, hard brake nearly to a stop.
Repeat until performance doesn't improve any more (usually less than 10 pulls).
Cycle back up hill and do other brake.
Go and lie down after all that pedalling and hill climbing.
Bit of water, rub pads together. Try not to drop into a mega steep trail on the first trail of the day.
Make sure the caliper is aligned and there arn't any sticky pistons.