sticky brakes

Both my front and back breaks seem to be engaged all the time.....just a little. That is, the pads are slightly rubbing the rotor. I actually took out the rear pads today just to prove to myself that this was the case. I'm probably going to replace all the pads but is there something else I need to be doing? What would cause this to happen?

missileman wrote:

Both my front and back breaks seem to be engaged all the time.....just a little. That is, the pads are slightly rubbing the rotor....

It depends on what you mean by "just a little." Disc brake pads are always like that. They are designed to be pushed into position by the braking action, then retract only slightly upon release - leaving them up against the surface.

If they are actually stopping the wheel, that's another thing...

They are stopping the wheel. For example, when on the center stand and back wheel is off the ground, I can spin the tire by hand and it will only turn a very small distance. After I took the pads out, I can spin the wheel very freely. I first noticed this just by pushing the bike around in my garage. It was very hard to push around. After I took out the pads....no problem.

You may have you some sticky caliper pistons.
When I had mine apart, with some fiddling about, get a screwdriver in somewhere so you can gently pry the pads against the piston(s), and then the piston(s) SHOULD slide back into their bores with a tad bit of resistance.
If you CANT pry them back, most likely there is gunk in the bores holding the pistons out.
IF YOU TRY the "pry back in" method, GO SLOWLY and use steady even pressure. Have used this method on cars AND bikes.....no buggered seals or anything so far (knock wood!)
Good luck figuring it all out.

I got a rear caliper with my rear sets, and it was sticking a lot, I took it apart and found a bunch of crud on the piston, I cleaned it, and it works great now