When your disc calliper is rubbing on your rotor and the noise just forces you to get off, loosen the calliper, realign as best you can and then retighten. This little tip was told to me by good ol’ Dave Hansen at Spearman Cycles in Wollongong.

Loosen the calliper from the fork or frame mount, grab the lever and hold, now retighten the calliper. EASY!

When the pads close on the rotor they automatically centre the loose calliper over the rotor, now when you tighten the calliper again and then release the lever the pads will retract and the calliper will be spot on centre!

I know this sounds too simple and you may laugh at me for thinking that no one out there knows this, but there may have been one solitary person whose life i have now made easier.

For those out there that have tried this and think it doesn’t work, i say try it again. There is always someone out there that will laugh and think they know better, C’mon, you know who you are!

Benji

Crash Carden adds:

Before doing anything like loosening caliper bolts, it might pay to just back off the quick release on the squeaky wheel and recentre the wheel. Check that the QR is nice and tight, and you’re away.

Nine, no make that ten times out of ten, it cures my brake squeakies.

Unlike rim brakes, the off centre forces from a disc brake are trying to twist your axle in the dropouts. Properly adjusted skewers, checked regular like, can kill lots of squeakies.

crash

It’s been around two years since the most expensive thing I’ve ever owned became my responsibility. It’s low maintenance, calls out to be used and always delivers satisfaction. But when work and life gets ahead of me I feel like confessing to negligence.

The Santa Cruz Super Light is just one of those bikes. I started from the elegant 6061 blue anodized aluminium single pivot swingarm frame with a Fox Vanilla RC rear shock, and sprinkled on some XTR shifters, lightweight seatposts and bars and a venerable but trusty WTB saddle. Wheels were built with XT hubs, Sapim spokes and WTB Rims.

Continue reading > “Forgive me, I own a Sant Cruz Super Light”

G’day fellow MTB net heads, I have been thinking over the last few weeks about the amount of coverage our sport gets in mainstream media. Sure you may see a small snippet of some poor sod taking a big digger at an event either here or around the world, tucked conveniently before an ad break on Sports Tonight. Better still, we copped a few half-hour sessions on SBS late last year/ early this year as apart of their Cycling Show. But gee, in a year (last one) where Australian Mountain Bikers stepped up and took names internationally you’d think we could have raised more than the whisper that was 2002. Continue reading > “MTB Coverage in the Media.”

Although it’s stating the bleeding obvious, home made light sets are one of the most crucial components of any night sled. In terms of their performance though, they remind me of the constant tension we enjoy with our own human digestive systems. Let’s face it, when things are working sweetly, we are rewarded with swift clean passage. And when things stuff up, we can almost reliably be left feeling cheated, browned off and angry for wasting so much ride time farting about fixing things.

Continue reading > “The Tyranny of Home Made Lights”

Mass participation events are great fun. The feeling of taking part in the City to Surf foot race with tens of thousands of other runners was a buzz I’ll never forget - the sheer mass of humanity, the noise of feet pounding the pavement, the bizarre sound of crushing plastic cups at drink stations. The pride from passing, the determination not to be passed. Yep, that was fun. But hang on, we’re here to talk bikes, not jogging.

Continue reading > “Mass Participator”

OK, that sounds a bit harsh but it’s the general feeling around these parts.

Reading the journal of Mr. Pizzaz, I got to thinking that a diary from the point of view of someone trying to actually get back on the bike, might make an accessible read some out there could relate to. Who knows, it might even inspire one or two of you… or motivate myself.

Continue reading > “Confessions of a fat man”

See, I hate litterers. It’s senseless and ignorant. But what has specifically inspired me to vent steam this time is the amount of bottles I’ve seen lately. Big, plastic bottles, invariably one-third full bottles of sports drink, and normally found on rocky sections of popular trails. Here’s a little lesson.

Continue reading > “Lost Your Bottle ?”