Squeaky front brakes

"davebee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Hi,

I am getting the most god-awful squealing on my front rim brake every time I use it and it is
driving me nuts. I have no idea what the problem could be. The pads are toed in correctly, set the
correct way round, strike the middle of the rim and the curve of the pad matches the curve of the
rim. The ONLY other thing that i can think of is that the rim (which is slightly worn) may be
causing the squeaking. Or have I missed something?

is everything else related to the brakes tightened properly?

davebee said:

I am getting the most god-awful squealing on my front rim brake every time I use it and it is
driving me nuts. I have no idea what the problem could be. The pads are toed in correctly, set
the correct way round, strike the middle of the rim and the curve of the pad matches the curve of
the rim.

This can be really tricky to solve sometimes. You do everything right and the brakes STILL squeal
like a massivley amplified goose :-( Change of pads is your best bet - after making sure there's no
grease on the rim. Toe-in doesn't always help. Flex in the brake/forke can be a factor, but a brake
booster (on v-brakes) can sometimes make the problem worse.

What type of brakes and what pads?

I'd be grateful for some help myself on this: Does anyone know if Kool Stop Thinline pads are
quieter than Mountain Pads (when comparing same versions: ie. Salmon or Dual)? Is there much
difference in stopping power between the two models?

Quoted message said:

The ONLY other thing that i can think of is that the rim (which is slightly worn) may be causing
the squeaking. Or have I missed something?

Some rims can indeed be noisier than others.

~PB

davebee said:

Hi,

I am getting the most god-awful squealing on my front rim brake every time I use it and it is
driving me nuts. I have no idea what the problem could be. The pads are toed in correctly, set the
correct way round, strike the middle of the rim and the curve of the pad matches the curve of the
rim. The ONLY other thing that i can think of is that the rim (which is slightly worn) may be
causing the squeaking. Or have I missed something?

What sort of brake? "Parallel push" V-brakes can suffer from this when the pivots wear a bit.

"davebee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Hi,

I am getting the most god-awful squealing on my front rim brake every time I use it and it is
driving me nuts. I have no idea what the problem could be. The pads are toed in correctly, set the
correct way round, strike the middle of the rim and the curve of the pad matches the curve of the
rim. The ONLY other thing that i can think of is that the rim (which is slightly worn) may be
causing the squeaking. Or have I missed something?

My current pads of choice (with V-brakes on the commuter), Clarkes red coloured ones, always squeal
when new or when the rim has just been cleaned. I presume the latter is because I carelessly leave
some soap or whatever on the rims (although I always finish up with a rub down with meths - for the
rims that is). However as the noise disappears after a few miles once some [censored] from the road is
picked up, I'm not too bothered. Maybe you've got some unwanted residue on your front rim?

tony R.

Brand new XT vees, with the stock XT cartridge pads that came with the calipers. Im using LX levers. Everything is tight. I have rigid forks so no flex there!

Perhaps I need to clean the rims properly? What would I need to use?

"Pete Biggs" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

What type of brakes and what pads?

I'd be grateful for some help myself on this: Does anyone know if Kool Stop Thinline pads are
quieter than Mountain Pads (when comparing same versions: ie. Salmon or Dual)? Is there much
difference in stopping power between the two models?

Aztec. Stop well, wear well and don't seem to get stuff embedded in them. Will squeal if wrongly
adjusted but easy to eliminate.

Ken.

Kenneth Clements said:

Quoted message said:

Does anyone know if Kool Stop Thinline pads are quieter than
Mountain Pads (when comparing same versions: ie. Salmon or Dual)?
Is there much difference in stopping power between the two models?

Aztec. Stop well, wear well and don't seem to get stuff embedded in them. Will squeal if wrongly
adjusted but easy to eliminate.

I tried Aztecs on road bikes years ago. Not impressed, didn't stop well, did get stuff embedded.
Maybe they've improved since but I suspect the Kool Stop salmon compound is still better. I'm just
trying to work out which models are best.

~PB

davebee said:

Brand new XT vees, with the stock XT cartridge pads that came with the calipers. Im using LX
levers. Everything is tight. I have rigid forks so no flex there!

There is always some natural flex.

I should be trying some Kool Stop Thinline Dual pads on my brother's MTB next week (that currently
suffers from terrible squeal with Mountain Pad salmons). I'll report back on how well they work.

Quoted message said:

Perhaps I need to clean the rims properly? What would I need to use?

Worst off with water, then degrease with meths.

~PB