squeaky brakes
 

My bike is about eight years old, and even when it was brand new, the rear brakes squeaked a little bit. Since then, I've gotten a new bike and I haven't been riding the other one. Now, I want to use the old one, but I have to get the brakes fixed first. Instead of a squeaking sound, it is now a really loud squealing sound that I'm sure can be heard from half a kilometer away. How can I fix this?

I ride BMX bikes but im sure its the same for whatever kind of bike you ride...its not bad for the bike itself it just becomes annoying. Its either becuase you have tacky or sticky brake shoes or Chrome(silver shiney) rims. Unless you brake shoes are rubbing on the tire or anything but the rim your fine. If you want the noise to stop try LIGHTY sanding you brake shoes and or rim with a fine (100-150 grit) sandpaper to give them texture so that they wont squeak as much,\.
good luck

Also, set the toe angle for the brake pads. THis means that when you set them up you want the front end to contact the rim slightly before the rear

Thanks, but the front end of what? The front end of the brake pad has to contact the rim slightly before the rear end of the brake pad?

Yea, it helps with squeal. They call it "toe in". Heres two good links about it:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-adjustment.html
http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/howfix_cant.shtml

My new brakes squeal to even after the local shop installed them. I don’t know if they did it wrong or what but its pretty annoying and embarrassing.

Well squealing is sometimes the nature of the beast really... just keep the pads toed, and keep the rims clean. Thats probably the best defense against it. I think it has to do with the vibration of the brakes themselves which make the noise

i've been working on the squeeling on a cheapish bike that is still new, and it dosn't seem to go away! I"ve toed the pads correcty as of Park Tool, adjusted everything, cleaned the pads and rims, butthe squeeling still comes back. I'm strating to think it might be the cheap pads, that the compound is too hard or something?

Did that, sanded it down, all the shines gone...no result! Look its a cheapish rigid bike, and the rims seem really cheap, and the pads seem like huffy's. There small and hard.

yea....pads do harden over time, in which case squeaking is unavoidable without a decent amount of sanding. Try replacing the pads and see what happens, if it doesnt work well then at least you didnt pay a huge sum for pads

Oh yea i forgot to mention, my rear brakes were squeaking the other day and it turned out that it was from when i was applying my tri-flow onto the chain, some of it got on the rims and i think that made it squeak because it stopped after I payed more attention to where the stuff sprays

I'll have to check that out. They seem like cheap stuff because you can see a line going down it, where it must have been welded or put together. I havn't done anything with the rims as such, but when i get time off my bike, I might look at the problem.

I found that steel rims squeaked much more, that might be part of it.

I also HIGHLY suggest these brake pads from Jagwire
http://img270.echo.cx/img270/8956/jagwiretrizone4gk.jpg

Hey Raiyn do you have any opinion on the Kool stop Eagle Claw brake pads? And are those brake pads you mentioned a good all around pad? Or for more specific conditions

I notice that they come in different color schemes, does this mean anything?
Im thinking any pad will be better than the stock ones from my Single Digit brakes

How often should I probably change my brake pads? Is it something that's worth spending a lot of money on?

You get what you pay for, but cheap pads still work extreemly well. The more expensive ones probably have better power, or a softer longer lasting compound, but dont spend all your money on pads.

Take off or inspect one pad every 1 or 2 months and see how much wear has occured. Replace your pads based on the conditions of you old ones.

haha, this whole thread is about squeaky brakes and how there anoying and in the BMX world most people like them.

Oh no, it's not just a small squeak its REALLY loud.
Anyways, as was suggested, I tried lighty sanding the rims and the brake pads, plus I toed in the brakes. The sound went down a little bit, but its still lound and clear. What else might the problem be? My bike was kept outside for a few years, and I haven't changed the brake pads since then. Is that probably something I should have done already?