Silencing disk brakes?

in message <[email hidden]>, Duncan

Smith (') said:

If there's one thing I don't like, it's bike noise (other than the
gentle swish of the tyres on the tarmac). After fitting a front disk
brake I'm pretty happy with the braking, but when using the brake for
the first time in a while there's a terrible amount of squeek and
squawk - it'll sometimes settle down a little after a while but always
return.

Happens in both wet and dry (worse in the wet), Done about 60M in
total over two rides.

Any tips for silent running?

All makes of disk brakes make noises, some more than others. The solutions
are not always the same. It certainly helps (all makes) to have brakes
perfectly clear of all oily or greasy contamination - clean them with
methylated spirits. Hopes will often still squeak a bit when cold, but
once they're warmed up a bit will stop squeaking and make a sort of
thrumming noise.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; If any council in the country has anything to say to cyclists
;; about cycle paths, it should be: "We are terribly, terribly sorry."
- Zoe Williams, The Guardian, 13th Sept 2006

Duncan Smith said:

Any tips for silent running?

Dunno about bicycles disk brakes but on motorbikes I always put a slip
of high temperature grease on the back (i.e. between the backplate and
the piston, not on the disk!!) of the pad during fitting. This usually
keeps things silent on the squeal front.

hth,

Tony B

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

Quoted message said:

Duncan Smith said:

Any tips for silent running?

Dunno about bicycles disk brakes but on motorbikes I always put a slip of
high temperature grease on the back (i.e. between the backplate and the
piston, not on the disk!!) of the pad during fitting. This usually keeps
things silent on the squeal front.

Copaslip, a copper based grease does the job perfectly. It also is useful
for smearing on screw threads to help prevent nuts, bolts and studs from
seizing - especilly when dissimilar metals are involved.

vernon <[email hidden]> waffled thusly

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

Duncan Smith said:

Any tips for silent running?

Dunno about bicycles disk brakes but on motorbikes I always put a
slip of high temperature grease on the back (i.e. between the
backplate and the piston, not on the disk!!) of the pad during
fitting. This usually keeps things silent on the squeal front.

Copaslip, a copper based grease does the job perfectly. It also is
useful for smearing on screw threads to help prevent nuts, bolts and
studs from seizing - especilly when dissimilar metals are involved.

If anyone does buy any Copaslip, buy a small tub ... it lasts for agesas you
only really need a very small film of it anywhere.

It can be slightly awkward to handle as it 'flows' more than most other
types of bike (general purpose) grease, so really just dip the end of a
finger in, you'll come away with loads ... 😉

Marvellous stuff thobut.

--
Paul - [censored]

Duncan Smith said:

If there's one thing I don't like, it's bike noise (other than the
gentle swish of the tyres on the tarmac). After fitting a front disk
brake I'm pretty happy with the braking, but when using the brake for
the first time in a while there's a terrible amount of squeek and
squawk - it'll sometimes settle down a little after a while but always
return.

Happens in both wet and dry (worse in the wet), Done about 60M in
total over two rides.

Any tips for silent running?

Thanks,

Duncan.

Brake squeal is usually because the caliper mounts are not perfectly aligned.
The best solution is to use a facing jig to reface the mounting points
in relation
to the axle, a decent bike shop can do this easily enough, it is less
than an hours work.
--
Three wheels good, two wheels ok

www.catrike.co.uk

Quoted message said:

All makes of disk brakes make noises, some more than others. The solutions
are not always the same. It certainly helps (all makes) to have brakes
perfectly clear of all oily or greasy contamination - clean them with
methylated spirits. Hopes will often still squeak a bit when cold, but
once they're warmed up a bit will stop squeaking and make a sort of
thrumming noise.

Thanks, got hold of some disk brake cleaning spray - a definite
improvement.

Duncan.

Paul - censored said:

If anyone does buy any Copaslip, buy a small tub ... it lasts for
ages as you only really need a very small film of it anywhere.

I prefer to buy it in pritt-stick format. Even the tiniest of tubes
lasts forever (well, actually I've bought two, I think, since
mid-80s), and in doing so accumulates crud and grot. The stick format
is less runny, less crud-attracting, and easier to apply where I want
it without gettint it where I don't.

Quoted message said:

It can be slightly awkward to handle as it 'flows' more than most other
types of bike (general purpose) grease,

Exactly. The pritt-stick one is much cleaner to apply.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Tony B said:

Duncan Smith said:

Any tips for silent running?

Dunno about bicycles disk brakes but on motorbikes I always put a slip
of high temperature grease on the back (i.e. between the backplate and
the piston, not on the disk!!) of the pad during fitting. This usually
keeps things silent on the squeal front.

Having done this on car brakes, I tried it on my horribly-squealy bike
disks and it made no difference whatsoever. Not one teansiest
reduction in squeal.

As others have noted, it seems some brakes respond to differing
treatments, but copper grease on the back of the pads is not a
universal cure for bike disks, unfortunately.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Ian Smith <[email hidden]> waffled thusly

Quoted message said:

Paul - censored said:

If anyone does buy any Copaslip, buy a small tub ... it lasts for
ages as you only really need a very small film of it anywhere.

I prefer to buy it in pritt-stick format. Even the tiniest of tubes
lasts forever (well, actually I've bought two, I think, since
mid-80s), and in doing so accumulates crud and grot. The stick format
is less runny, less crud-attracting, and easier to apply where I want
it without gettint it where I don't.

Quoted message said:

It can be slightly awkward to handle as it 'flows' more than most
other types of bike (general purpose) grease,

Exactly. The pritt-stick one is much cleaner to apply.

Cool, I've not seen that. Have to look out for it next time I need some ...
about 2045 I guess ... 😉

--
Paul - [censored]

Buck said:

Duncan Smith said:

If there's one thing I don't like, it's bike noise (other than the
gentle swish of the tyres on the tarmac). After fitting a front disk
brake I'm pretty happy with the braking, but when using the brake for
the first time in a while there's a terrible amount of squeek and
squawk - it'll sometimes settle down a little after a while but always
return.

Happens in both wet and dry (worse in the wet), Done about 60M in
total over two rides.

Any tips for silent running?

Thanks,

Duncan.

Brake squeal is usually because the caliper mounts are not perfectly aligned.
The best solution is to use a facing jig to reface the mounting points
in relation
to the axle, a decent bike shop can do this easily enough, it is less
than an hours work.

It might help to know which disk brakes are being problematical.
Facing makes little to no difference for Avid & (most) Shimano disk
brakes since the attatchment is via an ISO to post-style adaptor with
the ability to adjust alignment, for example. For Hope brakes or XTRs
which bolt directly to an ISO tab mount facing might help.

Sixty miles might well not have been enough to bed the pads in
if braking was light and infrequent. Thoroughly degreasing the rotors as
suggested elsewhere in the thread and riding a few miles deliberatly
srubbing the brakes or letting them drag down some longish hills to bed
the pads might help a lot.
--
Tim.

[email hidden]

On 31/03/2007 12:35, Duncan Smith said,

Quoted message said:

Any tips for silent running?

I'll tell you what works for me and what doesn't work for me from a
noise POV - this may or may not apply to your brakes! I have Shimano
Deore LX brakes.

What works:-
============
Use XTR sintered pads, and bed them in as advised - several hard stops.
If they get contaminated, clean the disc and pads with IPA, and bake the
pads in an oven for a while just to be sure.
Keep the whole caliper nice and clean.
Don't touch the discs or pads with fingers. They can get covered in
mud, sand or horseshit without hassle, but one greasy fingerprint has
them squealing again.
Remove paint from the mounting posts contact area - I didn't need to
face the mounts.

What doesn't work:-
===================
Shimano resin pads (take ages to dry out, and squeal whilst they're
doing it)
EBC Gold sintered pads.
Copper grease of any type.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/