Brake Squeal

[Mayonnaise]

My front brake squeals. I've tried everything. Changed the pads, changed the toe, tightened the bolts, cleaned the pads. Nothing seems to work. Any suggestions?

Eddy Merckx frame, Avid Shorty 4 brakes, Campy Protons.

I hate brake squeal.

[dirtyphotons]

how far did you adjust the toe in? mine need to be pretty dramatically angled to avoid the squeal. an idea i stole from chifg was to wrap a rubber band around the trailing edge of the pad while you're adjusting. that way you can clamp down on the brake, adjust the pads and tighten. then take the rubber band off and you get no fuss toe-in. thicker/larger rubber band = more toe in.

i also sometimes rough up the pad surfaces with some steel wool, that seems to help. and of course, if you use a degreaser like simple green to clean the pads or rims, make sure you rinse it off thoroughly.

good luck mayo!

[Mayonnaise]

from poking around the internet and reading other posts here, seems like the Avid Shorty brakes may be the problem. I'm going to buy replacement pads, if that doesn't work, I'm buying a new brake set.

[jfmckenna]

Avid Shorty's are notorious. I like the Kool Stop pads.

[volleybrad]

I have Shorty 6's. I replaced the brakepads with koolstops and toed-in. There is no more squeal.

[reppans]

Avid Shorty 4 here.... squeals like a stuck pig (front only)... need to re-toe the pads again

[trackandtrials]

I have Shorty 6's. I replaced the brakepads with koolstops and toed-in. There is no more squeal.

Did you use the black compound, or koolstop salmon?

Thanks!

[CastIron]

My Avid Shorty's squealed like the dickens no matter what I did. And I did some radical adjustments. New brakes were the only solution on my ride.

[travis200]

I have my Avid 6 with a huge toe in and I still get the squeal. Just too cheap to buy new pads.

[volleybrad]

Did you use the black compound, or koolstop salmon?

Thanks!

I used the dual compound.

[trackandtrials]

Thanks again - I'm going to try some dual compound cartridges in the avid pad holders - I'll report back once I break them in.

[sfcrossrider]

My front brake squeals. I've tried everything. Changed the pads, changed the toe, tightened the bolts, cleaned the pads. Nothing seems to work. Any suggestions?

Eddy Merckx frame, Avid Shorty 4 brakes, Campy Protons.

I hate brake squeal.

Could you post a pic of your Merckx??? :o

The guy that sets up my Ridley is a cx God and he can't get my Avid 6's to shut up.

[volleybrad]

Thanks again - I'm going to try some dual compound cartridges in the avid pad holders - I'll report back once I break them in.

I have no idea if it would make a difference, but I bought the full koolstop MTB pads (with spherical washers) & replaced the Avid holders. I didn't just buy the inserts.

[Cynikal]

I replaced the pads on my avid 4's to the cartridge koolstop dual compound and the squeal went away and the braking is significantly better.

[trackandtrials]

I have no idea if it would make a difference, but I bought the full koolstop MTB pads (with spherical washers) & replaced the Avid holders. I didn't just buy the inserts.

I ended up just buying new pads - all-salmon thinlines - the thinner pads helped with clearance when pulling the wheel out anyways.

The braking is much, much better than the avid pads, and I get no squeal. I've ridden only in dusty/dry conditions, but they are silent and quite powerful enough for the tires. We'll see how they hold up to mud (but salmon pads i've used on MTB's do wonderfully in wet riding).

[jfmckenna]

Mayo. Can you clue us in to your final results here? Enquiring minds want to know...

[Mayonnaise]

I bought a new set of Koolstops. I toed a bit but not too much. As of today, no squeal. First race is this Sunday, so we'll see how it goes.

That squeal drives me crazy. Makes me think everyone is looking at me saying "that guy has a $5K bike and can't even adjust the brakes right."

Going to take it out today for another test.

Will try to post pics of the bike