ARE YOU TEAM DISC OR TEAM RIM?
Fellow cyclevangelists, I bring you a vintage LBK reminder about your brakes, jazzed up to date.
But first! A quiz:
Btw it's disc, not disk. Don't ask me why, I don't make the rulez.
Brakes are an elf n safety issue of the utmost importance. If we can only fix one thing, we prioritise safe working brakes over perfectly indexing gears, every time. You need to be able to trust your brakes to stop reliably. But stopping time is inversely proportional to the amount of brake pad material you have. (Ok, not quite, but how well your brakes work does depend on how efficient your brakes are, of which the quality/quantity of your pad plays a big part!)
So we don't care what kind of brake you have, what we care about is how much brake pad you running bruh?Â
Check the amount of pad you have available regularly (like in a quarterly M-check - don’t know how? Take our Intro to Maintenance class!) Keep on top of your pads, and change them when they are getting low.
RIM BRAKE AND DISC BRAKE
PROS AND CONS
 (did you know: Pro & Con are latin for Pro et Contra - For & Against?)
Why even rim brake bro?
lighter (for you weight weenies out there)
easier to maintain (this is subjective tho)
f*ck the industry and their damned marketing practices
Rim brake fails
wears down the wheel rims and then they explode 💥
What's the big deal about discs?
more powerful
better in the wet
saves your rims from wear
on trend
Y U NO DISC
pads wear faster (they are smol)
that friggin HONKING JFC
Aside from those things, I don't really see a benefit to either. Whichever one is easier for you to look after, whichever one actually just WORKS and saves your life should be your brake of choice.Â
That said, Disc Brakes are the new kid on the block, and people love new and shiny things, so we’ve made a class:
DISC BRAKE HOME MAINTENANCE
everything but the fluid
IT'S ALL ABOUT PADS & ROTORS BABY
If you thought bleeding, think again!
There are several ways to address disc brake issues before you even think about fluids.
We're covering everything a budding home mechanic can do in the comfort of their own home, up until - but not including - the replacement of fluid (hydraulic) or cables (cable-actuated systems).
In our 3 hour class we will cover:
What kind of disc brakes are out there, and more importantly, what kind YOU have
How to remove, clean, & replace your pads
How to remove, clean, & replace your rotors
Getting the correct pads for your calipers
How to stop that infernal honking
How to get the best out of your brakes
Cost effective upgrades
Who teaches your Disc Brake Home Maintenance class?
Meet Silvi Vargas! This interview first appeared in Cyclist Magazine.
How did you get into being a bike mechanic?
From being a BMX athlete. I was constantly sorting something out on my BMX due to wear and tear and from crashes. Then I discovered the passion while working as a bike builder in a bike shop.
What are the best things about the job?
Positives: getting a non-working bike back to being fully functional again. So satisfying! And I love how open and empowering our team at LBK is.
Drawbacks: hair stuck on hubs, and dirty, dirty, dirty bikes. I don’t mind cleaning them – what I mind is that people don’t look after their own bikes enough. Those poor bikes tend to be in shocking states.
What is the importance of having a women and non-binary-led workshop?
Spaces like ours are still so few, and it emphasises how under-represented we are in this industry. LBK provides role models for people that have historically been put into gender-biased boxes. I can’t emphasise enough the difference it makes to see people doing things we once thought weren’t for us.
You can follow Silvi’s many adventures on instagram: @silvierit
SNEAK PEEKS 👀
Next new class being birthed: Friday 27 October will be our first How to Replace a Spoke & True a Wheel class. Part 1 of our 3 part Wheel Building Series. Tickets coming soon for a test class.
And this fun thing:
On a more serious note
Myself and the team are gravely concerned about the escalating bombing in Gaza. Much of mainstream news is disregarding the 2m residents, half of whom are minors, who have also had electricity and water cut off by the Israeli government.
The lack of electricity means that information will be scattered and piecemeal. This is the latest in a long line of sanctions and blockades held by IsraeI.
Hospitals are now overwhelmed, and there are only a handful charities that are actually on the ground and able to get supplies. I have done some cursory research and have found a couple charities that seem to have direct contact with residents and are able to help them.
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
An enlightening list by The Gaza Fund about charities and how much they are able to give.
We would like to suggest alternative news sources to read, and to not follow in the footsteps of the disastrous US foreign policy of "ready, fire, aim".
Writeups from Medecins Sans Frontieres about the hospitals in Gaza, and their press release to cease fire immediately.
+972 Magazine is an online independent journal written by both Palestinian and Israeli journalists.
’s newsletter is always insightful and well informed. She is great at taking a step back and viewing the bigger picture, minus the US/Murdoch propaganda.
Who benefits from forever war? Follow the money trail. I have heard Ukraine described as the world's biggest arms fair - Gaza could be next.
On a recent phone call my dad said to me: "there was never a good war, or a bad peace."
- Jenni