Clicking when pressing front brake with weight on front fork

bigbramble

Heya,

I have an Orange Clockwork 29er. It's just a month or two old. Sometimes when I have weight over the front fork and I press the front brake I get a kind of clicking from fork/hub area. It's starting to annoy me. I have tried getting the front wheel super tight and it still does it. It almost feels like the brake pads or the wheel itself moving but I can't seem to pin it down. Anyone got any ideas or should I just get on to Orange?

Cheers!

stubs

Could be one of several things Headset, Loose spokes, hub bearings, stem bolts or bars.

The Rookie

Probably the brake pads moving slightly in the caliper (if they were a tight fit they wouldn't move freely and would bind on), comes into the 'perfectly normal' category.

bigbramble

Yeah I did wonder about the pads moving in the calliper but I am not 100% convinced. The trouble is I can only get it to do it with a lot of weight on the bike so can't easily look at it at the same time. I will have another look later.

The Rookie

If to were the pads you'd get it by rocking the bike with the brakes held on....

stubs

I am not sure about the pads they would most likely only make a click once when the brakes were put on and another click when the brake is released.
Have a look at the pad spring is it catching the disc you should be able to see if it is there will be a shiny patch on the spring, older Avid brakes were well known for the spring catching the disc.
Could be something like a brake hose clipping the tread blocks and it only happens when fork fully compressed and there is a loop of hose.
Check you have a pad pin I lost one once the pads didnt come out luckily but there was all sorts of funny noises coming from the front brake.

bigbramble

Thanks for the tips. I'll give it another look later and try to rope my wife into looking while I simulate the issue.

stubs

Could be your knees mine sound like popcorn in the microwave sometimes

FishFish

bigbramble wrote:

give it a look later and try to rope my wife while I stimulate her.

..and I was going to change 'rope' too!

just a joke :shock:

bigbramble

Well I took the headset apart and it all looks good. I really think that it could just be the pads moving a bit. If I apply the brake harder it wont do it.

Cheers, Anthony.

bigbramble

Well I put a bit of grease on the back of the pads and the noise 'seems' to have gone but I have only done about 11 miles testing so far.

nicklouse

ohhhhh expect your brakes to not work soon.

never a good idea on cycles.

stubs

Test your newly greased brakes by going flat out down a hill that ends in a large wall. Get someone to film it so we can all have a laugh on this hot steamy day.

The Rookie

Not to mention that by reducing the friction and making it easier for the pads to move, if it was the pads moving they will now do it more......

Antm81

Did you ever get to the bottom of this? I get a click when applying the front brake on my shimano m447s sometimes, if I preen the brake repeatedly it doesn't do it and it can happen by lightly pressing the lever with minimal force.

Headset seems tight, no movement in it and the same with the caliper mounting and the wheel which is using a fox 15mm maxle.

CitizenLee

Fork bushings?

Antm81

Hopefully not, it's only done 40 miles.