Help !! need bicycle mechanic advice - brakes

miss choc

I bought a second hand bike a few months ago and was going fine. However the last couple of days the front brakes are squeaking like mad when I slow down at junctions/light I bought her for a service and the brake pads are fine and dont need to be replaced and I cleaned the rims. The shop said its to do with the wet weather and didnt replace them as they are ok. I am resorting to using the back one now as the squeaks are really loud it cant be good for the bike and major embarrassing when I slow down it has taken my enjoyment out of cycling. It cant be just the wet weather if that was the case all the second hand bikes round Ireland would be squeaking in unison

Any help/tips much appreciated

Tonyandthewhale

Are they old steel rims? I find them to be much more prone to squeaking. Have you looked at how the pads are contacting the rim? They should be toed in with the front of the the pads contacting before the back. If they're perfectly parrallel to the rim and contact straight on it can cause more squeaking.

Either way I wouldn't stop using my front brakes just because of some noise, you're not going to do any damage but the front brakes do 75% of the stopping so you should be in the habit of using them.

Holyboy

Oh it can be a nightmare to stop brake noise, check out sheldon browns site there's lots of good tips there, a light sanding of the rims if they are alloy can help but if all else fails toeing in the brake pads gets rid of it most of the time, I don't like doing it but as a last resort it can help, it will make the brake feel spongey though!!


Agh Mr. Whale got in before me.

el Bastardo

Get over your embarrassment: Some brakes squeal in wet weather. If it REALLY bothers you that much, you can replace the brake pads with something that doesn't make as much noise (I used koolstops before I moved to disk brakes).

bcmf

I find that a good cleaning of BOTH pads and rims and possibly tightening the bolts that hold the pads in place* usually solves squeeling.

*squeeling can be the result of tiny but multiple vibrations as force is applied to the pads against the rim.

miss choc

I might try to give them a light sand and clean. Still squeaking today in the dry weather the guys in the bike shop said my pads were still ok and gave the bike a full service at the w/end so I guess will have to sort out whats going on. Might try slightly adjusting them if the above doesnt work

FISMA

miss choc wrote: »

I might try to give them a light sand and clean. Still squeaking today in the dry weather the guys in the bike shop said my pads were still ok and gave the bike a full service at the w/end so I guess will have to sort out whats going on. Might try slightly adjusting them if the above doesnt work

Miss Choc,
Definitely check the pads and ensure they are clean.

Check what kind of rims you have. If they are aluminum or some other metal, I would suggest using a bit of steel wool on the areas where the pads contact the rim. Sandpaper might be a bit much.

Just make sure your rims don't have a special coating that you will wear away.

Dust and dirt usually cause squeaking.