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My bike is equipped with Sram Force Etap AXS and I've been using some BBB pads for quite a while. My bike shop recommended these, stating that they were compatible (and yes, they worked pretty well).

Now I need to change my pads. I've had some spares from the Swiss Stop brand for a while. I understand that this brand is quite good. Earlier this year, I purchased the model Disc 26 E because it's for Avid Elixir/Sram XX (same as my BBB pads). But since the purchase, they have released the Disc 35 E which are designed specifically for my brakes and I intend to purchase these in the future.

I've been trying to set-up the Swiss Stop Disc 26 E for a couple days now. But I have some noise problems which I didn't have with the BBB pads. I set up the pads while being careful not to contaminate them, and I cleaned the discs using isopropanol. After following the bed-in procedure from sram (brake 20x from 15-20 km/h to walking speed, then brake 10x from 30km/h to walking speed), I noticed that the brakes were squeaking a lot.

After unmounting the pads, I saw this: noisy brake pads The scratch in the middle appears to be glazing because it's very shiny. I'm a bit surprised because I've heated my BBB pads a lot more and didn't observe any glazing. I then sanded the pads to recover their original green-ish color. Sanded pads

I tried new bed-in procedures/sanding several times with the same results.

Does anyone has ever observed anything like that? Any tip how to fix this?

Thanks a lot!

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2 Answers 2

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This is something that can happen with new brake pads when they are getting too hot before being bedded in properly. You should be good to go after cleaning the disks again and with the sanded pads. You just have to bed them in again, this time maybe a little more careful.

I had experienced this by myself a few times and this method always worked for me perfectly. The performance was the same compared to pads that didn't need a second try.

Edit: Bed in one brake at a time as mentioned by Jeff. It's easier to modulate the breaking power if only using one brake. Using both while bedding in would result in unequal results between front and rear because of the weight distribution.

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  • Thanks. Can you tell me more about how to bed them more carefully? Because obviously I'm doing something wrong there. How hard should I press the brakes? How much cool-down time should I give between 2 braking? 1 brake at a time or both at the same time?
    – ymonb1291
    Commented Aug 7, 2020 at 10:27
  • Get up to some speed, then over 5-6 seconds slowly increase pressure on the brake until coming to a full stop. Repeat about 7 times. A flat area is best, slight downhill works too. You can squirt some cold water on the pads after each cycle
    – SteapStepper69
    Commented Aug 7, 2020 at 10:35
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    I find a casual ride with low braking seems to work well for bedding in pads. I generally do at least 20 miles casual before using the brakes harder. Of course to do this you need to be riding sensible, don’t put yourself in a position that you have to throw the brakes on hard. You can always coast further and brake less when riding.
    – Dan K
    Commented Aug 7, 2020 at 12:02
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    I find doing one brake at a time helps me focus on the modulation and allows more wheel rotation per braking sequence, and the heat generated isn't excessive.
    – Jeff
    Commented Aug 8, 2020 at 19:00
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Wet the pads and rub the two friction surfaces together using a circular motion. This will get the pads most of the way to being fully bedded in. Finish off the job with a few rapid deccelerations without completely stopping the wheel.

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