brake squeal gone!

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" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

then the front. So just the other way around as with cantilever brakes.

I did and it helps !

"Eric" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

(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?

Quoted message said:

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 said:

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.

Quoted message said:

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.

Quoted message said:

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 [email hidden]

"H. van Beek" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

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