Take care:

Method:

1. Remove your wheels and scrub both disc rotors with warm soapy water. You may wish to remove the rotors for cleaning.  Use a scourer pad to remove any dirt or oil. Rinse the rotors with plenty of clean water and dry them both on a clean towel or cloth

2. Remove the brake pads from the callipers and place them to one side, remembering which set came out of which brake calliper. Now use a small brush [e.g. an old tooth brush] and plenty of warm soapy water to clean out the insides of the callipers, making sure you reach all the nooks and crannies. After rinse the callipers with clean water and allow them to dry. Do not use a water dispersant spray as this can affect the pads and rotor later on

3. Use some disc brake specific cleaner to remove any dirt from the brake pads and them wipe them with a clean cloth until they’re spotless. Now whilst you’re cleaning make sure there’s enough useable bake pad material remaining, if not replace the pads.

4. If there is uneven wear on your pads; you should take your bike into your local bike shop and have the alignment checked by a professional bike mechanic. 

5. Now place some wet & dry sandpaper on a flat surface and gently rub your brake pads in a circular motion to remove any imperfections or uneven wear and also to remove the older top layer of the pad. You do not have to rub the pads for long.

6. Now place the brake pads back into the callipers. If you’re fitting new pads you will have to “gently push the pistons back into the calliper body using an open ended 13mm spanner”

7. Be careful when replacing the pads. Certain parts of brake callipers are fragile and will break if you’re not careful. Hayes™ users be careful as the lugs that hold the pads are particularly fragile.

8. Check that the disc bolts are tight. If you think necessary, remove and apply a spot of thread-lock to prevent them coming undone.

Bedding them in:

1. Go to the top of a long descent and ride down it. As you’re riding down, gently apply one brake (either will do) so that the brakes drags but does not stop you completely. Do this until the brake is hot and then immediately pour clean water from your bottle over the rotors, or get a friend to ride alongside to do it. Repeat the process for the remaining brake.

2. Repeat the process of heating & watering the brakes three or four times. You should feel the brakes becoming more grabby & effective. The reason for such a transformation is that this process gradually transfers a very small amount of brake pad material onto the surface of the disc rotors, so pad material is rubbing against pad material and therefore an increase in friction is generated.