Magura MDR-P Brake Noise

[Just get out there!]

New to MTB Forum but wanted to put out some info as I landed here in search of answers to a problem with Magura MDR-P brake noise. Running MT7's with Magura spacers and 220mm MDR-P rotors front and back on a turbo levo expert carbon 29er. Brakes are absolutely fantastic except that there's a ping, ping, ping sound during heavy braking on steep descents. You can feel it through the handlebars (it's not subtle). Won't do it on a work stand or on the flat, just on steep descents with heavy braking. Adjustment and bedding helped but didn't eliminate. Sent a video to Magura tech and was told it's an alignment issue and that the fix is refacing the caliper mounts as most mfg's don't do a perfect job of getting them perfectly flat/aligned with axle. MaguraTech mentioned that when alignment isn't true with the axle, the pads can dip into the large holes on the rotor causing the dreaded ping, ping, ping. Makes sense by what I observe. Getting them re-faced or buying a tool to do it myself as I love these brakes but hate the sound, I'll post how it goes.

 

[Just get out there!]

New to MTB Forum but wanted to put out some info as I landed here in search of answers to a problem with Magura MDR-P brake noise. Running MT7's with Magura spacers and 220mm MDR-P rotors front and back on a turbo levo expert carbon 29er. Brakes are absolutely fantastic except that there's a ping, ping, ping sound during heavy braking on steep descents. You can feel it through the handlebars (it's not subtle). Won't do it on a work stand or on the flat, just on steep descents with heavy braking. Adjustment and bedding helped but didn't eliminate. Sent a video to Magura tech and was told it's an alignment issue and that the fix is refacing the caliper mounts as most mfg's don't do a perfect job of getting them perfectly flat/aligned with axle. MaguraTech mentioned that when alignment isn't true with the axle, the pads can dip into the large holes on the rotor causing the dreaded ping, ping, ping. Makes sense by what I observe. Getting them re-faced or buying a tool to do it myself as I love these brakes but hate the sound, I'll post how it goes.

I just resolved this problem by having my brake mounts and adapters re-faced using a Park DT-5.2 refacing tool. I sent a similar video to the one in this thread to Magura. One of their techs told me they run into it a lot and it is caused by the brake post mount surfaces not being flat and perpendicular to the rotor. I've got a 2021 Turbo Levo running MT7's and 220 Magura MDR-P rotors. When I checked the mounts with a flat piece of machined metal, they were WAY off plane from one another and rounded a bit. I think the whole caliper assembly was flexing quite a bit when I'd apply the brakes heavily going down a steep trail. Couldn't get them to repeat that sound on the rack or on the flat. Had front and back re-faced and like magic, no more noise. Set me back $300 USD to have it done but it was well worth it. If I had it to do over, I'd buy the tool and do it myself, then hit my buddies up for a bit of compensation if they want to reface their brakes. I love my Turbo Levo, but in my opinion the mfg's should be facing those post mounts at the factory when they're charging $10k USD +/- for their bikes. Mine came with SRAM codes and they howled like banshees on long descents. Now I know why. The bang, bang, bang sound was a Magura thing.

Bottom line: Reface your brake mounts, and your adapters if needed (I think they can deform if the mounts aren't flat to begin with), do a full go through on your brakes to make sure the pistons aren't sticking and that they're bled and aligned correctly, bed them properly (big Magura's take a lot of bedding so do it their way), and I'd be willing to bet you won't have that sound any more. Also, the magura MT7's are hands down the best brakes I've ever used (they just don't play well with out of true post mounts). Hope this helps!