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Hi guys, I found this forum the other day so will hopefully be meeting some of you on some rides soon! I live in Hertfordshire and have just bought myself a 2011 GT Avalanche 3.0 Hydro after 9 years of not riding.. Prior to that I had a custom Merlin I built with my granddad in my mid teens.

I have a couple of questions I was hoping you guys could help me with..

My GT has Tektro Auriga Comp hydro disc brakes and I’ve heard the standard pads are meant to be crap, they seem ok to me but I have no previous experience with disc brakes so can’t really compare although they do make a fairly loud contact noise when applied.. I was wondering what pads you guys recommend, I don’t want to spend a fortune on pads as I’m not a competition rider, more recreation.

Still on the subject of brakes, when applying the rear brake with medium pressure I can feel the rear calliper/pads clicking on the disc (almost like it is using an ABS servo?!) but no idea if this is to be expected or needs some adjustment?

I do a lot of fast trail riding and years ago remember people using chain tensioners, are these still used/recommended and if so what one to use?

I have a few things I am going to modify, saddle/pedals/grips but no major changes as I’m really happy with my bike and how it performs so far!

Will be good to hear your opinions and get talking to you all!

Hi LuckyMeh
First off welcome on board, the pads are ok as a std fitment and once they've bed in you'll find they'll last a long time unless you really start to hammer the bike? when you come round to replacing them, http://www.superstarcomponents.com are your friends, 3 levels of pad, that way you can decide what you need.
As for your rear brake, it sounds like a set up issue, easily sorted. PM if you need some help doing this?

Hi VW, thanks for your reply - i'll check their website out and hopefully order some soon. They should be bedded in by now as I have probably covered 100 + miles already but still the scuffing noise and I have noticed the discs are touching on the pads very lightly when I spin the wheels but have no idea of how to sort this out or if it actually an issue.

I'll send you a PM regarding the rear brake set up - cheers!

Yeah definatly a set up issue then.