Broken Brakes

Last week, the rear brakes on my bike went out. Since it has hydraulic disc brakes, I didn’t want to mess with it and try and fix it myself. Thankfully my mom was in town (more on that later), so she was able to conduct my bike to Wheelworks in Belmont without me riding a couple of miles with barely functional brakes.

For $40 in labor, I was able to get the diagnosis that the rear rack on my back had shoved the brake caliper out of alignment, so that the pad was just rubbing against the disc instead of gripping it against the other pad.

Apparently the “works on all models and configurations of Trek bikes” rack that the salesman at Penn Cycle selected for me was not intended to be mounted around a disc brake assembly. The mechanics at Penn Cycle (back in Minnetonka, Minnesota) helpfully installed it anyway.

I do know what the problem is, so I’d be able to fix it myself if it happens again (although the Wheelworks guy claims he stabilized the rack). I think I should probably get one of the rear racks that is designed to mount around a disc brake assembly.

Although the guy on the phone was not very helpful, I’m hoping a letter to the manager will get my $40 back. I’ll probably install the rear rack on my sister’s back, since she wanted one anyway, and since her bike does not have disc brakes.


Comments

8 responses to “Broken Brakes”

  1. Buy a car, hippy!

  2. You have hydraulic disc brakes? On your bicycle?

  3. Apparently. I got the disc brakes as an upgrade because the store I purchased the bike at didn’t have any regular brake bikes in stock. I figured it was still a wire, until I looked up the brake model online.

  4. Maybe hydraulics are less unreliable outside of the context of Junkyard Wars. :^)

  5. Didn’t have any…?!

    That is a seriously messed up bike shop.

  6. Yeah, those are getting more popular, especially in certain sets. Still not nearly as common as the old-fashioned cable-activated rim brakes, though.

  7. I should say, didn’t have any rim brake equipped bikes of the model I had selected, a Trek 7500FX.

    Apparently my bike is “Rage Red”.

  8. Everyone knows that a more complex system is inherently superior in every way.

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