Squealing brakes

[BarryP]

Hi,


I recently bought a second back up bike (15yr old Diamond Back hybrid) and it's got ally rims. When I apply the brakes they squeal something awful. The brake blocks have plenty on them. Any ideas of what I can do to stop the noise?

Cheers
Barry

 

[summerdays]

If it hasn't been used recently the brake rubber (not sure what its made of), may have perished and formed a shiny surface on it - could be worth replacing the brake blocks? Or you could try toeing in the brake blocks so that the front of the block touches first.

 

[Davidc]

What Summerdays says, and try cleaning the rims.

Unless the blocks really are perished right through try resurfacing them. The emery boards sold for filing fingernails work brilliantly for the job.

 

[HLaB]

I'm finding the different quality of pad helps. I've had no squeaks from Aztec or Koolstops or the campi pads but I recently put cheaper Ed Co Op pads on the front of my hybrid; they took a long time to settle down, even with toeing in and can squeak a bit. Ironically they are silent in the wet

 

[xpc316e]

You need to make sure that there is a minimum of play in all the pivots in your quest for silent brakes. The squeal is merely a high-frequency vibration, so trying to prevent the brakes arms from moving about will help. Having done all the tricks like toeing in etc., you may still find that the squeal is still there - it's a fact of life on some brakes.

 

[Davidc]

I'm finding the different quality of pad helps. I've had no squeaks from Aztec or Koolstops

Tried both with the Tektro Oryx cantilever brakes on my Horizon, but can't completely eliminate squeals irrespective of toe-in or the state of the rims. I suspect that there are brakes (like these) where it's nigh on impossible to get them completely quiet.

 

[BarryP]

Thanks for the replies guys