Squeeling brakes!

steve46

So I took my new Zesty out on its maiden voyage around a very wet Dalby forest today and got totally fed up with the constantly squealing brakes, which started from the very first descent! As a bit of a windbag I do tend to trail the brakes most of the way down the steeper stuff to prevent over acceleration and to maintain a constant, manageable, speed! Thing is I accept that's probably the wrong way to descend but I've done it that way for past couple of years since taking up mountain biking and my previous bike had exactly the same brakes and they didn't make anything like the same noise!. Question is what caused it. What makes them squeal? And what can I do to reduce it (apart from stopping the trailing!) sintered pads??? Oh forgot to mention didn't actually "bed in" the pads as didn't know I had to, whoops! Checked the pads afterwards and they're all but worn out, surely that's not normal, is it? Didn't wear out anything like as quick on last bike (with same brakes) Any (ridicule free) advice would be much appreciated! Cheers.

nicklouse

read the topic in the FAQs and then learn how to use your brakes or get used to the noise.

and check you have some material left.

JayKay3000

If these pads were brand new they would not work well at first for bed in, but they will last at least a few months. A good bike shop should tell you stuff like this. 6months or so is considered quite short life span, but people can get a years worth of use out of a set of pads so something is up there. Depends how you ride I guess. I remember I chewed through my cars pads in two months once.

If you run knackered pads they will fubar the disk just like with a car.

I met a guy on trail who brought a second hand Specialized bike from a bike shop and they'd bled the brakes with knackered pads in.

If it's really wet and really muddy then they will make a noise till they dry out. This is pretty normal, but annoying.

Perhaps you need to work on your skill level so you don't keep riding the brakes. Trust the bike, let it roll and it will go where you point it. That's what I do anyway and it seems to work.

The Rookie

Organic pads cam wear out very quickly if they get mud in them.....

Squealing is just a resonance, so lots of factors effect it, sometimes it will sort itself out, sometimes you just have to put up with it, sintered pads tend to be worse, as do lightweight discs, I cured mine (they realy howled) by swapping the lightweight alligators for some slightly heavier Hayes, although the 'gators hadn't squealed with Organic pads. You just play with things that effect resonant frequancies, so stiffness and weight, greasing the BACK of the pad can help but is A big contamination risk.