Disc rotor brake alignment

[jellied]

Just got a single speed bike with disc brakes. When the time of the slack chain comes, and I pull the rear wheel back, what does one do with the disc brake? Is the alignment of the pad with the rotor really important? At least with v-brakes it was easy to align the pads with the rim.

[Cunobelin]

I believe it is limited and depends on the brakes and their rotational alignment.

My experience with Hope is that there is lateral movement only and no vertical. However the Avid ones are mounted like brakes and allow angling as well.

However any forward and backward realignment is goingto affectthe amount of rotor contacted by the pads.

[jellied]

Thanks - I'll dig a little deeper on the main website for Avid and see what they suggest. So much for a near zero maintenance bike.

[Chris N]

I think (and I haven't tried this on mine cos I'm running a V brake on the back) that you should get away with just loosening the bolts that hold the adaptor plate to the frame and repositioning the whole thing in the slots. There shouldn't be any need to touch the bolts that hold the caliper to the adaptor - so the brake should stay aligned ok to disc.

[Adrian]

If you've got Avids it is really easy because they have spherical washers to deal with alignment. Just slacken everything off, move the brake back, apply brake and hold, pinch  the bolts down again. Check to see if it is all done and running cleanly. If not repeat until it is. If so tighten everything up. At the risk of sounding meercat, simples.