Bicycle Mechanics - Squeaky XT V's!!!!!

For the life of me, I cannot stop my XT V's on my Cannondale from squeaking on the front! I've had the pads out, filed them, scrubbed the rim and spent the last 20 minutes aligning them and SQUEAK - they're still at it!! Any sure-fire cures (apart from the bin)?

I had this problem a few weeks ago after a dumb bike shop mechanic put far too much oil on my chain and most of it ended up on the rims.

Solution: clean the rims thoroughly with neat alcohol till the rims are clean. they still squeak for the first couple of minutes of cycling afterwards, but that soon stops.

Hope this helps.

Probably a good idea to give the brake pads a good scrub at the same time.

I must have the cleanest brakes on the planet! Luckly I'm riding with my brother and a guy from my LBS, they should be able to sort it for me.

When you say aligned? You did toe them in so the front of the pad contacts the rim first?

Yes, I followed the advice on the Park Tools website to the letter.

Yes, I followed the advice on the Park Tools website to the letter.

Well.....Try a new\different pad, I run Shimano calipers, thier blocks were awful. I only ran them rear for a while. Softer, low carbon pads might help.

Are the tension screws set well to modulate the calipers in unison?
Does your wheel vibrate at all? (are the nuts\ races tight enough?)

Anyway, this company makes some really nice pads, and the cartridge system means you can slide in a new pad without removing the block\holder.

Sorry I can't be of help.
http://www.jagwire.com.tw/

These are the ones I'd suggest:
http://img166.exs.cx/img166/2039/jagwiretrizone0yq.jpg
Jagwire Switchback Trizones

These are the ones I'd suggest:
http://img166.exs.cx/img166/2039/jagwiretrizone0yq.jpg
Jagwire Switchback Trizones


I like the look of those. Would they work with XTR V-brakes?

For the life of me, I cannot stop my XT V's on my Cannondale from squeaking on the front! I've had the pads out, filed them, scrubbed the rim and spent the last 20 minutes aligning them and SQUEAK - they're still at it!! Any sure-fire cures (apart from the bin)?

Augggah! *&%#@ squeeky brakes!

Probably 90% of the time, dressing up your brake shoes with a fingernail emery board will cure squeeky brakes. Diddling with the toe in will take care of about 90% or the rest. Taking the squeek out of that last 1% can consume 90% of your time.

If you are willing to spend a little money to save yourself a bunch of time, the answer is Avid brake arches. That's what I had to do on my tandem last winter.

Sorted it out on the trail today, after a rather noisey decent. I bought some dual compound Kool Stop inserts and fitted them before the ride, when my brother pointed out the spacers on the pad arms were the wrong way round - the arms were 'splayed' out too far. We stripped them down, aligned them and VOILA absolute silence from then on in! Using Avid Speed Dial levers the stopping power is excellent.