Bicycle Mechanics - XT brakes

I have somehow goten the squeaking away i dunno what i did but what is the reason that the XT vbrakes just brutally squeak and holler. everyoe complains about it. XTR dont squeak. LX dont squeak but XT squeaks why is that

Originally posted by WorldIRC
I have somehow goten the squeaking away i dunno what i did but what is the reason that the XT vbrakes just brutally squeak and holler. everyoe complains about it. XTR dont squeak. LX dont squeak but XT squeaks why is that

XTR has the R, and LX has no T like XT, thats why they dont squeak. Shimano is biased against their xt brakes, thats why they squeak.....shimano likes their lx and xtr brakes more than their xt, so remember that before you buy xt.

lol i know they dont care about XT but what is the technical reason for it

Almost ALL squeaking is caused by improper toe-in. The front of the brake pad should touch the rim before the rear of the pad. It's only a few centimeters that make the difference.

But there may be something different in the compound of the XT pads; I don't know this for a fact.

yah i did a toe in and it finally stopped.. i dont know why no one else can figure out that thats how the squeaking stopped.. and i also put koolstops on but that just makes it better performance as the sqeaking was already gone..

I struggled all last season with my XT brakes. I tried toe-in, toe-out, no-toe, big-toe, broken-toe, fat-toe, etc. I spoke to several wrenches at bike shops. ALL just shook their head as if to say, "too bad for you." I asked the guys at the Shimano tent at the Mt. Snow NORBA last August. "Try new pads." I tried Kool-Stop, and new Shimanos. No luck.

I gave up.

Bought Avid SD7s and can say that there is no loss of stopping power, they are quiet and 100g lighter.

meh i toed in and all was good.. now i put koolstop on now i get silence and performance

XT V-brakes squeak, that's the way it is, always has been and always will be.

The only cure I heard of was something like wrapping the linkage with zip ties or string or something. I suppose it stiffened up the 'parallel push' linkage just enough to work.

meh me and 3 other buddies all toed in and all was good after that.

Keep in mind that properly manufactured v-brakes are not supposed to need any toe-in. Toe-in gives a relatively spongy feel to the brakes. Also, as the pads wear the toe-in needs adjustment, and the pads wear unevenly.

If you have XT v-brakes that no longer squeal and still stop your bike, bless you. Ride and have fun.:)

Bikerider made a good point. The linkage idea in shimaNO inear brakes is flawed. In the beginning the linkage was known to pop off under heavy braking, and big front end hits. This is why shimaNO offered a "rebuild" kit for this brake. The old LX brake never had this problem and it stops just fine, and the fulcrum was adjutable. However AVID is a better way to g oif you don't want to rum LX or drop serious money on XTR. SRAM also makes a super linear brake not a flashy as shimaNO or Avid but they work great and the lever's weigh almost nothing.

:D

all i know is ive done 3 races without dic brakes and when i needed the brakes on a DH they were there for me and helped. i luv the new koolstops