About a week ago I noticed the rear brake pads were away from the rim and the brake lever almost came to the handlebar when I applied the brakes. I thought the brakes just needed adjusted and I did that. For some reason I decided to order new brake pads just in case I needed them. Last night when I went to the garage I looked at the rear brake pads and I realized they were almost used up. The Stradalli uses FSA brake calipers and the pad holders are black carbon fiber making it hard to tell the pads from the holders. I rolled the bike inside (it was still above 90 even though it was 8:30PM) to replace the pads. The pads use grooves and a holding screw to keep them in place. Getting the left pad out of the holder was hard because it was worn down. I used a small screwdriver to try to slide the pad out but I couldn’t get a good grip. A pair of pliers did the trick. The new pad slid in much easier and I put it back on the caliper arm. The right pad was much easier since it wasn’t worn down quite so much. With the new pads I adjusted the caliper to open enough for the wheel to turn and not touch. Now the brake lever does not come close to the handlebar when I apply the brake. With the carbon rims the new pads now screech a little when I apply the brake. According to the pad description they are for carbon rims. This was at the 9012 mile mark on the Stradalli. Not bad for that amount of miles. The front pads have much more life in them. I use the rear brake much more than the front plus that is where the weight is.

The ride today was a good test of the pad installation. I rode the “Atascocita South – Walden – Huffman” route for 32.71 miles. The ride started at 10:11 and I was back home at 1:02 in time to avoid the real heat of the day. It could get close to 100 later today. I took at rest stop in Huffman at 21.1 miles into the ride. The weather screenshots while I was there.

By the time I got home the home weather station showed 103.6 with a 118 heat index. The weather man says a high pressure area is parked over us and it will be like this for awhile.

Today was the 8th time I biked this route this year. I saw only one other biker as I crossed Lake Houston on FM1960 going east. He was going west with his head lowered into the wind and didn’t respond to my wave. A comparison of the 8 rides this year.

[iframe https://connect.garmin.com/activity/embed/839268851 465px 500px] [iframe https://www.strava.com/activities/350279614/embed/38438ff351e0bfe8d672bd2e6da1098f87e1a767 590px 500px]