wtf Tektro Cantilevers with Kool-stop pads
at this point, frustration is an understatement. I have a Surly Cross Check stock. When the stock Tektro Oryx brakes started squealing, I went to my trusty LBS and told them to fix me up and give me the best. So they installed some Kook-stop pads. (I'm not sure which ones) The problem went away for a while. Then it came back, I took my bike back to the shop and asked them to fix it. They did, then a week or so later, it returned. I took the bike back to the shop and so on. I've had two of the mechanics there look at it and neither of them can get it to work perfectly. No squeal, good stoppage.
I want it to work like it did when it was new. I know it was "new" then, but why can't anyone fix my brakes?? seriously. I've put enough money and time into fixing this problem and nothing works!
So today, I stopped by another bike shop on the way home. It looked reputable from the outside but it turned out to be a little Chinese mom and pop shop where the older man was mechanic, salesman, and owner all in one! I asked him for a second opinion and he told me it was the shoes, that the bracket or the silver part that extends from brake pad outward is too short] and can't be adjusted correctly. I told him I've heard of plenty of people on forums running Tektro Oryx with Kool-stops. He tried selling me some Avid brake pads and said that the bracket on those were longer, which they were, and that would allow him to adjust the brake pad just right. He said he would never sell Kool-stop's in his store and that the brand didn't matter, that the Kool-stops were just plain weird, short and unworkable. He said a brake shoe with a longer bracket was all I needed. Does this sound, at all, plausible?? I generally trust my LBS. Those guys have been repairing bikes for 30 years. Could the old pushy salesman be right? I don't understand how my LBS could lead me wrong.
My plan from this point is to take it back to my LBS and tell them I've spent enough money at their shop trying to get the brakes to work right and not squeal. I'll tell them what the other man said and ask him if he could be right. I want it to work and I don't want to spend anymore to do that. My other option is to just buy Shimano Br-R550's and start with a whole new brake system, but like I said I don't want to spend any more money to do this.
What do you guys think?