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Just interested to know if there's any setups out there that don't squeal in the Scottish climate in particular.
What brake, rotor and pad combo are you using and what are you doing in the way of maintenance to keep them quiet.
I'm running XT 8120 on one bike that squeal. Changed pads material, cleaned rotors and checked for leaks and still they squeal. Lined up nicely as well so not that.
Got Guide RE and Hope Tech 3 V4 on other bikes that squeal as well.
Cheers
Cura 2’s with galfer pads n discs. Quiet as a mouse. Apart from the vented disc sound!
Deore 2 pots with centreline 6 bolt rotors and Superstar hub - silent in dry. Muderous cat in the wet. Awful. Same brakes with Fulcrum hubs and shimano centrelock rotors even worse. Murderous cat in both wet n dry. No amount of adjusting sorts it!
cura 4’s with formula discs - moderate initial squeal then silent when the power comes on.
SRAM force - Shimano discs = loud squeal. Centreline discs slight squeal made worse by Clarks pads (all i had at the time).
i find i can think alignment is spot on but squeal is horrendous. Tweak a bit and alignment looks sub-par and less squeal.
pistons never push evenly and some setups just seem prone to squealing. my cura 4’s are quieter and brake better when the disc is ever so slightly off centre in the caliper.
I do find squeal is worst when i follow the “centre the disc in caliper method”. I bolt down loosely then adjust until the pads bite evenly, theres no rubbing and the disc doesnt move in a specific direction. If it does you know one side of the caliper is pushing first and likely to squeal. When pads hit at the same time, disc doesnt move squeal should be way less. 4pots you then get leading / trailing edge pushing first causing squeal. Like having rim brakes with poor toe.
i think my bike with Deore has slightly misaligned brake mounts as I’m using flat to post mount adapters.
once i have the pads hitting disc and pushing evenly i just live with whatever noise happens!
Do they squeal in the dry or just the wet?
The Deores on my MTB never squealed it the dry but were awful in the wet. Switching to Swissstop yellow didn't seem to fix it until a long dry day in the Cairngorms and absolutely cooking them on the last big descent. Have never squealed since.
Could never achieve the same effect on gravel bike but just don't ride those sorts of descents on gravel bike.
I think it can take a lot longer to REALLY bed a set of brakes in than we often think, and squealing in wet conditions is a consequence of that.
If you are getting squealing on different bikes and different brake brands, are you positive it's not contamination from cleaning/maintenance routine?
Wax in car shampoo used on the bike?
Exhaust fumes from carrying the bike on a rear rack?
Any spray lube/ water dispersant use? If so it's highly likely to get on the brakes. I use a plastic section cut out of a builders style tuff tub to slot behind the disc when I degrease the drivetrain (same idea as that orange thing you see advertised now)
Stuff applied elsewhere...I once sprayed my van bumpers with back to black and it blew through the house and made all my flooring slippery and squeaky when you walked on it in shoes!
Also I only ever use brake cleaner when the brakes are already contaminated or I'm overhauling them. I find they are best just left to fend for themselves normally, get them nice and hot and don't be afraid to get mud on them once in while.
I have SLX, XT, XTR, Guides, Hope Mini Monos and SRAM Apex, Force, they are all quiet generally except the Hopes which are well beyond knackered.
The XTRs went through a bad patch but a thorough dowsing in brake cleaner, baking the old pads, getting them really hot until the power came back, followed by another clean and new pads fixed it. I think road salt from a couple of long journeys was part of the problem.
I pull the lever in to hold the brake central, give it a nip and then check to see where I'm at with a spin of the wheel. Then back off the bolts so that I can just move the caliper and using a headtorch I eyeball it to ensure Ive got the same clearance on either side.
On occasion I use the juice can shim method to centre the caliper but I've not noticed any more success doing it that way to be honest.
It's not leaks as it's happening with fresh pads never been pulled on before and thus they're not contaminated.
I don't think I've contaminated them when cleaning the chain as I always drop the chain to the smallest cassette cog and then I've got the whole cassette to keep fluids away from the brake caliper.
I probably will double check that alignment as the leading edge thing has me thinking.
Before I went out yesterday I cleaned the rotors, replaced the pads, cleaned the pistons with brake cleaner and lubed them with silicone spray. Using uberbike Kevlar (orange) pads after trying the race matrix which just howled till the cows came home.
Hopes with hope pads.
Imo tbe key is getting them hot enough cold polishing of pads is real and is one cause of squeal
My V4s (with Hope discs and pads) don't squeal, neither did my E4s.
My cheapo Shimano brakes do honk a bit.
A propos of nothing in particular, I miss the halcyon days when Neil from Superstar would berate people for not bedding in their brakes properly whenever anyone queried the performance of his pads conveniently ignoring the fact that OE pads from Shimano, SRAM etc, just worked from the off. Oh, and all the stuff about pads depositing a layer of friction material on the rotors etc.
My experience with Shimano is that original pads are generally fine and quiet, various aftermarket pads tend towards making a racket, particularly in the wet. Uberbike, ime, are awful. Ditto Disco pads. EBC are okay for me and a batch of cheapo ceramics from Aliexpress recommended by Northwind. Obviously alignment and contamination are different again.
I'd go back to OE pads, if you're not using them already and clean up your rotors with brake cleaner/IPA and a rub with some wet and dry paper and take it from there.
It’s not leaks as it’s happening with fresh pads
The brake disc itself can instantly transfer contamination to your new pads.
I pull the lever in to hold the brake central, give it a nip and then check to see where I’m at with a spin of the wheel. Then back off the bolts so that I can just move the caliper and using a headtorch I eyeball it to ensure Ive got the same clearance on either side.
I find that method quite variable. Best to take the pads out, push pistons back and then align the caliper slot over the disc on both sides. This means you align the caliper rather than the pads...pads may be worn unevenly or be affected by a sticky piston.
and lubed them with silicone spray.
I think that might be a large part of your problem! A drop of brake fluid on the side of a sticky piston then brake cleaner when pushed back in as a last resort but don't spray anything on them unless it's water or brake cleaner!
lubed them with silicone spray.
May or may not be the issue but it's probably not a great idea - think how far away you can still smell WD40 when you spray it (another potential cause when people spray it on their chain).
OE pads from Shimano, SRAM etc, just worked from the off. Oh, and all the stuff about pads depositing a layer of friction material on the rotors etc.
Every brake pad I've ever tried improved after bedding in. The bedding in process heats the pad surface and pad material is deposited onto the surface of the rotor. That's how it works.
I run 200/180 rotors on my MTB', one bike with hope v4 one with hope E4.
The different sized roots give a different sound.whentbe are making a racket it means it's easy to get a clown hooter sound
HOoonK
Keep me entertained and cheaper than swapping stuff around the get the quiet
All my disk brakes have made a racket
Xt four lots in 2004
Magura Marta
Hayes something with carbon levers
Guide r
A second pair of guide r
Xt 7 series
Xt 8 series
Currently
Ultegra
V4
E4
Levels
Tectro calipers, although swiss stop pads helped
https://www.bonaslabs.com/the-science
Bedding in is the first step (the '20 hard stops').
Burnishing is the second step and I think takes a bit longer, in my experiences (multiple brands, pads, rotors etc) this is the thing that guarantees quiet performance. Easy on an MTB but I found this a lot more difficult on gravel and road, personally I just don't brake that hard or often.
I saw an example on a recent club ride, one guy had a beautiful new Viello gravel bike with all new Hope RX brakes/rotors etc. which squealed like a stuck pig every time he slowed down. The other guy had a fairly unremarkable Cube or Boardman or something with basic Shimano hydraulics which were silent in all conditions. Main difference was he had been riding it for years and I reckon the brakes were just well used and properly bedded/burnished.
(for the record I was on cantis, which neither squealed OR slowed me down 😂)
Ok lots of good information here folks so thanks a lot. I'll give it a go. For the record I've only used the silicone spray on the XT brakes once so that can't explain the other brakes howling.