Bedding-in brake pads the wrong way is detrimental to their performance – for their entire service life. To avoid this, Sinter developed the Smart Bedding Machine, a tool that is designed to significantly simplify the bedding-in process, making it especially appealing for big shops and racing teams. We’ve already run dozens of test bikes through the machine.
The first trail is often a write-off – at least after changing brake pads. At first, fresh brake pads deliver significantly less braking power, thus requiring you to adjust your riding style. The reason lies in the microscopic adaptation process between the pads and rotor, which is essential for optimal braking performance. Even more problematic, however, is braking too hard or too soon, as the resulting high temperatures can cause gases and resins to escape, forming a smooth glazed surface. This phenomenon, known as glazing, leads to permanently poor performance and may require extensive sanding or even replacing the pads.
The severity of this issue depends on your brakes, pads, and rotors. Some manufacturers recommend around 30 full stops from a speed of 30 km/h to properly bed-in your brakes before hitting the trails at full pelt. However, for many riders, this process can be cumbersome, thus leading to incomplete or inexistent bedding-in. The cost of skipping it? You’ll pay for it on your first descent.
Sinter, a company with over 55 years of experience in manufacturing friction materials, produce more than 5 million brake pads per year at their facility near Ljubljana. These pads cater to a variety of applications, from racing karts and high-performance motorcycles to mountain bikes. Now, Sinter’s engineers have devised a solution to the bedding-in problem: the Smart Bedding Machine, priced at € 1,499. This tool promises a fast and efficient – albeit quite expensive – way to automate and significantly simplify the bedding-in process.
How does the Sinter Smart Bedding Machine work?
The concept behind the Sinter Smart Bedding Machine is quite simple: the wheel is mounted onto the machine, which features two aluminium rollers. These rollers have a tapered groove that securely holds the tire in place. The process is guided step-by-step to bed in the brakes directly on the bike. The machine runs through several cycles of braking and cooling. It offers various programs that adjust to the rotor size and brake type (two- or four-piston), optimising the bedding-in time and required braking force accordingly.
Given its size and considerable price tag, the machine is primarily aimed at bike shops, manufacturers, and racing teams, as well as companies managing large test fleets. It’s compatible with all bikes with wheels between 20” and 29” and tire widths from 1.0 to 3.0 inches.
The Sinter Smart Bedding Machine on test
The Sinter Smart Bedding Machine weighs in at a hefty 22.8 kg and allows you to bed in brakes without removing the tires, pads, or rotors. The procedure is straightforward: select the correct program and indicate whether you’re working on the front or rear wheel, and you’re ready to go. The brakes are engaged normally by pulling the brake lever. However, caution is advised, especially if the pedals are installed. If the rear wheel is mounted but the front-wheel program is selected by mistake, the wheel rotates in the wrong direction, causing the cranks to spin and potentially hitting your shin with the pedal. Fortunately, the rotation direction can be easily corrected using a light sensor on the left side.
The machine starts automatically when the bike is detected by the light sensor and switches off automatically when the bike is removed. However, it’s quite noisy during operation, particularly with bikes with knobby tires.
The bedding-in process itself is user-friendly, with two LED bars displaying essential information: the load on the rollers and the remaining brake or cooling time. The load can be adjusted either by applying pressure to the rear wheel or by increasing brake force. Finding the right balance is crucial. A high load reading doesn’t necessarily translate to strong braking force – for instance, if significant pressure is applied to the bike without sufficiently engaging the brakes. This can have a negative effect on the bedding-in procedure. The best results are achieved with minimal tire pressure, as this prevents the wheels from locking while still ensuring optimal braking force.
The second LED bar displays the remaining time for the braking or cooling cycles. To ensure the brakes are properly bedded in, the timer only progresses during the braking phase when the optimal load range is maintained. However, caution is advised during the cooling phase: the timer continues even if you keep braking, which could potentially glaze the pads during the bedding-in process.
The entire process for both front and rear brakes takes just a few minutes, and the difference is immediately noticeable when you take the bike off the machine. They bite significantly more aggressively, giving you the confidence to hit the trail straight away. Achieving a similar boost in braking power manually would require countless laps of braking and stopping in a parking lot – and even with a meticulous approach, the results wouldn’t quite match those of the machine. While braking performance may improve slightly further during the first few uses after bedding in, the key benefit is that the brakes are immediately sharp and reliable, with a marginal risk of glazing.
Conclusions about the Sinter Smart Bedding Machine
The Sinter Smart Bedding Machine is a simple yet effective solution to a common problem. It works well and is easy, intuitive to use, provided you keep a few key points in mind. Within just a few minutes, both brakes are fully bedded in, with a noticeable improvement in braking power – though the full performance potential develops after a few descents on the trail. However, due to its high price, the machine makes sense above all for shops and companies managing large test fleets that regularly replace brake pads.
Tops
- Quickly and significantly improves braking power
- Simple and effective operation
Flops
- Price makes it appealing only for businesses
- Noisy during operation
For more info, head to Sinter’s website.
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Words: Simon Kohler Photos: Peter Walker
