11-09-2022, 02:03 PM
Recently, the brake pads wore out on my bike. I put a new caliper on the front. Not long after, I decided to try an experiment with the back brakes.
One day I was out cycling, and went past a place which refurbishes truck brakes and clutches. Many truck brakes and clutches are riveted to the backing plate. When they are worn out, they drill out the rivets, remove the old one, and put on a new one with new rivets. This place had a pile of used truck brakes and clutches. I asked if I could take a used clutch, and was given permission.
With an angle grinder, I cut pieces out of the clutch plate, the size and shape of the bike brake pads. I flattened the old pads with the angle grinder, cleaned the surfaces with alcohol, and used super glue to glue the pieces from the truck clutch to the bike brake pads.
In the following picture, the thin pad is the new one. The thick pad has the piece from the truck clutch glued to it.
New bike brake pads have a backing plate approximately 2 mm thick, and a pad approximately 2 mm thick. They recommend using them until the pad is 1 mm thick, then replacing them.
The piece of clutch plate I glued to the old 1 mm thick pad, is 5 mm thick.
So the new pad has 1 mm to wear, and the refurbished one has 5 mm to wear. It should last five times a long.
The clutch plate I used has shiny bits in it when cut, which suggests it is metallic. This should wear slower than the new organic brake pads.
Some of you might be thinking, it wont fit in the caliper. Here is a picture of it on the bike. I used washers and longer bolts to widen the caliper. I also put a washer over the axle, to move the caliper out from the rotor a little.
I have used this for over 500 km, and it is still working well.
A wider caliper will not fit with some bikes and wheels.
In the future, I may use the thick pads on the back. When they are half worn out, transfer them to a standard caliper on the front. Then glue new bits to the worn front pads, and use them in the wide caliper on the back.
The super glue would have a temperature at which it will fail. I don't know whether it will ever get that hot. I have had the rotor too hot to touch, and the glue did not fail. If the glue does fail, in the future I will seek out glue which can take a higher temperature.
Anyone doing this, be aware some brake and clutch pads contain asbestos. What I am using does not.
From one truck clutch, I can probably cut out enough bike brake pads to last the rest of my life.
One day I was out cycling, and went past a place which refurbishes truck brakes and clutches. Many truck brakes and clutches are riveted to the backing plate. When they are worn out, they drill out the rivets, remove the old one, and put on a new one with new rivets. This place had a pile of used truck brakes and clutches. I asked if I could take a used clutch, and was given permission.
With an angle grinder, I cut pieces out of the clutch plate, the size and shape of the bike brake pads. I flattened the old pads with the angle grinder, cleaned the surfaces with alcohol, and used super glue to glue the pieces from the truck clutch to the bike brake pads.
In the following picture, the thin pad is the new one. The thick pad has the piece from the truck clutch glued to it.
New bike brake pads have a backing plate approximately 2 mm thick, and a pad approximately 2 mm thick. They recommend using them until the pad is 1 mm thick, then replacing them.
The piece of clutch plate I glued to the old 1 mm thick pad, is 5 mm thick.
So the new pad has 1 mm to wear, and the refurbished one has 5 mm to wear. It should last five times a long.
The clutch plate I used has shiny bits in it when cut, which suggests it is metallic. This should wear slower than the new organic brake pads.
Some of you might be thinking, it wont fit in the caliper. Here is a picture of it on the bike. I used washers and longer bolts to widen the caliper. I also put a washer over the axle, to move the caliper out from the rotor a little.
I have used this for over 500 km, and it is still working well.
A wider caliper will not fit with some bikes and wheels.
In the future, I may use the thick pads on the back. When they are half worn out, transfer them to a standard caliper on the front. Then glue new bits to the worn front pads, and use them in the wide caliper on the back.
The super glue would have a temperature at which it will fail. I don't know whether it will ever get that hot. I have had the rotor too hot to touch, and the glue did not fail. If the glue does fail, in the future I will seek out glue which can take a higher temperature.
Anyone doing this, be aware some brake and clutch pads contain asbestos. What I am using does not.
From one truck clutch, I can probably cut out enough bike brake pads to last the rest of my life.