My brakes suck...
 

I just did 300 miles of hard desert riding, single track and twisties over the weekend, also lots of creek crossings. My brakes "feel" fine as far as modulation and hydraulics but they just don't have that grab or bite anymore. This isn't my first time out in the dirt like this but I've never had them feel so crappy after a good ride. They are squeaking at low speed too. I'm sure they are just dirty or something but has anyone experienced this, is there a quick fix? Pads have plenty of life left and the rotors don't look any different then normal. Maybe they just got glazed over or over heated? I never felt anything that would have indicated I heated them too much.

Brake Cleaner

Spray the heck out of the pads and clean the rotor.

Other choice would be to pull the caliper and the pads and give them a light sanding with some sand paper to clean them off. That is what you'd need to do if the brake cleaner doesn't do it for you.

I'm beginning to think there are extra steps you need to go through after riding in the dirt, thoroughly clean and lube the chain, remove the chain guard (recently mine got bend because it was packed with mud and rocks I never saw while washing), and remove the rear brake-pads and thoroughly clean them. Is there anything else I'm missing?

Yes, leave the pressure washer for washing trucks and cars. Blasting water in around the wheels and chain can blow water into the chain links past the O-rings, and into the bearings. None of it is good. You're better off using a soft brush and a garden hose after knocking off the big clods. It's better to pick around in there with a wooden or plastic stick to knock off most of the mud. Then wash.

With the O-ring chain it is also almost better to leave it dirty, using the chain lube to wash off the dirt, but if you really want to you can use like kerosene or WD40 to clean it off too, again with a soft bristle brush.

I'd never pressure wash my bike, it'd blow my wrap clean off. "When" I do wash my chain I just use the hose, chain cleaner and dry lube.

The "lots of creek crossings" comment can vary widely from ride to ride. Some creek crossings are rocky, sandy affairs that end up being not too dirty on the bike and components...just mainly water and a little sand that flakes away quickly. Other creek crossings have deep muddy gumbo on the botton or the banks, and the bike ends up with 30 pounds of additional baggage that seeps into every crevice on the bike...including the brake caliper/piston puck areas. I've done some enduros over the years where I had to just about disassemble the bike...and brakes...to get everything fully operational again because the mud was of such a nature as to be demonic. What kind of mud, if any, did you encounter?

Oh, and on the front brake, I think the KLX model sucks bad until you at least get a stainless braided cable on there.

So...

You converted to an old drum brake, right? Using a cable and all... :eek::D

LOL!...nothing like a good drum brake...right?

Of course that should have been "hose".

I run into this at times on my track bike. If I have some really heavy use of the front brakes the pads and rotors lose some bite. The fix is to take the pads off and scuff them on some flat/clean concrete-this removes the surface layer of friction material and gives you a fresh starting point. I also take some 300 grit sandpaper and go over the surface of the rotors to remove any deposits. Clean everything with brake cleaner and then do a bedding process-gradually increase brake efforts to get the pads seated and you're good to go.