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I stopped buying new brake pads every spring and started sanding the old ones instead
I used to just buy a $20 set of new pads every time my brakes got loud, which added up to maybe $60 a year on my commuter. Then a guy at the bike co-op in Tucson showed me that the pads were barely worn and just glazed over from road grit. He handed me some 220 grit sandpaper and said to scuff the surface for about a minute until it looks dull again. That was 8 months ago and those same pads are still stopping fine, though I do re-sand them every couple months. Anybody else doing this or am I just cheap?
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matthewgonzalez6d ago
What grit do you use after the 220, or do you stick with that same paper every time? I ask because I've been doing the sand trick too but I'm not sure if I'm scuffing deep enough, my pads look dull but they still squeal on wet days. Do you sand in circles or just back and forth, and are you pulling the pads off the bike or leaving them in? Eight months on one set sounds great but I'd worry about the pad material getting too thin to notice until it's metal on rim.
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