Replacing disk rotors and pads, when to service brake fluid, brake caliper lifespan, and proper amount of triflow in/on shifters after cleaning
I was wondering if some could watch these videos for me to help answer some questions.
During my last bike cleaning 5 days ago, I cleaned and lubed my brake pistons with alcohol and some mineral oil on Qtips. I didn't clean the rotors/pads with alcohol as usual because I was waiting on a shipment that I am planning on replacing them both with. Hope rotors and Shimano metallic pads. Anyway just some history.
On my ride today (3rd ride since clean) I noticed:
- when out of the saddle pressing hard with my left foot (brake side) I noticed a "sword coming out of its sheath" loud rotor rub sounds.
https://reddit.com/link/1tdhkdi/video/2i8ejd3ja71h1/player
- both front and rear brakes are very choppy
https://reddit.com/link/1tdhkdi/video/26o3pwc2b71h1/player
The fact that some clicking sounded like it was from the shifter but the audio seems to be much louder near the brake not the shifter so maybe my tri flow concern is bogus... it just got me thinking about the best order of operations for upgrading the brakes on a used bike I just bought recently dedicated to long steep climbs and descents as a novice to disk brakes.
My intention was replacing the brake rotors and pads with the aforementioned https://www.jensonusa.com/hope-floating-disc-rotor and https://www.rei.com/product/C10222/shimano-l04c-mf-disc-brake-pads-and-spring?redirect-pup=false
but now I have some follow-up questions.
How often should one take their bike in for caliper/piston/brake fluid/etc. service? Should I go this before replacing the rotors and pads? Will putting new rotors and calipers into a not optimized system damage them? What is the lifetime of calipers? Should I consider adding onto such a service appointment a request to replace my GRX 810 calipers that came with the bike to these https://www.hopetech.com/products/brakes/gravel-cx/rx2/ ? I've heard this is a tough service to DIY so sounds a bit beyond my preventative maintenance skill set at the moment. And I intend to be off on my annual CO trip in a few weeks.
Lastly, after I clean my bike, I pull the shifters and give them a good squirt of triflow and wipe off/air compress out any excess. Is this good practice? Do I risk messing up disc brake fluid interface up in the shifter by doing this?
Video #1 could just be alignment going out of whack after this ride in particular (hill repeats on short section of 28% hahha other two rides since cleaning were lower ~10-20%).
Thanks for any help! 😄
Cheers