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I have a Jamis Allegro Sport Hybrid (6 months old) and has gone about 400 miles so far. Today I had an accident (in the UK) because the rear tyre got punctured after hitting a good size pothole. I took it to Evans Cycles (UK) and they did a quick repair job to fix the puncture. However, the repairman pointed out that the brake pads are burning the edge of my tyres and this is very strange to me. Is there any way I can use special brake pads so that I don't have this problem?

P.S. I use Shimano DuraAce 7700 style brake pads which are apparently very cheap.

Please advise.

I've linked to some images: Image1, Image2-tyre_worn_out,

Edit: From the comments and answers, this seems like the most relevant picture: enter image description here

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    Did he say they were literally heating up and burning the edge of the tires, or are they rubbing against the tires, causing sidewall wear near the bead - which will eventually result in tire failure? Poorly aligned brake pads can definitely rub against the tire and cause tire failure.
    – Johnny
    Commented Apr 23, 2013 at 22:06
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    Ultimately, the pad makes essentially no difference in the amount of heating of the rim -- given an amount of momentum, a certain amount of heat will need to be "burned off", regardless of the pad composition, and about 90% of the heat will go into the rims. Unless you're doing long (multi-mile) steep downhill runs while riding the brakes, the problem is the pads touching the tires.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented Apr 23, 2013 at 22:46
  • Dura Ace brake pads are not cheap pads.
    – Carey Gregory
    Commented Apr 23, 2013 at 23:07
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    I agree with @DanielRHicks that the brakes must be rubbing on the tire, which means they're misaligned. The real mystery is why the shop didn't simply say so and offer to correct the problem. It should be a very quick, simple adjustment you can easily do yourself with nothing more than a hex wrench, which you need to own anyway if you're going to own a bike.
    – Carey Gregory
    Commented Apr 23, 2013 at 23:15
  • @DanielRHicks I feel inclined to agree with you. Miscalibrated (more like misalignment) is the culprit here. I will go home today and checked. Caused me a nearly fractured left palm and nearly skinless right palm yesterday because of this accident :( Thanks for the advice though!
    – ha9u63a7
    Commented Apr 24, 2013 at 8:31

2 Answers 2

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Get your toolbox, get the 5mm Allen key and align the pads yourself. Make sure they are parallel to the rim and don't touch your tyre when in braking position.

5 minute job. Saves you tyres and pads.

Update re pictures: Thanks for posting the photos - makes it easier to identify the problem. It seems that your pads are not rubbing the tyres. The problem looks like it's in the pads themselves. These pads are the cheapest possible ones. And they are glazed up. I would just replace them for better ones. Or you can take the wheels off, get some sand paper and sand top layer off the pads. This will work, but it is likely that the pads will do the same again pretty soon.

Another reason for this appearance - the brake arms are not correctly set up and one of the pads is dragging on the rim all the time, hence "burning sensation". This can be corrected by adjusting the spring: on the side of the brake arm should be a bolt - play with it, until the arms are coming to the rim at the same time.

Or if the brakes stop you well enough and don't drag on tyres/rims, just ignore them and keep riding - not a major problem.

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    First few times I suggest you plan a bit longer than 5 minutes......
    – mattnz
    Commented Apr 24, 2013 at 3:27
  • @trailmax Thanks for the update! When you say "Play with the bolt, do you mean the hex-style bolt that allows the brake pads to slide up or down the rim surface? Sorry for my ignorance! :)
    – ha9u63a7
    Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 8:06
  • I meant this: sheldonbrown.com/images/vbrake-springadjuster.jpg Sheldon brown might help you out with this: sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html
    – trailmax
    Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 8:47
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    @trailmax Following your posts I have done it now! although it seems that one brake pad (for each wheel) is going to be closer to the rim than the other. I also found this true for some of the brake repair tutorial videos on YouTube. However, I have re-aligned the pads so that they are approximately 2-3 millimetres down from the tyre rubber when pressed hard. This should solve the problem until I replace my back tyre.
    – ha9u63a7
    Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 22:12
  • Great job! Glad it all comes together!
    – trailmax
    Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 23:30
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If you're brake pads are burning through your tires, they're either misaligned or the wrong ones for your bike. Or possibly both.

I think those are the right pads for that bike (which would make sense on a six month old bike), but you'd probably want to have a shop look at them to verify.

If the shop you took it to told you that you need "special" pads, take it to a different shop.

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  • Actually they said that the brake pads need to be replaced. However, stackexchange general concensus seems to be pointing towards miscalibrated brake pads. I am gonna try and do it myself. Otherwise, I will have to take it to the shops to get it done! So far, it would be my second repair job that I will have mastered :)
    – ha9u63a7
    Commented Apr 24, 2013 at 8:29

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