Whether you just unboxed your SUPER73 and you’re getting it ready for its maiden voyage, or you’re a seasoned long-time rider performing maintenance and it’s time to put a fresh set of brake pads and/or rotors on your bike, it’s important to make sure you properly bed in your new brakes to ensure your bike’s brakes are working at maximum potential. This article will walk you through how to do it, what this is, and why it’s important.
How do I bed in my brakes?
Bedding in your brakes is very easy and takes about 10-20 minutes. To bed in your brakes, follow the steps below for each brake:
- Accelerate your bike to 20-25 MPH.
- Brake hard without locking the wheel and bring your bike to a near, but not complete, stop.
- Repeat roughly 10-40 times per brake. You may need more or less than this depending on your unique situation. You should feel the stopping power increase incrementally with each additional application of the brakes.
What does it mean to “bed in” your brakes?
Bedding in your brakes refers to the act of breaking in the brake pads and rotors. Bedding in the brakes allows some of the pad material to transfer to the rotor, through a process of heating and cooling, which results in improved performance from the brakes from the increased friction when compared to brakes that haven’t been bedded in.
Why is it important to bed in your brakes?
To put it simply, properly bedding in your brakes allows you to maximize your stopping power by ensuring they are operating at peak performance.
What happens if I don’t bed in my brakes?
Another huge reason that this break-in procedure is so important is that it keeps your brakes quiet. We’ve all heard of bikes that have loud brakes. Among other things, that loud screeching/squealing noise can come as a result of either improper break-in procedure or no break-in procedure at all.
Without properly bedding your brakes, pad material will build up unevenly on the rotor, which will result in a high-frequency vibration that will also present itself as a slight humming/vibration sound. That noise often will get louder if the brakes get wet.
We hope you have fun and ride safely!