Pads , Chain Cleaner and I

So. This all happened about a week ago now.
To cut a long story short, I presumed (wrongly) that chain cleaner would be the same stuff as brake cleaner. Oh how wrong I was.

Tested the brakes going down the drive, hardly anything. So kept it slow and applying them on the way to work to burn it all off, this worked fine after the return trip and they felt up to their usual stopping power. A few spirited rides later and I'm convinced they were back to normal, however riding today without earplugs I could notice a loud grating noise when applying at anything over 5mph , sounds like the noise you get when freewheeling with fresh pads, but louder.

Should I replace the pads? Or do I just live with the noise?

 

Sounds to me like we are talking contaminated brake pads here. Assuming your pistons aren't seized I'd replace the pads and use brake cleaner on the discs

 

Chain cleaner is petroleum (kerosene) based. It is akin to paraffin oil and there-in lies your problem. Oil.

As Kevin (above) says, your pads are contaminated - clogged - with oil and grit. A generous spray of proper brake cleaner followed by some hard stops on a quiet road might fix.

 

Proper brake cleaner and a few hard stops didn't fix it, however a new set of pads and the discs being soaked in brake cleaner has sorted it good and proper.



Those are a bit different.

 

Indeed! Thought it was time to try out some brembo sintered ones as well. With going on a trip round Europe in two weeks, didn't want to risk it.

 

I do get the occasional rubbing when wheeling the bike after a ride (still on the original pads with 14.5k miles on)
I use wurth cleaner which is labelled as chain & brake cleaner. The brakes feel a little softer afterwards for the first few miles.
Caliper sliding pins can get filthy and restrict pad movement, I spray them (carefully) with gt85 or light synthetic lube.