Carbon Braking Noise
 

I've test ridden a few sets of carbon wheels and have decided to make the purchase but I was wondering if there's a way to stop the high pitched squeal under hard braking? The wheels in question are the new Reynolds Assault slg's and come with their new designed power pads and upon both rides I had a pretty severe squeal when I attempted to brake hard, under normal braking they sound as expected. I have been researching online and see that some wipe the wheels and pads with alcohol, some toe in the pads, etc... but I'd like to hear from actual users of carbon wheels and what you've done to help reduce the noise. I believe the more I ride them I'll get better with my braking techniques and reduce the noise and just expect it under extreme emergency braking but I'll gladly take any helpful advice, Thanks.

Yeah, if you figure it out please let me know. I toed mine and now if I brake at less than 100% it's quiet but full braking effort leads to a pretty loud squeal. I clean the pads periodically.

On the plus side, it's way more effective then a bicycle bell. :lol:

Get disc brakes. :)

Weekend before last I rode with a guy with carbon wheels. He was behind me when we went @35 downhill and when we hit the brakes the squealing from his bike actually startled me. Sounded like discs.

You might think that would solve the problem but I've had a lot of saddle time on my mtb with several different disc setups and all were about as noisy as the carbon wheels I rode. Only benefit I see to disc's with carbon wheels would be not having to worry about your rim melting on the way down a mountain.

Swisstop Black Prince pads are 100% quiet on my bike.

Those seem to be the best reviewed pads out there but I'll be at the start of my 2yr warranty with Reynolds and they state that the use of any brake pad other than their cryo blue or cryo blue power pads will void the warranty. Not sure how they would know what pads I used or if they look at the wheel under a microscope to look for black or yellow pad material during a warranty claim?

I had Eastons with yellow Swiss Stop and now Zipps with grey Tangente pads and neither made any real noise.

this, unfortunately, is what i did. retrofitting can be challenging, economically speaking. :notamused:

I agree with the Black Princes. Screw that warranty BS. They'll never know.

No squealing here - be it at high or low speed.

Solution should be pad adjustment.

My Reynolds BLUE pads (same as the OP's I'm sure) are toe'd in a wee bit.

Incorrect. I've dealt with this before. Pads leave residue. There are ways to tell.

Also, many warranty SOP require you to supply the pads used as well. You may get away with it and then again you may not.

If you are going to risk it Black Prince is probably the best bet.

.
...try not to stop so much.

I know you are likely correct. If Reynolds is going to take a forensic attitude toward the warranty process, they will be able to discover whether you used their pads. I just can't see being miserable due to the noise, because down the road you may have a warranty claim. I wouldn't use 3rd party pads though if it weren't necessary.

OP, multiply that squeal tenfold and you'll know what disc brakes can be like....

my boyd's squalled incessantly with both types of his pads so i switched to cork pads and all is well.

boyd said warranty would be voided.

oh well...

I had a set of SRAM S60 tubular rims that did the same on my other bike, I now have the Reynolds Strike with the blue pads and I get no noise. Not sure the diffrence.

How much do you toe yours in and how often do you have to re-toe them? I did the thickness of one business card, which may have been inadequate. The pad/holder probably flexes more than that under heavy braking anyway.

I used a credit card between the rear of the pad and the rim. It doesn't take much.

I haven't had to adjust them afterwards.

Squealing sucks. No fun.

Good luck.

swiss stop here. 0 noise

I use a credit card too. Doesn't matter. Still squeals. Embarrassing.

A partial list, in no particular order, of some things that may cause brake squeal:
Loose skewers
Contaminated pads (chain lube is the major culprit)
Glazed pads (scrub with emery board to correct)
Improperly adjusted head set
Loose fasteners anywhere in the braking system
Crappy brake housing (good compressionless housings make a difference)
Environmental conditions (cold seems to be worse)
Not having bedded the pads and rims
Improper toe (some like toe-in, some don't - none like toe-out)
Hard stops on steep pitches (sometimes noise is going to happen)
Dirty brakes, especially inside the pad holders
Loose fit between pads and holders
Worn out pads
Wrong pad compound
Brand spanking new pads
Forks with inadequate stiffness

You've really got three choices with brake noise - get lucky that none of the above apply and have no noise; have noise and chase through the above until you minimize it; live with it as it happens.

I in the "just live with it" camp, although I still think that the squealing makes you look like a doofus.

Well tomorrow is my first ride on my new set of Assaults. Who knows what the "ride to decide" sets I took out for a demo went through? I'm excited to have some new wheels finally and plan to spend the next few hours giving the bike a good cleaning, lube, installing the tubeless stems in the new wheels, swapping the tires from my Ultegra's over to the Reynolds, swapping the Shimano pads for the Cryo Blue Power Pads, and fine tuning the brakes and rear derailleur trim if needed. Hopefully it will all go without a hitch and I'll be ready to ride early in the morning.

I use the $10 Chinese pads on my carbon clinchers. They don't squeal. $50 for four pads made in that country that stole the Jews money after WWII is RIDICULOUS.