Ever since I bought it, the Jamis Nova's front brakes chattered and/or
squealed when braking. From what I've gleaned through internet posts,
e.g.,[ http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=81780 ], the bike's
combination of components, specifically Avid Shorty 4 Brakes mounted
on a Winwood Muddy Carbon fork was particularly prone to this
affliction.
Over the last several months, I had tried a multitude of pads,
including Kool Stop's salmon and dual compound pads, installed and
removed a brake booster, varied the Avid's yolk cable length and
fiddled with the mounting angle of the pads - I even swapped out the
front brake and with a set of Paul's Touring Canti Brakes and repeated
the above.
The different approaches would mitigate but never completely solve the
difficulties. Sometimes a different pad would decrease chatter at the
expense of squealing (which from Jobst's article at [
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/brake-squeal.html ] are essentially
two symptoms of the same condition). Temperature and weather
conditions would also exacerbate difficulties.
Yesterday I admitted defeat. A spare pair of Tektro MTB "V" brakes
found its way onto the Nova and my favorite Cane Creek brake levers
were replaced by a set of Dia Compe 287-V's that had been gathering
dust in the spare parts bin. The Tektros are blessedly quiet, the
braking smooth, but their feel is somewhat mushy (which IIRC is the
reason the Dia Compes had been relegated to the role of dust
collectors several years ago).
But I'm content. At least now grabbing a handful of front brake won't
have the unintended effect of puncturing the ear drums of nearby
pedestrians or shaking my molars loose.
Luke