Hi all.

My birthday is coming up and it's looking like I'm gonna need to blow some money on general tech for my bike. I've put nearly 4K miles on it since I bought it back in Jan. It has about 14K miles on it at this point. Thinking I'm gonna need to replace the brakes and tires before going into the fall season.
:-D

My question is, "How should I know whether I need to replace the brake pads or the discs?" Like what indicators should I use?

Thanks a bunch for your help!!!

 

your disc will have a minimum thickness stamped on it, just measure it with a set of verniers,your pads you can do by eye but dont let them get to low or your risk scoring the disc. check for even wearing over the whole pad area, some pads have a grove in the middle and when the pads are level with this its time to change them

 

Discs will not be anywhere near worn after only 14k miles. Min thickness is 3.5 mm but most people manage to warp them from poorly maintained brake calipers before getting anywhere near that.

Brake pads become thinner as they wear. I tend to replace at about 1.5 mm, or if there is a groove carved into the pad, when the groove is no longer visible. Changing pads is an easy job.

14k miles is approaching the 16k major service, this includes a number of things, most notably the valve check/adjustment. This is a relatively difficult/time consuming job and can become expensive if adjustment is required.

 

Thanks for the tips, wheelnut!

 

Thanks, DonnyBrago!

Sounds like I need to attend to the pads very soon. Do you know if them being too thin will cause vibration when stopping? Sometimes I could swear that I feel a little jiggle when coming to a hard stop.

I'll have to save up for that 16K service. Sounds like it's better to get the shop to do that for me as I'm not that much of a mech, yet.

 

Thin pads wouldn't give you a vibration during braking.

A warped disc will (and is the most common cause for bike brakes), but so will a build up of pad material on the disc or corrosion behind the disc mounting bolts.

If you have managed to warp a disc in 14k then a binding caliper is most likely the cause - give both brake calipers a clean out when you fit the new pads. If it is not a severe vibration then you can ignore it for now but it will get worse with time.