Insights

How long do Mountain Bike Brake Pads last?

Have you been riding your bike for a year and have never thought about changing the pads? Bad! Let's see how to understand if the tablets are worn.

Written by

David Finetto

December 13 2023

There is no specific value: if you live on the plains it can last up to 1000km while, in downhill use, it could last only 100km. It depends on how you use it and how much you use the brakes. Let's see how to understand the consumption of a pill.

BRAKE PADS

When the pad is new, the compound (material that comes into contact with the disc) is about 3mm thick. Naturally it is advisable to replace the brake pad before reaching the complete end of the compound, to avoid having no more material and braking iron on iron, therefore metal plate of the pad on the disc. Just one bike ride in this situation is enough to cause damage.

HOW CAN I SEE THE WEAR OF A MTB PADS?

The wear of a pad can be seen simply by eye: you have to look from above the caliper (or from below by lifting the bike in the case of ventilated pads that cover the view) and understand how much material there is on the pad. As mentioned previously, always change the pad with a slight margin in advance so as not to find yourself braking iron to iron.

new mtb pads 2 — New pad: you can see how much compound there is between the disc and the metal part of the pad

worn mtb pad 2 — New pad: you can see how much compound there is between the disc and the metal part of the pad

Indirectly, when the pad is about to run out, the brake starts to become longer in stroke and, in the brake caliper, you start to see the pistons coming out.

FURTHER LINKS

Which brake pads to choose? Organic-Metallic-Ceramics?

How long do MTB brake discs last?
Here you can find other articles dedicated to maintenance -> Heading 365myarrangement

In this article:Brake Discs, Brakes, Brake pads, Tutorial

Written by David Finetto

[email protected] I am a fan of everything that has 2 wheels: at a young age I practiced road and track cycling (Italian Allievi champion). At the age of 18 I passed into the cross country competing at national/international level as an Under23. Past Elite, I made the choice to take things more lightly from a training point of view, and my love for gravity disciplines was born, training me as an FCI MTB instructor and guide. Now I have made passion my profession by managing 2 MTB centers on the island of Elba (Bike Center Elba and Elba MTB), creating the FANTAmtb and telling in an ironic but professional way everything that revolves around MTB thanks to 365mountainbike and 365TV (YouTube'PULITI dentro BIKER fuori').