Collin2424

I guess this is a rather pointless rant, but I'm curious to see if anyone else is having similar issues. This is my second pair of Koolstop Continental salmon-colored pads. I love the look of them and they're constantly receiving praises, yet both pairs I've used (I guess four pairs total, front and rear) have done exactly the same thing on different bikes and different calipers - squeal like a dying sea lion when you even touch the brakes. It's downright embarrassing. I'll give you this - they stop like nobody's business, but it's just not worth people coming out of their houses to see what kind of animal slaughtering is going on outside. Seriously, I'm not a pro at toeing brakes in and out, but I know enough to know how the position of the pad should be. No matter what, on both bikes and both calipers they squeal extremely loud.

Finally I got fed up and marched down to the LBS to get some of these -

What do you know? No squealing and they stop on a dime.

Thanks for reading,

-Collin-

custermustache

Once they are "broken in" they no longer squeal. I'll take the ones you no longer want, and be happy to pay shipping.

Amesja

I'm assuming you have properly adjusted toe-in and have the brakes centered and properly tightened to remove all slop but still open and close without any friction -right? The only issue I have with the salmons is long-term service life (or lack thereof), especially considering their cost.

Collin2424

That's something else I noticed - boy do they wear out quickly. On the first bike I used them on, I just dealt with the squealing and continued use. After about 500 miles, they were noticeably worn. Had to keep adjusting the brake cable to account for the smaller and smaller pads

auchencrow

I find that the black ones wear quickly also. I think it's a reasonable trade-off for the added performance.

Dean7

Whoa... 666 post count. Eeeevil.

I have noticed that they do seem to wear out slightly on the quick side. That, however, is the price you pay for awesome stopping power in rain or shine (and they also are softer so as to not harm your braking surface as much as standard pads... in theory). I've never had any problems whatsoever with squealing though. That's an odd one!

Anyway, I've been running these lately:

https://www.koolstop.com/english/dura_type.html

They are awesome. Love 'em.

RobbieTunes

I've had good luck with Clark's also, and with Jagwire. I don't do a lot of braking.
I like the red Clark's just fine. I generally just buy the inserts.

Collin2424

Well this is just odd. Maybe I'm just an idiot when it comes to toeing them. Hmmm. I've relegated the pads to go onto a bike that I never ride, but maybe I'll give them another try. Maybe I'll head over to the local hill where I have clocked in at 48mph and squeeze them has hard as I can for an accelerated brake-in process

-Collin-

zandoval 

Seems just about the time you get them perfect they are worn out - I still don't see why they cost so much no mater what brand you use - But - Who can put a cost on added performance... Especially when it comes to brakes...

Amesja

Good, cheap, quick -pick TWO.

Rabid Koala

I had some squealing Kool Stop pads recently, I took a file and broke the glaze on them, the squealing stopped and has not returned.

Amesja

I've found that with an alloy rim just about any pads or brakes do a pretty decent job of stopping. If the caliper pivots are old and full of gunk and/or the brake cables/housings are not clean and rust-free it really takes a lot of brake pad "performance" to make up for it. If everything else is in good working order (adjustments/lube/toe-in/rim true/leverage ratios) a cheap $1.99 set of pads like the Pyramid "Quad" pads do an excellent job.

The exception for the above is steel rims in wet conditions. Those are really the only situation IMHO that the high-end pads really pay for themselves as nothing else will do it. But for the cost of rims and wheels it's better to just do them rather than buy and wear out High-end brake pads over and over again unless the old steel rims must be preserved for "vintage" reasons. For the cost of 4 sets of pads you can pretty much have the wheels rebuilt with alloy and then enjoy all the other lighter-weight benefits in addition to the dry stopping power.

Dean7

Squeeze them as hard as you can at 48MPH = not the desired outcome.

Dean7

Right... brakes can save your life.

Not a bad strategy for dealing with squealing brakes.

Henry III

I've got black pair of inserts on my Mafac Racers and they squeal like the dickens. They do brake quite nicely enough to do an endo. I can live with them as they act like a safety device and people can hear coming. lol.

Amesja

My LBS mech told me that if a brake is truely contaminated a file does not do the job adequately. He assures me that while it will make them better the file or sandpaper will do a greater or lesser degree push contaminates further into the pad and the issue may return again in the future. For truly glazed and/or contaminated pads he claims the only solution is to take a razor blade and cut a fine thin section off of the pads themselves and expose fresh uncontaminated braking material below. If done correctly this is like starting anew with a fresh pad -albeit a couple thousandths smaller than new.

shnibop 

anyone know if ceramic coated rims add to the squealing issue?

i'm using NOS Mavic Open SUP Ceramic rims and black Kool Stop replacement pads for Campagnolo Record (NR/SR).

jan nikolajsen 

In support of Collin's misfortune, I'd mention that the same happened to me, using Mafac's and VO PBP rims. After 300 miles I tossed them out. Never heard pads so screamingly loud. Horrendous.

mazdaspeed

I hate salmon pads because of the squealing. I've tried changing the toe, cleaning the rims, sanding the pads, trying them on different bikes, everything.

And if you think the salmon road pads are bad, try the black cantilever pads sometime (actually don't, really). I also don't find the kool stop pads to stop any better than most random cheap pads I've tried, though they may last longer if you can bear to continue using them.

mparker326

I think Sheldon owned stock in the Koolstop company. They work, but I can't really notice the difference between those pads and others I've tried.

cobrabyte

This is exactly what I did with all three sets of continental pads I use on three separate bikes. I did this as soon as I opened the package when they were brand new. I then lightly sanded them and installed them. Squeak free from day one.

shipwreck

Glad to hear that someone else has this problem. They do stop well, and I thought they were wearing ok, I live in the hills and do a lot of braking. Funny, I have two wheelsets for the bike they are on, both Ukia rims, one set is black. The black rims don't squeal at all. So I run my in town heavy duty tires on the squealers as it warns the tourists something is coming down a hill at them as they lurch out into the street(does not really help). The other set has faster tires so I don't get embarassed riding with others, as well as for speed.

Seems I can get them dialed in ok, then after about ten miles on the road they start again.

Oh, and I have sanded them, scuffed and cussed them. Oh well. I will run them till gone, then replace them with jagwires.

LesterOfPuppets

Glazed does not equal contaminated. Glazed pads work great for me after a quick sand. New pads often have a bit of a glaze to them. Sanding brand new ones is nice also.

I never use a file since I often file unclean stuff and I don't degrease my files often enough to guarantee them being contamination free. On badly glazed pads I'll start on a fresh piece of sandpaper then finish the job with another fresh bit of sandpaper.

cudak888 

I've noticed that Kool-Stop pads have a tendency to squeal on rims with a curved braking surface, such as the Rigida AL1320 and the Mavic Open 4 CD. Filing doesn't help, but tilting the back of the pad downward does.

It looks ridiculous to set the holders canted upwards by 15 degrees, but it works.

Someone must have been slipping Kool-Stop pads into those "other" packages.

-Kurt