BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Do you have road caliper, cantilever or V brakes? Or, what specific make and model bike do you have?

What method did you use to clean the pads and rims?

Sounds like the pads need to be toed-in. Front end of the pad should make contact with the rim before the rear. Out of true rims can also contribute.

Shimano Ultegra SL w/Shimano Ultegra SL STI levers. It's on my Madone road bike.

To be honest I just used watered down Dawn dish soap on a rag, the same thing I use to bathe my bike from time to time.

Ha! That's probably your problem actually. To clean the rim get a green/yellow Scotchbrite pad and use water.

For the pads take a wood file to them and just file them till the glaze is gone.

I suspect the soap on the pads is actually your issue. It'll go away when you wear it off. No harm done.

whew. I'll try that. thanks.

I'm happy for this thread. I'm sporting some screamin' brakes at the moment, too.

Toe in. Emery cloth to rough up the pads. Use alcohol to clean the rims; no abrasives.

@Pseudacris same questions apply to you as well. The advice isn't the same across the board.

Chris, I have V brakes. The rims appear clean. It's the front brake only. It did get better when I rinsed it with clear water.

Sometimes those squealing brakes help alert that pedestrian they just stepped in front of you!

Clean the pads by taking the glaze off. Clean the rims with soap and water, then rinse. You might need to toe them in. Toe applies more to v brakes and cantilevers than it does road calipers as Sarah_Q has.

But Helen, it drowns out me yelling F U at drivers that turn in front of me, cutting me off. Or pass too close even though there is plenty of room. This one guy on the McKees Rocks bridge today is lucky the light turned green before I got there; I was so pissed.

I second the alcohol on the rims. I had brake pads that would squeal when hot once upon a time. That was back in the 90s though, and I was still a kid. Squealing brakes was cool to my group back then.

humblesage, I have some bmx brakes I'm going to want to ask you about, as soon as I have have a chance to put the exact question together. I've been all through these brakes, new cables, housings, pads, adjusted to the nth, and they still don't stop worth a poo. Maybe they just suck.

Which brakes do you have? BMX brakes are a headache, so I doubt it's you.

No-name generic. Maybe I'll put-up a pic tomorrow. We hardly use this bike, but I like my stuff to work.

Right on... I'll keep an eye out.

Or it could be coing from this..

hey suburbia!

wait, BMX bikes have breaks? Maybe that's the problem, edmonds - if you remove the breaks, they won't fail anymore!

seriously good info on the soap, if I were less of a slacker I'd totally have fallen into that trap already. Luckily my ick tolerance was high enough to allow sarah to figure it out first - thank you sarah!

"wait, BMX bikes have breaks? Maybe that's the problem, edmonds - if you remove the breaks, they won't fail anymore! "

Haha... I love it!

She's a dingbaaaaaat...

so maybe this is related to an issue i've been having on my road bike. i thought it was the pads, which i thought were new, but maybe i got something on them and need to clean them again. the rims are new, anyway.

here's what happens: i'll be going at a pretty good clip, or down a hill, and i'll have to brake hard and continuously. after a short period of time, say 3 seconds or so, of squeezing the brake, the pads will start making this sort of hissing sound, and their grip on the rim will lessen considerably. if i let up it may go away for a second, but i thought i bought good pads, and it's really annoying. thoughts? suggestions? further questions?

Brake fade? Does that effect bikes?

Edit: I guess it can:

From wikipedia (America's most reliable eh hem source): "Vehicle braking system fade, or brake fade, is the reduction in stopping power that can occur after repeated or sustained application of the brakes, especially in high load or high speed conditions. Brake fade can be a factor in any vehicle that utilizes a friction braking system including automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, and even bicycles."