Bicycle Mechanics - Squeeking Breaks

Howdy,

I am new to this forum, so Hi!

I don't know much about mountain biking at all, so bear with me. I'd like to learn more by reading some stuff here.

I just got my rear end aligned on my bike, and unfortuntley, the rear brakes are making more noise than a banchee out of hell. Any tricks to make 'em shut up?

Try cleaning your brake pads with sandpaper to get the glaze off.

You can finish it off with a good scrubbing with alchohol.

thank you sir!

And take some fine steel wool, and rub all the crap off the rims, that should stop the squeeking.

Originally posted by ledhead69
I just got my rear end aligned on my bike
OUCH!

:rolleyes: :D

k

I was rephrasing that about 5 times trying to make it sound like I wasn't the one getting his rear end aligned....but y'all know what I mean...

Hairspray or acetone are excellent solvents to cleane your brakes ands rims and won't take any of the "good stuff" off like sandpaper etc. can

Ride quiet
Pat

If they're not 'toed-in' quite far enough that can add to the squeaking.

Richard

what do you mean by 'toed in' ?

It means that the blocks are angled ever so slightly so that the end of the block that points toward the front of the bike touches the rim before the other end of the brake block :).

Once again, on a $79 special, there isn't likely to be any adjustment screws, and the brakes will slop around all over the place. Just live with it.

TRY PUTING THE PADS TOE IN TO STOP THEM VIBRATING OR DO WHAT US LOT DO OVER HERE ANGLE GRIND YOUR RIMS YOUR BRAKES WILL PEFORM BETTER AS WELL AS STOPIN THE SOUND.

For proper toe-in:

You can do one side at a time:

1) loosen you brake pads (finger tight).
2) use a credit card or thin piece of plastic or metal or whatever! and slide it under the back half of the brake shoe.
3) Squeeze the brake lever so the credit card is held against the rim with the brake pad. This gives a fair amount of toe-in.
4) with one hand holding the lever, tighten the brake pad with the other.
5) Repeat for the other side!

That'll give you proper toe-in.

Make sure the brake pads are parrallel to the rim when looking at the bike from the side.

Squeeze the lever a couple of times. Make sure that the brakes move in and out equally and are spaced the same amount off the rim when you let go of the lever. If this doesn't happen, you need to adjust the spring tension. Look for a small set screw somewhere on the brake calipers (there may only be one, there may be two, one on each caliper arm. Heck you may not have any if you've got side-pull brakes!) Anyways, assuming you have cantilever or vee-brakes. Find the set screw/s and play with them. Tighten/Loosen them and then squeeze the levers a couple of time to see what the brakes arms do. Repeat a couple of times. What you want is for both brake arms to move the same amount in and out at the same time! Play around with it and be patient!

Good Luck
L8R

use a credit card or thin piece of plastic

I’ve been using a nickel (US coin). Maybe I’ve been making them to-in too much. Will this cause a problem?

Too much toe-in wont do much harm, esp with cheaper bendy brakes, but it pays to get it right.
Make sure the blocks contact a good section of rim, not skewed off the top or bottom of the braking surface, and that the metal brake arms are well adjusted with no play at the pivot. This can cause vibration and squealing.

Worked like a charm, thanks guys!