I don't know if this topic has already been discussed or if there are statistics on accidents caused by brake overheating, but if you rent a car or bike on the island and travel through mountainous areas, be careful.
- When descending steep slopes, use engine braking; it's okay if it roars and strains.
- During prolonged descents, don't brake continuously; release the brake pedal for 15-20 seconds.
- Stop whenever possible during your journey.
- It's even more dangerous on a bike because you can't brake with the variator (it would be interesting to hear how others deal with this).
When the discs and pads overheat, the braking system suddenly almost completely stops working. The pads slide over the heated disc like on butter. Pressing the brake pedal in a car causes the pedal to just sink to the floor and not come back up. If the car has a manual transmission, an experienced driver can slow down using the gearbox, but this option isn't available with an automatic transmission.
It takes about 20 seconds for the brakes to cool down and return to working condition, and the pedal comes back to its normal position, but you usually don't have those 20 seconds to spare.
PS: This was inspired by information about another accident while descending from Kintamani to the northern part of the island – luckily, this time the tourists only suffered a few fractures and a scare.
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