sqeaky breaks help!
 

hello. i bought some new brakes 3 days ago and when i installed the new ones they are real sqeaky. sio loud that it hurts my ears or anyones around me.

i tightned them and everything but i did notice one thing the left brake pad is not fully touching the bike when i push down on the brake lever. only the back side of it touches the wheel is that a problem? if so i can i fix this? i tryed everything should i just go out and rebuy some smaller breaks or something?
its a 15 speed roadmaster and it's black i had it for 6 years and everything was fine intill i changed the breaks now they dont even work

i think when brakes squeel it means they are not toed (towed?) in correctly.

this should help. check out the brakes section
http://www.parktool.com/repair/

its toed, I think you want the back of the pad to touch first then the rest of the pad? I dont really know, I just play around until it doesnt squeal.
It could be crappy pads, if they are cheap pads (if they are tektro brakes go and change the pads now) try some kool stops or dura ace. My next set of pads will be either of them (I have reasonable pads now not the best but they dont eat the rim and work pretty well).

Make sure you lightly lube the calipers too. On the pivot joints. I use light machine oil.

this is alkl confusing to me. do any of you have any idea how much it would cost for a bike shop to fix my brakes?

Mate, its easy (ok sometimes brakes can be a prick because adjusting them is sometimes luck)
head on over to park tools brake how to

Good set of instructions

you actually want the front of the pad to touch first. At our shop, I use a thick rubberband as a spacer when tightening up the pads on the caliper.

Toed means the front of the pad hits the rim first, marginally. I'd go and do that and then check results and report back.

thanks for correcting me guys. I guess toed means toe not heal.
Yeah the front touches first - marginally and they are not squealing away.
Sorry about giving the wrong advice

Don worry about it mate.

Yep. Rubber band, small tie strap, a dime...just so that the front of the pad touches first.

Toe the brakes in as others suggested. Also rough up the brake surfaces with some sandpaper, sometimes new pads can be a bit shiny with oxidized rubber or factory crap.

the problem is when i tighten the screw on the left break pad the pad *edges away* from the wheel and is then at a angle and the front of the pad is not touching only the back. the right break pad dont do that it just stays in the middle straight and both edges touch.

how is a rubberband gonna make it not edge away? sorry if im being mean or anything but im really confused by this and i have no idea about bikes. i will try sanding it down

The (very thick) rubber band goes underneath the "heel" of the pad. You grip the brake lever to hold the pads against the rim while you tighten up the nuts that hold them in place. (You'll have to push on the pad to keep it from rotating, too - this job takes 4 hands to do right.) Then when they're set, there will be gap at the heel when the toe first touches. Aligning brake pads is my least favorite bike job - the alignment systems are so bad. :(

Some brake compounds just will not work with some rims, no matter what you do. I have to use different brake pads on my various bikes.

Brakes.
Sorry.

Don't sand down the brake pad, just rough it up. 3-4 strokes is all it takes.

What kind of brakes are these? Some brakes allow you to adjust the angle of the pad, others you pretty much just have to bend the brake. Depending on the type of brake you have, everything you ever wanted to know will be in one of the last three articles at the bottom of this page: http://www.parktool.com/repair/byreg...mageField2.y=9

The point of the rubber band is to show you how much more space there should be between the back of the brake and the rim and the front of the brake and the rim.

The rubberband (or whatever) acts as a spacer. The conical washers allow the pad to be pivoted and hold that position as you tighten. HOWEVER - it's interesting you mention the left side only. I'm guessing you have Tecktro (sp?) calipers? I say this because every other bike I build with these brakes has the same problem on the left side only. COntacted my rep, and got a whole box of new brakes - still didn't work. Our solution? As inellegant as it sounds, we actually bend the left caliper to make the brakes work correctly. Sheesh!