break pads assistance
 

Hi,

I need assistance in identifying break types for the purpose of break replacement. 5 images attached for 2 bikes: 3 for mountain & 2 for road (sorry for bad quality & dirt). Mountain bike has V-breaks.
1. Are the road bike beaks v-breaks as well (They seems so)?
2. Are the mountain & road breaks "threaded"? How does one tell? should I dismantle to determine?
3. I'm considering the kool-stop thinline if appropriate but the road bike has more clearance. any other suggestions?

Thanks

You would need to get v-type or road caliper brake pads for you relevant bikes to learn about brakes, check out Sheldon brown http://sheldonbrown.com/brakes/index.html. You can also have a look at the Koolstop product page, you can see the difference between threaded and non-threaded pads/ holders (all in the photos are non-cartridge, threaded) http://www.koolstop.com/english/rim_pads.html the Park Tool site has info on how to do the work & what tools are needed http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...ice-and-repair

if you are going to ask for recomendations for whcih type of pads, the standard BF answer is Koolstop Salmon

I would suggest the use of "brake" pads rather than "break" pads. It is better to brake the bike than to break it.

And, yes, Kool stop Salmon brake pads are a favorite choice.

Forgive the spelling lessons but they are indeed BRAKES. Both sets you show are V-brakes and should require the same type of replacement pads. I recommend you remove one pad from each bike and take them to a bike shop to get matching replacements. And, I'll also recommend Kool Stop Salmon replacement pads.

For both sets of brakes (mtb and road), I'd also recommend complete disassembly, cleaning, re-greasing, reassembly and recabling. You'll get better caliper performance that way. It's best to keep brakes and braking surfaces as clean as practical. This will have the added benefit of keeping rim surface wear to the minimum needed to stop.

It's important that the OP use V-brake shoes, not road. While road and V-brake shoes mount the same way there are two important differences.

Road shoes usually have much shorter heights (thicknesses) so the brake will be closed farther when engaged. This matters because brakes move in an arc so when closed more than the design calls for the shoe motion is downward at an angle (picture movement at noon on a clock vs. 11 or 10 o'clock) and brake performance will be sub par.

Also the longer shoes used on V-brakes help prevent the chatter (squeal) caused by slop in the pivot. Road brakes can be set for near zero play and will work with shorter shoes, but there's no way to eliminate play in canti or V-brakes. The longer shoes used on these aren't because the makers don't have a bunch of cheap rubber laying around.

Funny but I had just the opposite experience with the Avid SD7 V-brakes on my Cross Check. The OEM holders with both the OEM pads and with Kool Stop Salmon replacement pads squealed like mad. I toed them in, I toed them out, I set them flat, I scrubbed the rims, I sanded the pads, I greased the mounting posts, I tightened the mounting bolts beyond tight,....nothing helped.

What finally quieted them down was to replace the V-brake pad holders with Shimano road holders and Kool Stop Dura type Salmon pads. I had no problems getting the arm alignment and pad clearance set properly, possibly because I was using road rims and Avid's factory pads and holders were about the same thickness as the road holders and pads.

Squeal is a complex phenomenon which depends on the friction property of the pad and the rigidity of the system along with some other variables. New KoolStop shoes are some what more prone to squeal than many others because of the raised rear corner. If that's filed (or worn) off they squeal much less.

Even when everything is good, the exact friction properties can change. My commuter's brakes are very weather sensitive. They don't normally squeal when dry or wet. But the day after a rain, or if the humidity is fairly high they'll squeal like crazy for a while until things settle back to normal.

In any case, I was more concerned about the height of the shoes. If you look at the OPs photos, you'll see that the arms are already inboard of top dead center, so the shoes are already arcing down as they close. There's a limit to how much of that is OK (almost all brakes do it to an extent) before the brake's performance suffers significantly.

"Squeal is a complex phenomenon which depends on the friction property of the pad and the rigidity of the system along with some other variables. New KoolStop shoes are some what more prone to squeal than many others because of the raised rear corner. If that's filed (or worn) off they squeal much less." FBin NY

I grind off the rim rake (the raised end of the Kool Stop pads) before I mount then all the time. I, too, find that a pad without the raised end is quieter. I also will file/grind the end edges of the pads' segments sometimes to further try to shut them up. Andy.

Looks like Kool Stop Mountain Pads (threaded) would be just the ticket for both bikes.