brake squeal gone!

I've spent most of the summer messing around with my front brake,
trying in vain to get rid of the squeal. I tried just about
everything: cleaning rims, leaving 'em dirty, several different pad
types, changing toe in (using pennies, nickles, quarters, and
freehand), running through mud puddles, scratch pads, polishing,
roughing up. Nothing worked.

Then, last weekend I took my bike along to a ski resort town. Since I
wasn't sure what to expect as far as trails, I put my Contentinal
twister pro cross tires on, in case I found myself on smooth
singletrack or grass. While I was warming up on Saturday, I went down
a short hill, where I had to brake. This was on smooth pavement, and I
had not been on any dirt at this point. To my suprise, I didn't get
any squeal, and the front brake really grabed. I kept braking all day
(ski resort, after all), and no matter how hard I pulled, no squeal at
all. I checked to make sure the pads wern't touching the tire (no).
So, I thought that maybe the tires were somehow chainging the resonant
frequency or somthing. But, I have now put my normal road tires back
on (700 C axial pro), and the braking is still quiet and great.

The question: What the heck changed? And, more importantly, how do I
keep from screwing things up again?

Eric

Are you talking about XT or XTR V-brakes ?

Mine made a terrible noise as well.

On the internet I found a tip instead to toe in, a little bit toe out. In
other words adjust the pads so that the back a is little closer to the rims
then the front. So just the other way around as with cantilever brakes.

I did and it helps !

"Eric" schreef in bericht
om...
I've spent most of the summer messing around with my front brake,
trying in vain to get rid of the squeal. I tried just about
everything: cleaning rims, leaving 'em dirty, several different pad
types, changing toe in (using pennies, nickles, quarters, and
freehand), running through mud puddles, scratch pads, polishing,
roughing up. Nothing worked.

Then, last weekend I took my bike along to a ski resort town. Since I
wasn't sure what to expect as far as trails, I put my Contentinal
twister pro cross tires on, in case I found myself on smooth
singletrack or grass. While I was warming up on Saturday, I went down
a short hill, where I had to brake. This was on smooth pavement, and I
had not been on any dirt at this point. To my suprise, I didn't get
any squeal, and the front brake really grabed. I kept braking all day
(ski resort, after all), and no matter how hard I pulled, no squeal at
all. I checked to make sure the pads wern't touching the tire (no).
So, I thought that maybe the tires were somehow chainging the resonant
frequency or somthing. But, I have now put my normal road tires back
on (700 C axial pro), and the braking is still quiet and great.

The question: What the heck changed? And, more importantly, how do I
keep from screwing things up again?

Eric

"H. van Beek" wrote in message
...
Are you talking about XT or XTR V-brakes ?

Mine made a terrible noise as well.

On the internet I found a tip instead to toe in, a little bit toe out. In
other words adjust the pads so that the back a is little closer to the
rims
then the front. So just the other way around as with cantilever brakes.

I did and it helps !

"Eric" schreef in bericht
om...
I've spent most of the summer messing around with my front brake,
trying in vain to get rid of the squeal. I tried just about
everything: cleaning rims, leaving 'em dirty, several different pad
types, changing toe in (using pennies, nickles, quarters, and
freehand), running through mud puddles, scratch pads, polishing,
roughing up. Nothing worked.

Then, last weekend I took my bike along to a ski resort town. Since I
wasn't sure what to expect as far as trails, I put my Contentinal
twister pro cross tires on, in case I found myself on smooth
singletrack or grass. While I was warming up on Saturday, I went down
a short hill, where I had to brake. This was on smooth pavement, and I
had not been on any dirt at this point. To my suprise, I didn't get
any squeal, and the front brake really grabed. I kept braking all day
(ski resort, after all), and no matter how hard I pulled, no squeal at
all. I checked to make sure the pads wern't touching the tire (no).
So, I thought that maybe the tires were somehow chainging the resonant
frequency or somthing. But, I have now put my normal road tires back
on (700 C axial pro), and the braking is still quiet and great.

The question: What the heck changed? And, more importantly, how do I
keep from screwing things up again?


Didn't JB recommend symmetric pads to help this?

Robin Hubert

On 2 Nov 2003 07:06:04 -0800, (Eric) may have
said:

The question: What the heck changed?

Humidity or temperature perhaps? Maybe the brake arms got bumped into
just the right attitude during transport?

And, more importantly, how do I
keep from screwing things up again?

The principle thing to remember is that the perversity of the Universe
tends toward a maximum; to avoid screwing things up, then, DO NOT fix
anything until a problem appears.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
it's also possible that I'm busy.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Eric Grumling writes:

I've spent most of the summer messing around with my front brake,
trying in vain to get rid of the squeal. I tried just about
everything: cleaning rims, leaving 'em dirty, several different pad
types, changing toe in (using pennies, nickels, quarters, and
freehand), running through mud puddles, scratch pads, polishing,
roughing up. Nothing worked.

Then, last weekend I took my bike along to a ski resort town. Since
I wasn't sure what to expect as far as trails, I put my Continental
twister pro cross tires on, in case I found myself on smooth singlet
rack or grass. While I was warming up on Saturday, I went down a
short hill, where I had to brake. This was on smooth pavement, and
I had not been on any dirt at this point. To my surprise, I didn't
get any squeal, and the front brake really grabbed. I kept braking
all day (ski resort, after all), and no matter how hard I pulled, no
squeal at all. I checked to make sure the pads weren't touching the
tire (no). So, I thought that maybe the tires were somehow changing
the resonant frequency or something. But, I have now put my normal
road tires back on (700 C axial pro), and the braking is still quiet
and great.

The question: What the heck changed? And, more importantly, how do I
keep from screwing things up again?

A common method for reducing brake squeal is to ride through a mud
puddle with the brake applied so abrasive grit will clean both the rim
and pad. This can also be done in dry conditions by wetting the rim
and applying household cleanser to the rim before riding with the
brake applied gradually before rinsing with a water bottle squirt.

This abrasive action removes glaze from the rim and the surface of the
brake pad that was running on that glaze. Elasticity of the brake
caliper will allow the brake pad to rotate forward, initially causing
more wear at the rear than the front of the pad. This is a natural
condition known as toe-in and also helps in reducing squeal. Don't
bend brake elements to achieve to-in.

You may have gotten a grit cleaning for your brakes.

Jobst Brandt

"H. van Beek" wrote in message .. .
Are you talking about XT or XTR V-brakes ?

Mine made a terrible noise as well.

On the internet I found a tip instead to toe in, a little bit toe out. In
other words adjust the pads so that the back a is little closer to the rims
then the front. So just the other way around as with cantilever brakes.

I did and it helps !

Dia-Compe Cantis in the front, Avid Shorty 4s in the back. I should
have specified that this is a touring frame. Believe it or not, the
dia-compe seemed to squeal less than the Shorty 4.

Eric