Disk Breaks rubbing after removing front wheel.

I have a Giant XTC 2 with Hayes Nine disk breaks.

Every time I remove my front wheel and then put it back on again, the disk starts rubbing on the break pad on each rotation.

If I leave the quick release undone and spin the wheel while the bike is upside down, this does not happen.

I tried to only do the quick release up relatively losely, but it still rubs.

I also make sure I don't pull the break leaver when the wheel is off.

Does anyone know how to avoid this or can anybody assist with if there is a 'correct' way of putting the front wheel back on?

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thank you

If the wheel spins freely while it is upside down and unfastened. the discs sound like they are straight and there is enough clearance but the caliper not centred properly. Could try this first, while upside down and unfastened,
- loosen the mount on the brake calliper unit so it is free to move.
- tighten/fasten the wheel
- now press and hold/tie/tape (don't let go) the brake leaver down so it clamps on the disc and the brake unit should recenter, now tighten the bolts again on the calliper unit.
- release the brake handle and spin / ride and see if its free.
See how you go with this.

Small dinting in the paint or actual fork dropouts result in the brake rubbing if the axel position is not positioned identically each time the wheel is removed. Easiest solution is to mark the axel (whiteout etc) and put it in the same way every time.

I had to do this on a top end fork with XT hub a few years ago with 6" rotors. Not a problem once marked. My current front MTB disc wheel is 20mm through axel and I dont experience this problem dispite now running 8" rotors. It bolts in more consistently now.

Not a good idea. It's possible for disc brakes to "eject" your front wheel if the wheel isn't solidly secured. I think that was at least part of the motivation for producing through axle forks.

this same thing happened to my friends bike.
the thing he was doing was when he would take off the wheel he would loosen the wheel on one side of the quick release and then tighten it on the other side and vice versa. this moved the wheel to close to the pads on one side and cause them to rub. i got in there and moved it back and now it works find
hope i helped.

I have Haynes 9 disk brakes with an 8" rotor on the front and the process for adjusting the calliper centering as described above is critical. The gap is really a bit tight for 8" rotors and they will rub even if they are only a tiny bit out. Changing the tightness on the quick release a little bit puts the centering out enough to rub. Try and be consistant in the tightness of the QR and centering the callipers (as decribed above) to this tightness, should do the trick. Leaving the QR looser (or tighter) is bound to cause rubbing even if you have the 6" rotors.

If you have the 8" rotors there will be an extra block/spacer under the calliper that may also need adjusting before you fix the calliper on (as its fixing bolts are obscured by the calliper). I also found that with the 8" rotor and knobbly tyres, that the vibration at about 16 km/h causes the rotors hit the sides even with perfect adjustment. Very annoying when riding on pavement but it doesnt happen in rough terrain as the harmonics are mucked up by all the other bumps and it doesn't happen with slicks or the 6" rotor on the back. This, IMO is a design flaw and the calliper needs a bigger gap for the 8" rotor.