How To Properly Adjust the Hydraulic Brakes Of A Bicycle

The vast majority of mountain bikes currently have mounted disc hydraulic brakes. They are no longer only used with mountain biking, but it is now increasingly common to see them on road and hybrid bikes.

Like any other component of a bicycle, this type of brake must be adjusted and periodically maintained so that they work correctly for as long as possible. One of the most common misalignments that occur with this type of brake, is the rubbing of the disc on the brake pads. Let’s check out how to solve this issue and adjust the hydraulic brakes of your bike.

Adjustment of Hydraulic Brake Calipers

When the brake disc rubs on the pads it can be caused by several different reasons. One of them is that the disc itself has been slightly deformed due to use or overheating. Another cause is that the wear of the pads makes the pistons move to the inside of the clamp. This movement will cause the disk to rub on the pads.

The only tool that we will need for this procedure is an Allen key of 5. With this key, we are going to loosen the screws that join the brake caliper with the frame. We will loosen them until we can move the clamp without any problem by hand.

Now we can center the clamp in two different ways:

1. With the clamp loose, press the brake lever. Keeping it tight, we will re-tighten the screws that hold the clamp with the frame. In general, with this procedure the clip is usually centered and the discs will not rub.
2. The other option is to do it by eye. Once we have the loose clamp, we will look at the brake disc against the light. We will then manually move the clamp until we check that the disc does not rub on any of the clamps. Once placed, we will press again.