[mudcamper]

The last time I bought a new bicycle was in the 1980's. It's a no-suspension mountain bike. (Bicycles didn't have suspensions or disk brakes back then.) I still have that bike. But my point is, I have absolutely no experience with disk brakes on bicycles. It turns out, I was supposed to "bed in" my new brakes. I had no idea.

So my brakes on my brand new Mosh squeak. OK. No biggie. By day 2, they squeak loudly. And I mean LOUD. I literally scare pedestrians if I apply my brakes near them. I caused a couple walking their dogs to nearly jump out of their skin yesterday. They thought they were about to get run over by a giant truck! Nope. It was just me, on my Mosh.

So I contacted Serial 1 Support. This is the reply:

These brakes are brand new, so they need to be bedded in. It's a pretty simple process, and we have it right here for you:​

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For best bed in procedure we recommend the following.​

1. Pedal around with the brake slightly engaged to get pad compound onto rotor letting on and off occasionally. Do this for 5 or so minutes.​

2. Pick up speed and brake harder but not coming to a complete stop. do this 10-15 times.​

3. First ride we find it beneficial to modulate the brake on and off like step two for 5-10 minutes.​

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Basically you are getting the pad compound onto the rotor without over heating the pads.​

After this you should be good to go!​

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If this doesn't work for you, please let me know, but I think you'll be just fine after the following the procedure.​

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Hope you really enjoy your new bike!​

Upon further investigation, I discover that this is in fact very necessary, and according to cyclingtips.com I may have permanently damaged my rotors, and will have to replace them:

End vibrating, noisy disc brakes with a proper bed-in process

Your new bike shines in the same untouched way a new car smells, glistening from every curve and component. Its disc rotors catch morning light as you kit up for the maiden voyage. You pedal down the block, euphoric in its novelty, and for the first time in your cycling life, grab a fistful of …...

cyclingtips.com

I suggested to Serial 1 Support that they include a note in the manual or a flyer or a video about the need to bed in your brakes.

End public service announcement...

 

[mudcamper]

Welp the brakes have only gotten worse. I tried doing the bed in procedure (several times) and adjusting the caliper position to center the brakes, all after the damage was done. The rear brake still squeaks like a garbage truck, and the front grinds and scrapes and feels like it's going to explode. Yeah, maybe if I remove the rotors and sand them, I can correct this, but I just spent $3400 on a new bike. I wanted to ride it, not work on it from the start. I have to say, this has soured my enthusiasm a bit.

 

[mudcamper]

OK after the initial back and forth, and perhaps miscommunication on my part, Serial 1 Support stepped up and took action. The support rep called a local bike shop in my area to see if they could take a look at it, and offered to pay the bill. I took it there and they first tried cleaning the rotors and sanding the pads with no improvement. Then they just replaced the pads. Then the brakes ran quiet. Serial 1 paid the bill.

Since then they have started squeaking a bit, but not at garbage truck decibel levels, and mostly just when they are cold.

 

[mudcamper]

Serial 1 now has a video up on their YouTube channel on how to do the brake bed-in: