Rear caliper service and pad change

[mspratz]

I serviced the rear caliper and changed the pads this morning. Viewing the pads from the rear of the caliper, they appeared to be about 2 mm thickness. The minimum is 1 mm, so I figured I had a couple of thousand miles left in them, and I almost didn't do the job. Luckily I decided to go ahead, because once I got them out I realized they were finished. Apparently the view from the rear of the caliper is misleading. They were down to within a fraction of a mm of the wear grooves being completely gone.
I would have made a video and taken pictures, but I didn't bother because there is already this, which is excellent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_lHZPbSJ_s&t=5s The rear caliper service start 5:30 into the video.

[Grumpy Goat]

Michael,

Thanks for the tip about not necessarily trusting the view from the rear especially when it is as low as 2mm, since the wear could be tapered due to the fact that these calipers float and the force the pads see could be biased towards the leading end.

I will be doing a video when I change mine, which thanks to your tip might be sooner rather than later.

[Lee]

Thanks for the reminder.
I have noticed the same on other bikes and I make sure to take a good looks at the pads when I change tires.

[MrVvrroomm]

I serviced the rear caliper and changed the pads this morning.

How many miles on your RS?

[Grumpy Goat]

After writing my reply above I went out and had a look and I would guess pad thicknesses were about 2 - 3 mm for front and rear. I have approaching 48k miles on my bike. I still intend to pull the pads and sample the thicknesses, and will revert back. Will probably frame the viseo as visual thickness measurement vs actual measurement.

[mspratz]

How many miles on your RS?

21,600 miles. Front pads have plenty of life left. I guess I'm hard on the rear brake. I always use both brakes by habit, and the front is linked to the rear on this bike, so I guess I'm doubling up by also applying the rear brake. On top of that, I spend quite a bit of time in a local parking lot practicing tight low-speed maneuvers, which requires rear brake to modulate speed.

[darrell]

I changed my rear brake pads at 70,269 miles and still have the original front pads in the bike at 94,000 miles.

[Grumpy Goat]

21,600 miles. Front pads have plenty of life left. I guess I'm hard on the rear brake. I always use both brakes by habit, and the front is linked to the rear on this bike, so I guess I'm doubling up by also applying the rear brake.

Shouldn't be a doubling up. From what I understand (and experience) the minute you press the rear brake pedal the brakes are no longer linked.

I have heard other RS owners say that they wear out their rear pads faster than their front pads. Not sure why.

I rarely use my footbrake, relying on the linked brakes. I occasionally use both brakes just to get some practice and to remind my right foot of its job, but I find that the rear ABS kicks in quicker when I apply both separately, and never kicks in early when using the linked brakes. If that results in even pad wear front to rear I am happy.

[MrVvrroomm]

I changed my rear brake pads at 70,269 miles and still have the original front pads in the bike at 94,000 miles.

Of course....

[Lee]

. From what I understand (and experience) the minute you press the rear brake pedal the brakes are no longer linked.

Where did you read that?

[Grumpy Goat]

From what I understand (and experience) the minute you press the rear brake pedal the brakes are no longer linked.

Where did you read that?

This link describes the overall operation but does not actually say that the brakes are decoupled once the rear brake is pressed, but the effect is the same. This WebBike World article also explains the partially integral brakes.

When the right handlebar lever is applied and the front brake is applied, the computer decides the proportion of braking effort to apply to the rear brake to ensure that braking is effective and there is no lockup. When you press the foot brake that proportioning is overridden, and the braking effect at either wheel is based on the amount of pressure on each lever, independently.