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Serious question, did I get lucky or is a 2mm gap in brake pads actually fine?
A mechanic at a shop in Boise told me my pad gap was too tight and I argued with him for 10 minutes before he showed me the rotor was rubbing on the caliper bracket, so now I'm wondering if I've been setting up my bikes wrong for years.
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rose_hart312mo ago
My 2mm gap on my old Trek was fine for like three years until I started hearing a weird scraping sound on descents. I mean, maybe it depends on the caliper and rotor combo. Some Shimano stuff has tighter tolerances than SRAM, idk. But honestly that Boise mechanic sounds like he was just covering his butt or trying to upsell you. If you're not feeling any pulsing or hearing any rubbing while riding, a 2mm gap isn't going to magically cause a crash. The whole "pad gap" obsession feels overblown when people are running warped rotors and contaminated pads anyway. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather have a slightly loose gap than risk glazing the pads by over tightening everything.
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ninas702mo ago
Whoa wait, @rose_hart31 said they ran a 2mm gap for three years? That's wild. I've been wrenching on my own bikes for like 15 years and always thought anything over 1mm was asking for trouble. But honestly, I've had pads so tight they dragged and glazed over in one ride. Maybe I've been the dummy this whole time. That mechanic story is a classic - I've seen guys argue over a millimeter like it's life or death.
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