squeaking brakes

tom_tarbucket

hi.

I have V brakes on my bike.

I installed jagwire anti squeak brakes yesterday and the front ones only squeak like mad when I pull the brakes, back ones are fine.


I checked the alignment again and they look fine. nicely up against rim when brake pressure applied and not hitting off the tyre.

I've seen on American YouTube videos where they recommend using "rubbing alcohol" to give the rim and brake pads a clean to stop the squeaking. . I've never heard of this before.

do we have an equivalent of this in Ireland ?


or can anyone recommend something else to clean the rim and pads ?

Wishbone Ash

Brakes usually make noise when the rear of the pad strikes the rim before the front. Ideally they need to 'toe in'.

tom_tarbucket

Thanks wishbone. I will try that also.

but any ideas on a substitute for "rubbing alcohol "

Wishbone Ash

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

...but any ideas on a substitute for "rubbing alcohol "

White Spirit I presume.

f1000

Give the contact sides a quick going over with fine sandpaper. Usually sorts it out for myself. Alcohol will only make the rubber harder. Been using Shimano's Deore/XT V-pads and find them very good. Ashima ones wear down quickly.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/shimano-xtr-xt-lx-deore-dxr-m70r2-brake-pads/rp-prod27232

eeeee

The only rubbing alcohol I have heard of is rubbin poitín. Getting the drinking and the rubbing bottles mixed up is a mistake I will never forget. I'll never get those 2 days back again!

I imagine any fairly pure alcohol would work, vodka maybe? If it hardens rubber as suggested sandpaper sounds a better bet.

Buzwaldo

Best way to stop the squeaking is to apply some oil to the pads. Best put some on the rims also to keep them nice and quiet.

tom_tarbucket

Buzwaldo wrote: »

Best way to stop the squeaking is to apply some oil to the pads. Best put some on the rims also to keep them nice and quiet.

whatever, thanks for the sh1t e input

Wishbone Ash

Buzwaldo wrote: »

Best way to stop the squeaking is to apply some oil to the pads. Best put some on the rims also to keep them nice and quiet.

Very true..... but then how does one stop a squeaky bum! :pac:

Beer Assistant

Try the Pharmacy for the alcohol

Steo M

Squeaky brakes are caused by dirt or grease getting onto both braking surfaces i.e. the rim & the blocks. Did you use any cleaning products to clean your bike after fitting the new brakes?

Try using some fine emery paper on the contact surfaces of the blocks. Use brake cleaner (can be bought in a motor factors & comes as a spray) or something that's not oil based to clean any residue off.

I'll probably get slaughtered by the purists by suggesting this but it's up to yourself.
What's are the wheel rim surfaces like, are they very smooth & shiny? If so, you could give them a rub of 1200 wet & dry sandpaper to get any glaze off which will give the blocks a bit of bite on the rim. Will be easier to do with the tyre off. This grade sandpaper is not abrasive enough to damaged the surface but whatever you decide, don't forget to clean both sides of the rim with brake cleaner & a clean cloth.

If they're still squeaking after that, I'd change the brake blocks as they cudda been lying on a shelf in some warehouse for a long time & the rubber's gone hard.

Post back how you got on if you fixed the problem, could be a handy tip for someone else.

nak

To me, squeaky brakes are the soothing sound of cyclocross racing. Deep section carbon makes it even louder - was horrified the first time I used them. Did the trick by making me brake less.

Anyway, +1 on the sandpaper for the pads.

Lumen

Squeaky front brakes can be caused by flex between the brake mount and the cable hanger. If that's the case and toe in doesn't fix it you can mount the hanger in a different place as a last resort.

That's true with cantis anyway, dunno about v brakes

tom_tarbucket

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful replies.

I did the "toe in" thing last night and took it for a quick test cycle and the feckin squeak was still there. However, this morning , there does not seem to be any squeaks on the cycle to work - weird. will monitor it.

Steo,

When I first heard the squeaking I gave the rim and the brake blocks a clean with degreaser ( ill probably get slated for doing that ))
The wheel rim surfaces are smooth, but not very shiny.

Steo M

If they start squeaking again, change the front blocks to the back & vice versa. If the front is quiet & the back noisy, you'll know it's the brake blocks themselves which are the problem. The rubber can degrade, go hard & squeal when pressed against the rim.

tom_tarbucket

just a note on all of this. I had the bike in for a buckled wheel and at the same time I got the bike shop to install the brakes. and the bike shop seems to have a fairly decent reputation, mainly a one man job, there for years etc.

its fairly basic though that he didn't " toe in " the brakes when he installed them though.

so yet another place to avoid. next time I need something done with the bike ill be moving to bike
shop number 3. as the previous 2 have not been great.

Steo M

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

just a note on all of this. I had the bike in for a buckled wheel and at the same time I got the bike shop to install the brakes. and the bike shop seems to have a fairly decent reputation, mainly a one man job, there for years etc.

its fairly basic though that he didn't " toe in " the brakes when he installed them though.

so yet another place to avoid. next time I need something done with the bike ill be moving to bike
shop number 3. as the previous 2 have not been great.

Tom, bike mechanics is fairly simple & there's loadsa tutorials on UTube. Get yourself a basic toolkit in Halfords & have a go yourself. There's bicycle courses you can do as well if you have a search online.

tom_tarbucket

Steo M wrote: »

Tom, bike mechanics is fairly simple & there's loadsa tutorials on UTube. Get yourself a basic toolkit in Halfords & have a go yourself. There's bicycle courses you can do as well if you have a search online.

I suppose it is steo. I live in am apartment so don't have the actual space to do the work........add in a baby also and haven't much spare time.

It's just annoying when you pay a lad to do a relatively simple job and it's not done right on 2 occasions in a row.

Steo M

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

I suppose it is steo. I live in am apartment so don't have the actual space to do the work........add in a baby also and haven't much spare time.

It's just annoying when you pay a lad to do a relatively simple job and it's not done right on 2 occasions in a row.

Bring the bike back & if it's not done right, ask for a refund for the labour at least.
The bike trade is a fairly inexpensive business to set up & a lot of these guys are not properly trained or have the experience to solve the niggly problems.
They won't persevere & spend the time getting the job done right simply because they don't have the skills or couldn't be arsed as time is money.