My mountain bike has 2003 model year XT V-brakes, with Koolstop salmon-colored pads. A lot of my riding is on small mountain roads that are shared with hikers and free-ranging cows, or that pass close to farmhouses, so the penetratingly loud brake squeal annoys not just me. The newsgroup archives seem to suggest that changing brakes is the only answer. Is there any newer information, especially concerning later model years? Suggestions for other brakes, if it comes to that? Thanks for your advice.
-- Ned Mantei Department of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Here's a link to when I posted about this problem (hopefully it will work). I never tried the shim kit they were talking about. My solution, i got a new bike with disc brakes:
"Ned Mantei" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... My mountain bike has 2003 model year XT V-brakes, with Koolstop salmon-colored pads. A lot of my riding is on small mountain roads that are shared with hikers and free-ranging cows, or that pass close to farmhouses, so the penetratingly loud brake squeal annoys not just me. The newsgroup archives seem to suggest that changing brakes is the only answer. Is there any newer information, especially concerning later model years? Suggestions for other brakes, if it comes to that? Thanks for your advice.
-- Ned Mantei Department of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Ned Mantei <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
My mountain bike has 2003 model year XT V-brakes, with Koolstop salmon-colored pads.
You need to replace the brake pads. Not the brakes. The brake pads. If SQUEALING brakes bother you, then you cannot use Koolstop salmon brake pads. If you enjoy SQUEALING brakes, then you should continue to use Koolstop salmon brake pads. Koolstop salmon brake pads SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL. The type of brake operating them, V or cantilever or caliper, is irrelevant.
Do a search on this google group and use "squeal" and "salmon".
Ned Mantei <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
My mountain bike has 2003 model year XT V-brakes, with Koolstop salmon-colored pads.
You need to replace the brake pads. Not the brakes. The brake pads. If SQUEALING brakes bother you, then you cannot use Koolstop salmon brake pads. If you enjoy SQUEALING brakes, then you should continue to use Koolstop salmon brake pads. Koolstop salmon brake pads SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL. The type of brake operating them, V or cantilever or caliper, is irrelevant.
Do a search on this google group and use "squeal" and "salmon".
I've read that too although I have Koolstop salmon pads with Avid SD7 brakes/levers and they've never squealed for me, so who knows why they squeal for some and not others. My experience is that they handle rain much better than the standard black ones though, which is why I use them.
My mountain bike has 2003 model year XT V-brakes, with Koolstop salmon-colored pads. A lot of my riding is on small mountain roads that are shared with hikers and free-ranging cows, or that pass close to farmhouses, so the penetratingly loud brake squeal annoys not just me. The newsgroup archives seem to suggest that changing brakes is the only answer. Is there any newer information, especially concerning later model years? Suggestions for other brakes, if it comes to that? Thanks for your advice.
Lube the parallel push pivots liberally. Unfortunately the LX and "better" V-brakes are more prone to this than the cheap Deore versions, which don't use parallel push. Another not-quite-all-there Shimano development.
You need to replace the brake pads. Not the brakes. The brake pads. If SQUEALING brakes bother you, then you cannot use Koolstop salmon brake pads. If you enjoy SQUEALING brakes, then you should continue to use Koolstop salmon brake pads. Koolstop salmon brake pads SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL. The type of brake operating them, V or cantilever or caliper, is irrelevant.
My Shimano front V-brake (I have a drum brake on the rear) would squeal with every brand of brake pad I tried. Sometimes, I could quieten it (new pads, cleaning, adjusting toe-in, etc), but it always started squealing again within a couple of days. KS salmons were particularly bad.
I finally fitted a SRAM 9.0 V-brake, and can now use KS salmon pads without the squeal. This quietness is sensitive to toe-in, however.
"John Henderson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Russell Seaton said:
You need to replace the brake pads. Not the brakes. The brake pads. If SQUEALING brakes bother you, then you cannot use Koolstop salmon brake pads. If you enjoy SQUEALING brakes, then you should continue to use Koolstop salmon brake pads. Koolstop salmon brake pads SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL. The type of brake operating them, V or cantilever or caliper, is irrelevant.
My Shimano front V-brake (I have a drum brake on the rear) would squeal with every brand of brake pad I tried. Sometimes, I could quieten it (new pads, cleaning, adjusting toe-in, etc), but it always started squealing again within a couple of days. KS salmons were particularly bad.
I finally fitted a SRAM 9.0 V-brake, and can now use KS salmon pads without the squeal. This quietness is sensitive to toe-in, however.
I tried several sorts of pads with my XT Vs - all squealed like a stuck pig. I fitted some Avid Tis and they not only don't squeal, but they stop about as well as discs. And they are lighter.
-- Pete === 850 Le Mans II, Marin Mount Vision, Onza Muni Remove your spleen to reply by email.
On 17 Aug 2004 10:47:56 -0700, [email hidden] (Russell
Seaton) said:
Ned Mantei <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
My mountain bike has 2003 model year XT V-brakes, with Koolstop salmon-colored pads.
You need to replace the brake pads. Not the brakes. The brake pads. If SQUEALING brakes bother you, then you cannot use Koolstop salmon brake pads. If you enjoy SQUEALING brakes, then you should continue to use Koolstop salmon brake pads. Koolstop salmon brake pads SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL. The type of brake operating them, V or cantilever or caliper, is irrelevant.
Do a search on this google group and use "squeal" and "salmon".
I've had problems with some setups, but with every type of brake (canti, v, road single and dual pivot) and Koolstop salmon pads I have been able to get them to work with no squeal. Haven't had the joy of using them with parallel linkage v-brakes, though. Once you do get them set with no squeal, they are great.
I tried several sorts of pads with my XT Vs - all squealed like a stuck pig. I fitted some Avid Tis and they not only don't squeal, but they stop about as well as discs. And they are lighter.
I don't think squealing brakes work very well. When I was having continuous problems with mine, I found that the pad/rim combination was always establishing a "pattern" of good and bad braking areas.
At very low speeds, this was characterized by the brake alternatively gripping firmly and then slipping. I think that the squeal at higher speeds is a different manifestation of this same uneven braking. When I (temporarily) eliminated the squeal, the pulsating braking effect at very low speed was also missing.
This is not my experience. Lots of people, myself included, use the salmon pads with no squeal. They are completely silent on my Chorus calipers, and I expect they'll be silent on the Tektro Oryx cantis on my cross bike when I get around to putting some on.
Andrew Karre
[email hidden] (Russell Seaton) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
Ned Mantei <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
My mountain bike has 2003 model year XT V-brakes, with Koolstop salmon-colored pads.
You need to replace the brake pads. Not the brakes. The brake pads. If SQUEALING brakes bother you, then you cannot use Koolstop salmon brake pads. If you enjoy SQUEALING brakes, then you should continue to use Koolstop salmon brake pads. Koolstop salmon brake pads SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL. The type of brake operating them, V or cantilever or caliper, is irrelevant.
Do a search on this google group and use "squeal" and "salmon".
Ned Mantei <[email hidden]> wrote in news:mantei- [email hidden]:
Quoted message said:
My mountain bike has 2003 model year XT V-brakes, with Koolstop salmon-colored pads. A lot of my riding is on small mountain roads that are shared with hikers and free-ranging cows, or that pass close to farmhouses, so the penetratingly loud brake squeal annoys not just me. The newsgroup archives seem to suggest that changing brakes is the only answer. Is there any newer information, especially concerning later model years? Suggestions for other brakes, if it comes to that? Thanks for your advice.
I stopped the squeal on my XT's by replacing the cartridge style shoes with a set of cheap Rockwerks/Tektro one piece shoes. could be a low cost solution for you also.
-- - Chris Stovall - www.skokatt.com _____________________________
Everyone starts out with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill one before you empty the other.
