Originally Posted by
thecheat
...Immediately I ran into what has now become and long running issue with this setup. No matter what I do the brake howls pretty much non-stop....What are other people experiencing with their Santana's and the 10" rear discs? I have tried a number of different pads including the EBC Gold's which I saw mentioned in a few other threads.
We have close to 4000 miles on our Winzip disk brake with the 10 inch / 255 mm rotor that we installed back in March or April I believe after riding the first 4000 miles with V-brakes front and rear. We added the disk brake specifically to deal with the downhills on the 3 state 3 mtn ride in Chattanooga this past May which we had ridden twice before on singles but this would be the first time on our tandem.
My only experience with a disk brake is with this one so it sounds like you have much more experience with them in general but I'll share what has worked for me. Noise...our friends and frequent riding partners(Counselguy on this forum) had purchased a new Santana with the Winzip and my goodness what a moaning noisy brake. They were never completely resolved and because of some general fit issues and Calfee lust he sold that tandem and has a Avid disk with 8 inch rotor and it's been very quiet. Their Santana was history before we got our Winzip.
I installed it and aligned it as best I could. We had noise. I need to go back and read my own posts to remember what I did in what order. I eventually ended up taking it up to Indianapolis to let the shop up there align the brake. That helped some but what really solved the noise issue for us was putting the tandem in the stand in the driveway and had my wife apply the brake as I turned the pedals and sprayed water on the pads. I'd stop and ride the bike - still some noise but not as much - back in the stand with more water and braking. (Stoker did get wet.) After doing this cycle three times there was no noise. We rode the 3 State 3 Mtn ride. TandemGeek saw me at the bottom of the first descent at a rest stop as I was adjusting the pads closer. Those original pads just seemed to wear away significantly on each descent. I adjusted them again at the bottom of the second descent and the last descent (Lookout Mtn) which is the most demanding with more traffic and more and tighter switchbacks. I was underwhelmed with their performance but we did get down.
I tried the EBC gold pads. I had to do the same process with water but I was able to eliminate the moaning noise. That first set of EBC pads did very well and I rode those same pads for all summer. The pads wore slowly but in a peculiar way wearing more at the bottom of the pads on both sides which seems strange to me. It would seem to me that the caliper doesn't keep the pads in the same plane that I have set the caliper up with as it moves the pads inward towards the caliper. I will admit that it could be my installation alignment that causes this problem and I have not used disks before but I honestly don't think so. I put new pads on in late summer and realigned everything. We did the water drill first thing and eliminated all moaning noises.
For most of the four thousand miles with the Winzip disk, I have tried to keep the pads adjusted very close to reduce the lever travel. I bought a slotted rotor adjusting tool to keep the rotor true. When I would brake hard on downhills, after I let off the brakes I would hear the warped / distorted rotor rubbing for a while until it cooled and straightened out. I have recently backed off the pads and trying to accept / embrace the increased lever travel. The brake is still working well and we are hearing no rotor rubbing.
For curing moaning and groaning disk brakes I believe in the water technique. I also use water whenever my front V-brakes start to squeal every couple of hundred of miles or so. In that case, on the way home on the ride going down the last block before our house, I will spray water on the brake pads with one hand and apply the lever with the other (telling the stoker what I am doing). If I don't have enough water I'll get some more and go out by myself after dropping the stoker off). It seems to clean every thing just right and quiets them down (I use Kool-Stop salmon colored pads) consistently.
I would be interested in trying the Avid caliper with the 10 inch rotor if it would fit my mount but I probably won't actually do that. I do envy the hemisphere washers that make it so much easier to align the Avid caliper.
Bloomington, IN