What it takes to do a brake job on a modern mountain bike

Parts: $48 for pads, $90 for proprietary bleed kit I’ve used three times now.

Labor: about 5 minutes to swap pads, ad 20 minutes per end for bleeding.

Steps: Remove wheel, shove large flat blade screw driver into caliper to push pistons back into caliper. Remove pad retaining pin and pads. Install new pads and new retaining pin. Put wheel back on. Re-center caliper if pads are rubbing on rotor.

Rotor:

Caliper:

Pads that are the size of a toenail: