Girly brake pads, e-shops and doing it

[rex007can]

1 Organic pads last longer and aren't as hard on the disks,  but tend to be grabby when cold.  Which means that at speed if you urgently grab a handful of breaks in emergency,  it is slightly more likely to lock the front... Dont ask how I know.

2 that freakin screw is a nightmare!  Why the heck didn't they just use a runber stopper?  I had to use a torch,  seafoam and a hammer and chisel to get it out!

3 apart from the darned screw,  it actually an easy job.  Much easier to take the callipers off totally and clean things.

[ChillMan]

Workshop will drill the pin away, charging per hour. Since they remove the pads to do that, they will change to my new ones anyway.

I will also change the front tyre while I have it there.

[ChillMan]

Today the workshop drilled the pin away. He expected it to get out as is common, and then he could just fit a new pin. BUT, the pin had completely "melted" into the metal of the caliper. To avoid replacing the caliper, he made new threads in the caliper instead. Then fit a new pin there. Extra extra extra work.

Since he took the caliper completely off when drilling, he also had to drain the brake fluid, and he replaced it with standard DOT4 fluid. Good to know it's now correct, and there will be no cost for this next year.

He didn't have any comment about the Ebay brake pads. They were soft at first but already are getting a firm grip.

At some point I need to replace the discs as well...

Perhaps it's not so good economy to have an older bike after all. :)

[Sin_Tiger]

There's always a risk involved but you'll be a lot more confident riding and not just with the hard wear, the knowledge gained is a big factor also.

[ChillMan]

I did learn something from trying to do the work. I can probably change brake pads myself next time, having less bad luck with stuck pins. :)

The new pads are fine, not the on/off I expected from "sintered HH".

The brand new front tyre Anakee 3 seems to give me a more smooth ride, less vibration, it "knows" better what turn I want, and also easier to drive fast. Less vibration at high speed. The old one was (unevenly worn) Dunlop TR91. I still have TR91 on the back, it has at least one more season to go. Then I'll have Anakee 3 there too.