It’s always blown my mind how going through a single puddle can be enough to contaminate bike disc brakes, but cars can go 20000 miles in all weather conditions over many years and still be squeak free.
Car brake pads undergo much stronger forces that will tear off small layer of contaminants. If you use your bike in very hilly terrain this would have similar effect. Most problems with disc brakes whining is when people have their bikes on flatlands and rarely use them, the braking force they exert is not strong and long enough to deal with contaminants. When i mountain bike in hilly terrain with several hundreds meters of descent my discs are getting over 200 degrees easily, that will cook and shear off most of light contaminants.
@@heksogen4788 This is exactly the reason why disc brakes are total BS for most bikes, especially for city bikes in the flatlands. A proper pair of V-brakes or Magura HS 11/33 will do the job perfectly fine in almost every weather without squealing, plus easier maintenance. But no, now you get hydraulic disc brakes on 5-speed dutch bikes, I s*** you not... 🤦♂
I went to a bike shop to fix my hydraulic brakes. Somehow I had problems with bleeding the brakes. So the nice technician gave me my bike back after his work was done. I went on my way and discoveres that my brakes werent working at all. He contaminated the brake pads while bleeding the brakes. Fun fact, I never went to that shop again and now I am the proud owner of two bleeding kits.
What we do in our shop after sanding the pads is give them a once-over with a gas burner. gets rid of the brake cleaner fluid, glazes the resin and makes sure any remaining contaminants are gone for sure
I use Finishline's disc brake cleaner and it's great. No need to wipe, brakes work better and brake noise is gone. Rim brake users should not be confused, as it is rare to need to disassemble as shown in the video.
I've loved reading all these comments about what alcohol to use, what brake cleaner, what grit sandpaper, baking bits on the stove... This is hilarious...defo won't be going to discs.
By mistake I found a very good solution to contaminated brakes. I had a rusty set of pads on a bike kept by the beachside. I put them in CLR and let them soak for several hours. They came out very clean AND no longer squealed. I’m sold.
If you’ve got well worn-in pads, their wear might not be dead even so either remember which goes on which side or scratch an ‘l’ or ‘r’ on the back of the backing plate.
Old toothbrush works great for cleaning the brake pads and acetone seems to work the best as a solvent. Also if they're still noisy cook them in the oven 20mins 220c.
@@seanmccuen6970 I believe you're asking, "why use emery cloth instead of sandpaper?" Keep in mind that any grade of abrasive is designed to remove material. Emery 'cloth' is better suited for metal work than sandpaper because the cloth backing won't tear to shreds when soaked with isopropyl alcohol. 80-100 grit is sufficiently abrasive to scratch the metal rotor without scoring... If the brake pads are contaminated with brake fluid then they need to be replaced, such as what happens when the caliper piston seals are worn to the point where brake fluid can pass from the caliper to the hot pads/rotor.
A friend recently got into cycling. He took his bike in his car and when he reassembled his bike the brake pads were too close. I showed him one of your old videos and he fixed the problem by himself Thanks for all your great videos
On a multi-day adventure or when traveling with the bike, pack alchohol wipes from a first aid kit and give the rotors a little clean. Greasy fingers on the rotors are an easy contaminants to nip in the bud.
A light sand on a flat surface , wipe with isopropyl alcohol or cheap car brake cleaner, then hold over gas hob works for me (just be safe as brake cleaner very highly flammable hence keep the solvents well away from flames and room well aired!). Also lots of lowish price half decent pad alternatives / compounds out there these days too if your pads are almost worn out (some newer compounds a mix of compounds too) . You can’t compare with car brakes as they get far hotter and burn off contaminants plus brake forces far higher as servo assisted. Also when maintaining keep lubes and especially sprays well away from discs and pads - was how I contaminated mine.
All looks advanced on these discs and I am sure brilliant for those that experience the stopping power! But it was just 5mins for me to slide out my rim brake carbon pads on the weekend and slide in the new ones and get going.
I almost always carry an alcohol based hand sanitizer, so when brakes start to squeak, I just spray on them. Temporary solution, but makes the ride more pleasant :)
Super helpful @GCN Tech! I'd love to know your favourite brand for brake degreaser and also what type of sand paper you use! My brakes regularly get noisy and I'd like to limit having to go in my LBS for something like this!
When I was a teen post bike crash i needed a bike.....for my daily commute and paper round. I went to halfords......brought an apollo, during the hurried assembly the clowns sprayed oil on the brakes to stop the squeel... Yep my east end father went mad......one empty store later and new pads toed in correctly with clean rims , i got my brick of a machine for work. It was a metric ton heavier than my TT shorter . Havent used halfords since, built my own.
So far Much-Off disc brake cleaner is done the job very well.But it depends of course how often you clean brakes and bike and what kind of weather you ride.
The other day i encounter a set of very stubborn brakepads. I did exactly what you did here and it didnt work. When the pads went under the bedin process they immediately squeak. So, the solution was cleaning the pads with MEK ( some white spirit like solvent) in the ultrasonic cleaner for 10 min and repeat all te process. I think the gime was stuck inside and under heat it sprouts out.
One question..how has the car and motorcycle industry managed to make brakes for years that can get wet, have all sorts of road crud thrown at them, and not be noisy. In fact how have swissstop also managed it, but it is beyond the big brands like shimano?
I live in the montana mnts where around ever corner of trail there is a puddle, some dust, wet grasses, a brief snow flurry, then a dream crossing - my brakes are silent, metals pads, 10 years.... I have no clue what you are whining about. you sound like a squeaky rim brake. stop yer bitchin.
Car and motorcycle brakes have actual work to do like convert significant amounts of inertial energy into heat. Our little bike and rider combo mass was well served with simple rim brakes to slow down a couple hundred pounds. Our now toy disc brakes don't "scale" down so we'll.
I've noticed that semi metallic or metallic pads are much less prone to contamination, if they start to squeak the only thing you have to do is to climb a hill, apply the brake at the top and release it at the bottom, the squeaking will be gone 😊
Here is a great trick….ride up and down the road in front of your house for 5 minutes with the brakes barely engaged. This will get them really hot. After 5 or so minutes, spray the rotors and calipers off with cold water from the garden hose. Allow it to dry. This will remove contaminates.
What grit of sand paper would be good? Seeing mixed answers, saying 40 is too low, 80 is too low, 90 is good, 150 is decent, 300 is good but might be so fine it isn't effective
The pistons needs lubricant to work properly. Be careful with disc brake cleaner as can seize the pistons, they need to be fully retracted. Or re-lubricate them after.
Works sometimes for sure, but not all the time. Have yet to try the flame trick, would a BBQ lighter flame get hot enough or do you need the blowtorch/gas stove? Once I get a combo of pads/rotors that stop and don't squeal a simple wipe-down of the rotors with alcohol-based window cleaner seems to keep it that way. The only real problem I've had with squeal has been with Shimano Ultegra calipers and rotors. That bike took swapping the rotors out for the cheaper, single-piece Made-in-China versions and a set of Swissstop pads to finally get stopping without squealing!
Rotors and pads that are dirty are not contaminated. Contamination refers to substances that are now embedded in the pads and no matter how much you clean them will not decontaminate them. No amount of sanding cleaning or heating can decontaminate pads that have been contaminated with petroleum/hydraulic based products or debris that are now embedded within the fibers or pad material. Dirty rotors and pads can be cleaned sometimes very easily sometimes it takes more effort.
I'd add a cigarette lighter to the tool kit. Heat up the rotor and the pads a little. This burns away any contaminate. Then clean and run down the surfaces. You could just be moving oils etc around if the spray doesn't get it. It works for me!
I've heard a theory that disc brake noise is often down to grooves in the disc rotor and that these need to be smoothed out from time to time, any opinions on that ?
no one is asking you to upgrade. and RUclips is rather new compared to 100 year old squeaky caliper brakes. get real and dismount your caliper horse, go invest in more chain wax equipment. more riders out there than ever, and fewer road bikers than ever in history.
Because it's newer tech, not everyone knows how to set up properly and clean. On rim brakes you still need to adjust, center, angle the pads, check for clearance, adjust the cable stretch… but as it's older tech, we got used to do it since we were kids/teens. Just think that if RUclips existed in the 80's, there would be thousands of videos complaining that HG Shimano cassettes are trash and come from factory already worn out. Rim brakes are fine, but they ain't getting that much better after all these years.
200-300, doesn't matter much to be honest, it's just about scoring the surface, but not polishing it. I also swear by proper bedding in brakes after it (Park Tool has great video).
#askgcntech hi team, hopefully someone can help. I have a trek emonda sl6. it has a fun trick of the internal frame filling with water ..... which causes BB to need replacement frequently, 4th in 2 years 100km on it amainly good weather but get caught by irish summer so will occasionally be in rain. there is a weep hole that ive tried pipe cleaners and all on but still if out on rainy day fills like a ballon, when i stand up on back wheel all water runs out theshifter cable hole at back and if on frint wheel goes out headtube. Local trek suppliers have suggested taping up holes around shifter and headset.... which doesnt seem like an ideal solution. is there any advice from you or puublic that may have similar issue
When that's actually worn out or near worn out, it's straight forward and intuitive. If you ever wonder this then the pads are just OK. When it's very thin like "paper thin" then it's time to replace.
Disk break pads is a failure - they can't create proper pads which will be silent in wet/rain. This is really annoying, especially when in your country rains a lot! Don't tell me 'contaminants' joke story - spray clean water on breaks and you will get crappy sound, when it dry pads get silent again. If pads dry and you have still sound - only then meens you probably have contaminants on the pads, and you need to burn them or clean
Did all this - several times- butt the front brake stil noisy, changed front brakes completely to the Back and reverse ( so the noise shoud go also to the back) butt NO my front brake squeeze and the back brake no noise😵💫😵💫😵💫
I've done all that to my Ultegra calipers etc, the barstarding things still squeal like a stuck pigs even after changing to new pads!!! 🤬🤬🤬 im now wondering if there is reasonance building up between brake pads and the caliper pistons, im debating putting a very, very light coat of copaslip twixt the two? Anyone got any thoughts on that?
I suggest you ensure you use Organic/Resin compound pads. Bed in easy, have a tendency not to cause squeal on operation, have better modulation. I believe for the majority of riders this compound is the better choice. I think because tthis pad compound are cheaper, hence a lot of people’s perception is inferior, but unless you are doing very fast and long descents, resin pads are normally the better choice. PS, if still squeal, ride or be taken to a very steep and long hill and pedal down, dragging the brake, if still do, repeat and with Resin pads, very likely problem will be solved.
Cheers for that, I'll give it a try, didnt have that problem with my Tcr currently running shimano 105 calipers/pads/ice tech rotors (shortly to be Ultegra calipers, ice tech discs and pads!)
None of my 7 bikes squeal because they all use rim brakes. My son used to have disc brakes on his bike but we could never stop the rotors rubbing the pads so now he has a rim brake bike.
If your brakes sound like that, chances are you just haven't ridden that bike for a while. A good long ride will shave off the contaminated layer and you should be good to go. No need to do anything else.
for me it's not worth the time and effort (the process, not the video)... go directly to 4:25´s piece of advice... pads are porous, dirt it´s not only in the surface... you need to remove a lot of material and use a lot of product for a kind of random result... just an opinion... thank you for all the content...
This has definitely put me off changing to discs..what a faff. Rim brakes hardly need any maintenance in comparison...just clean your rims and change the pads when they wear out which is after about 10000 miles.
I used Fenwick's disc brake cleaner to clean my rotors and calipers but I did not remove the pads but this did not work. I have Silca's Gear Wipes so I thought I would try cleaning the rotor with a wipe and this resolved the issue. Now when cleaning my bike I use Muc-Off disc brake covers to prevent any contamination when cleaning the rest of the bike and I just wipe the rotors with a Silca Gear Wipe. Since doing this I do not experience any squealing at all even in the wet. I use Shimano Ultegra 8100 brakes with the new RT-CL800 rotors and the L05A-RF brake pads resin with fin. I have found this combination to be by far the best as I was using different lower spec Shimano pads before which were not very good. The finned pads also look cool, the SILCA Gear Wipes are very expensive but they are also very good for cleaning your bike in general. Following Shimano's bedding in process for new pads is also very important before you start using them.
You can’t. Once it’s contaminated, it’s contaminated forever. If it’s minor contamination, clean the disc and pads thoroughly and use Squeal Out Disc Brake Anti-Queal Treatment cream as another step to deglaze the pads and remove extra contamination. Squeal Out!
There's alot more to it than these simple go to's , if the rotors are badly grooved they'll act like a vinyl record playing a tune & if the pads are hitting rear first they'll judder hence vibrate/making a screetch just like rim brakes towing in at the rear does.
What other tips do you know for keeping brakes quiet?
What grit of sandpaper were you using?
Bedding in before riding, so de disc gets a layer of the pad material with no pollution between
A small amount of copper paste or mounting paste on the back of the pad can reduce vibration noise.
Don’t ride the brakes downhill. Glazing the pads can cause noise.
It’s always blown my mind how going through a single puddle can be enough to contaminate bike disc brakes, but cars can go 20000 miles in all weather conditions over many years and still be squeak free.
Car brake pads undergo much stronger forces that will tear off small layer of contaminants. If you use your bike in very hilly terrain this would have similar effect. Most problems with disc brakes whining is when people have their bikes on flatlands and rarely use them, the braking force they exert is not strong and long enough to deal with contaminants. When i mountain bike in hilly terrain with several hundreds meters of descent my discs are getting over 200 degrees easily, that will cook and shear off most of light contaminants.
I guess you've never done a brake job on your car.
@@KenSmith-bv4si I’ve changed pads, discs and callipers on cars before, but never because of squeaky brakes
@@DionLewiis remember those little metal parts that hold the pad still so they don't make noise? Bike disc pads don't come with them.
@@heksogen4788 This is exactly the reason why disc brakes are total BS for most bikes, especially for city bikes in the flatlands. A proper pair of V-brakes or Magura HS 11/33 will do the job perfectly fine in almost every weather without squealing, plus easier maintenance. But no, now you get hydraulic disc brakes on 5-speed dutch bikes, I s*** you not... 🤦♂
I went to a bike shop to fix my hydraulic brakes. Somehow I had problems with bleeding the brakes. So the nice technician gave me my bike back after his work was done. I went on my way and discoveres that my brakes werent working at all. He contaminated the brake pads while bleeding the brakes. Fun fact, I never went to that shop again and now I am the proud owner of two bleeding kits.
What we do in our shop after sanding the pads is give them a once-over with a gas burner. gets rid of the brake cleaner fluid, glazes the resin and makes sure any remaining contaminants are gone for sure
yes! nothing else worked for me other than using a gas torch (cooking type, not welding!) on the brake pads.
Glazed surface of the brake pads = worse braking and can cause noise...
Exactly what I do. Literally burn off any remaining oils/cleaners. My partner always asks why I am lighting my bike parts on fire 😂
@@wedgett1"cos its hotter than you" 😅
I use Finishline's disc brake cleaner and it's great.
No need to wipe, brakes work better and brake noise is gone.
Rim brake users should not be confused, as it is rare to need to disassemble as shown in the video.
I did as you suggested and it fixed all the niggling little noses that I've always had... Thanks so much! 👍
Blowing out the calipers regularly with compressed air....does wonders for noises!
Thank you for sharing your experience
I've loved reading all these comments about what alcohol to use, what brake cleaner, what grit sandpaper, baking bits on the stove...
This is hilarious...defo won't be going to discs.
I can't believe I fixed the horrible noise of the front brake on my gravel bike with such a simple fix 🙂
We're glad you found it useful
By mistake I found a very good solution to contaminated brakes. I had a rusty set of pads on a bike kept by the beachside. I put them in CLR and let them soak for several hours. They came out very clean AND no longer squealed. I’m sold.
If you’ve got well worn-in pads, their wear might not be dead even so either remember which goes on which side or scratch an ‘l’ or ‘r’ on the back of the backing plate.
Do everything you did but also put the pads I. A hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Has worked a treat for me a couple of times !
Old toothbrush works great for cleaning the brake pads and acetone seems to work the best as a solvent. Also if they're still noisy cook them in the oven 20mins 220c.
I use sandpaper, clean then my gas hob and on both pads and discs (with PPE obvs 🤓) worked a treat 👌🏼
What Grit numer was the sanding paper used on the discs?
here's a hint; 120 grit is too abrasive.
Actually 80-100 grit emery cloth works well with isopropyl alcohol for discs and pads
@@OriginalTrev why would you use grits that can score surfaces that weren't meant to be scored, tho. you ain't removing material.
@@seanmccuen6970 I believe you're asking, "why use emery cloth instead of sandpaper?" Keep in mind that any grade of abrasive is designed to remove material. Emery 'cloth' is better suited for metal work than sandpaper because the cloth backing won't tear to shreds when soaked with isopropyl alcohol. 80-100 grit is sufficiently abrasive to scratch the metal rotor without scoring... If the brake pads are contaminated with brake fluid then they need to be replaced, such as what happens when the caliper piston seals are worn to the point where brake fluid can pass from the caliper to the hot pads/rotor.
@@OriginalTrev fair 'nuff I guess.
btw, wet/dry sandpaper (that actually works better wet) will hold it's integrity when soaked. great stuff.
You forgot the part about bedding in the brake after. If you pull the brake too hard you can glaze the Pad over again
But is the horiffic noise because of the breaks, or has someone started a rim verses disk break debate and your ears have instantly started bleeding.
the rimmers are the same proud chain waxers. and leg shavers. vocal and feeling all alone.....
@@gregknipe8772 to be fair, at least waxed chains and legs have objective benefits
A friend recently got into cycling.
He took his bike in his car and when he reassembled his bike the brake pads were too close.
I showed him one of your old videos and he fixed the problem by himself
Thanks for all your great videos
On a multi-day adventure or when traveling with the bike, pack alchohol wipes from a first aid kit and give the rotors a little clean. Greasy fingers on the rotors are an easy contaminants to nip in the bud.
"Chances are, you should be good to go." Don't you mean "good to stop"?
Need a video on skid tests with all the high end tires.
A light sand on a flat surface , wipe with isopropyl alcohol or cheap car brake cleaner, then hold over gas hob works for me (just be safe as brake cleaner very highly flammable hence keep the solvents well away from flames and room well aired!). Also lots of lowish price half decent pad alternatives / compounds out there these days too if your pads are almost worn out (some newer compounds a mix of compounds too) . You can’t compare with car brakes as they get far hotter and burn off contaminants plus brake forces far higher as servo assisted. Also when maintaining keep lubes and especially sprays well away from discs and pads - was how I contaminated mine.
Wow Alex, you really are the quick change artist with those rubber gloves! Now you see them, now you don't.
Life's too short for disc brakes.
All looks advanced on these discs and I am sure brilliant for those that experience the stopping power!
But it was just 5mins for me to slide out my rim brake carbon pads on the weekend and slide in the new ones and get going.
It's no different with disc brake pads
change is scary. keep pounding you chest on this one. and dont forget to shave your legs. and your wax won't work 'down there' - so dont try it.
Swapping out disc brake pads can be done in like a minute. In five minutes you can realistically swap both pads and disc itself.
I almost always carry an alcohol based hand sanitizer, so when brakes start to squeak, I just spray on them. Temporary solution, but makes the ride more pleasant :)
lol, 'xcuse me? you ride with 'hand sanitizer'??
But some sanitizers include oils to keep your skin from drying out, e.g., aloe, which would make your brakes worse.
Super helpful @GCN Tech! I'd love to know your favourite brand for brake degreaser and also what type of sand paper you use! My brakes regularly get noisy and I'd like to limit having to go in my LBS for something like this!
Dont forget to rebed your brakes if you cleaned your rotors! Its an important safety issue.
I would do a little marshmellow roast on the brake pad before I replace it first. Sometime burning off the residue will help as well.
When I was a teen post bike crash i needed a bike.....for my daily commute and paper round. I went to halfords......brought an apollo, during the hurried assembly the clowns sprayed oil on the brakes to stop the squeel... Yep my east end father went mad......one empty store later and new pads toed in correctly with clean rims , i got my brick of a machine for work. It was a metric ton heavier than my TT shorter . Havent used halfords since, built my own.
Minimum pad thickness is 1.5mm not 0.5mm as in the video. If there is only 0.5mm the spring will touch the disk when you brake.
So true🙂
The problem is bike frames being contaminated by disc brakes
So most pro races I’ve seen, all make a noise….😂😂😂.
Fire works great
Thank God for rim brakes being so mechanical and quiet. Oh wait
So far Much-Off disc brake cleaner is done the job very well.But it depends of course how often you clean brakes and bike and what kind of weather you ride.
The other day i encounter a set of very stubborn brakepads. I did exactly what you did here and it didnt work. When the pads went under the bedin process they immediately squeak. So, the solution was cleaning the pads with MEK ( some white spirit like solvent) in the ultrasonic cleaner for 10 min and repeat all te process. I think the gime was stuck inside and under heat it sprouts out.
Rim brakes for the win
One question..how has the car and motorcycle industry managed to make brakes for years that can get wet, have all sorts of road crud thrown at them, and not be noisy. In fact how have swissstop also managed it, but it is beyond the big brands like shimano?
Speed and pressure heat them up pretty good to burn some of the contamination. But they can be noisy as well.
I live in the montana mnts where around ever corner of trail there is a puddle, some dust, wet grasses, a brief snow flurry, then a dream crossing - my brakes are silent, metals pads, 10 years.... I have no clue what you are whining about. you sound like a squeaky rim brake. stop yer bitchin.
Car and motorcycle brakes have actual work to do like convert significant amounts of inertial energy into heat. Our little bike and rider combo mass was well served with simple rim brakes to slow down a couple hundred pounds. Our now toy disc brakes don't "scale" down so we'll.
TBH I love noisy disc brakes 😁
I've noticed that semi metallic or metallic pads are much less prone to contamination, if they start to squeak the only thing you have to do is to climb a hill, apply the brake at the top and release it at the bottom, the squeaking will be gone 😊
Moved to metallic for this reason
Here is a great trick….ride up and down the road in front of your house for 5 minutes with the brakes barely engaged. This will get them really hot. After 5 or so minutes, spray the rotors and calipers off with cold water from the garden hose. Allow it to dry. This will remove contaminates.
What grit abrasive pad did you use? Thanks
Is it possible to use ethanol instead of isopropanol?
in most cases, just spraying disc brake cleaner on caliper/brake pads/rotors without disassembly does the job just fine.
Rim brake brigade in the comments 📯📯
Best way to stop noisy disc brakes.....get a rim brake bike!🤣
What grit of sand paper would be good?
Seeing mixed answers, saying 40 is too low, 80 is too low, 90 is good, 150 is decent, 300 is good but might be so fine it isn't effective
The pistons needs lubricant to work properly. Be careful with disc brake cleaner as can seize the pistons, they need to be fully retracted. Or re-lubricate them after.
What grade or grit of sandpaper is best to use?
Can acetone be used instead of alcohol or brake cleaner?
Works sometimes for sure, but not all the time. Have yet to try the flame trick, would a BBQ lighter flame get hot enough or do you need the blowtorch/gas stove? Once I get a combo of pads/rotors that stop and don't squeal a simple wipe-down of the rotors with alcohol-based window cleaner seems to keep it that way.
The only real problem I've had with squeal has been with Shimano Ultegra calipers and rotors. That bike took swapping the rotors out for the cheaper, single-piece Made-in-China versions and a set of Swissstop pads to finally get stopping without squealing!
The typical noise of DT-Swiss hubs gets annoying too 😮
Get a bike with old school rim brakes x
Rotors and pads that are dirty are not contaminated. Contamination refers to substances that are now embedded in the pads and no matter how much you clean them will not decontaminate them. No amount of sanding cleaning or heating can decontaminate pads that have been contaminated with petroleum/hydraulic based products or debris that are now embedded within the fibers or pad material.
Dirty rotors and pads can be cleaned sometimes very easily sometimes it takes more effort.
Brake cleaner for car disc brakes is cheaper, and stronger, but wont damage your bike discs... makes it far easier to clean any contamination
Hey, GNC, what sand paper grit do you recommend for sanding the brake pads?
what grit is the sandpaper?
needs to be quite fine. Coarse is going to make your pads disappear quickly!
what kind of sandpaper/abrasive paper would you use for that?
As the clip goes pinging across your workspace never to be seen again
I'd add a cigarette lighter to the tool kit. Heat up the rotor and the pads a little. This burns away any contaminate. Then clean and run down the surfaces. You could just be moving oils etc around if the spray doesn't get it. It works for me!
Also, don't forget to bed the pads back in!!
An important step!
I've heard a theory that disc brake noise is often down to grooves in the disc rotor and that these need to be smoothed out from time to time, any opinions on that ?
Am I the only one who likes disc brakes sound but hates freehub sound? 😂😂
Butain blow torch burns the contamination out. Heat pad till it stops smoking it'll get right into the pads and burn out contaminates
The number of videos regarding disc brake issues is wild. In the rim brake days we hardly ever talked about brakes. Just rode.
Rim brakes can squeal, too, but the fix there is usually just a toe-in adjustment. No need to faff about with hydraulic fluids or sanding anything.
no one is asking you to upgrade. and RUclips is rather new compared to 100 year old squeaky caliper brakes. get real and dismount your caliper horse, go invest in more chain wax equipment. more riders out there than ever, and fewer road bikers than ever in history.
@@gregknipe8772 praying for you to overcome your substance abuse issues
@@gregknipe8772 This post is a great reminder that a lot of ppl are dealing with substance issues. Pray for strength and sobriety.
Because it's newer tech, not everyone knows how to set up properly and clean. On rim brakes you still need to adjust, center, angle the pads, check for clearance, adjust the cable stretch… but as it's older tech, we got used to do it since we were kids/teens. Just think that if RUclips existed in the 80's, there would be thousands of videos complaining that HG Shimano cassettes are trash and come from factory already worn out. Rim brakes are fine, but they ain't getting that much better after all these years.
I just rub hand sanitizer on them, job done. Off we go !👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
that sanding paper - what is it's recommended grit?
200-300, doesn't matter much to be honest, it's just about scoring the surface, but not polishing it. I also swear by proper bedding in brakes after it (Park Tool has great video).
@@wayslow thanks buddy!
propane torch is my quick fix
Does anyone have any idea how to stop squeaking of the hot brakes (after going downhill through several curves)?
#askgcntech hi team, hopefully someone can help. I have a trek emonda sl6. it has a fun trick of the internal frame filling with water ..... which causes BB to need replacement frequently, 4th in 2 years 100km on it amainly good weather but get caught by irish summer so will occasionally be in rain.
there is a weep hole that ive tried pipe cleaners and all on but still if out on rainy day fills like a ballon, when i stand up on back wheel all water runs out theshifter cable hole at back and if on frint wheel goes out headtube. Local trek suppliers have suggested taping up holes around shifter and headset.... which doesnt seem like an ideal solution. is there any advice from you or puublic that may have similar issue
any short cut tips to measure pad wear when you dont own a micrometer?
compare with a coin. the 0,5mm recommended in the video is about half the thickness of a 1 pence.
When that's actually worn out or near worn out, it's straight forward and intuitive. If you ever wonder this then the pads are just OK. When it's very thin like "paper thin" then it's time to replace.
Get a cheap feeler gauge. Easy to compare next to pad
Ive tried everything, screaming keeps coming back after a short while... Giving up
Disk break pads is a failure - they can't create proper pads which will be silent in wet/rain. This is really annoying, especially when in your country rains a lot! Don't tell me 'contaminants' joke story - spray clean water on breaks and you will get crappy sound, when it dry pads get silent again. If pads dry and you have still sound - only then meens you probably have contaminants on the pads, and you need to burn them or clean
Did all this - several times- butt the front brake stil noisy, changed front brakes completely to the Back and reverse ( so the noise shoud go also to the back) butt NO my front brake squeeze and the back brake no noise😵💫😵💫😵💫
how many percent alcohol for the IPA at the minimum?
I find 70 % ok.
I've done all that to my Ultegra calipers etc, the barstarding things still squeal like a stuck pigs even after changing to new pads!!! 🤬🤬🤬 im now wondering if there is reasonance building up between brake pads and the caliper pistons, im debating putting a very, very light coat of copaslip twixt the two? Anyone got any thoughts on that?
I suggest you ensure you use Organic/Resin compound pads. Bed in easy, have a tendency not to cause squeal on operation, have better modulation. I believe for the majority of riders this compound is the better choice.
I think because tthis pad compound are cheaper, hence a lot of people’s perception is inferior, but unless you are doing very fast and long descents, resin pads are normally the better choice.
PS, if still squeal, ride or be taken to a very steep and long hill and pedal down, dragging the brake, if still do, repeat and with Resin pads, very likely problem will be solved.
Cheers for that, I'll give it a try, didnt have that problem with my Tcr currently running shimano 105 calipers/pads/ice tech rotors (shortly to be Ultegra calipers, ice tech discs and pads!)
Discs are a pain in the arse. I’d take rim brakes over discs any day.
So much faff. I’ve had to do this so many times of disc brake bikes 😑
A lot of brakecleaners are very bad for the seals.
The best way to fix it is to go back to rim brakes.
None of my 7 bikes squeal because they all use rim brakes. My son used to have disc brakes on his bike but we could never stop the rotors rubbing the pads so now he has a rim brake bike.
Or just keep your bike with rim brakes
I love rim brake bikes, easy to fix😅
If your brakes sound like that, chances are you just haven't ridden that bike for a while. A good long ride will shave off the contaminated layer and you should be good to go. No need to do anything else.
...because rim brakes that were slightly old or not properly toed in or wet never made noise 🙄
Ayup - and without fail, about 5 miles later they be squeaking again! Ahhhhhhhh
Follow this tutorial if u wish to ruin your discs
Blowtorch, fine wet & dry and an oven.
Noisy GCN 🙈
for me it's not worth the time and effort (the process, not the video)... go directly to 4:25´s piece of advice... pads are porous, dirt it´s not only in the surface... you need to remove a lot of material and use a lot of product for a kind of random result... just an opinion... thank you for all the content...
This has definitely put me off changing to discs..what a faff.
Rim brakes hardly need any maintenance in comparison...just clean your rims and change the pads when they wear out which is after about 10000 miles.
ah yes, the good old days of rim brakes.
But we already talked about that recently; we need to wait at least a couple of weeks.
،What about wire brakes?
I used Fenwick's disc brake cleaner to clean my rotors and calipers but I did not remove the pads but this did not work. I have Silca's Gear Wipes so I thought I would try cleaning the rotor with a wipe and this resolved the issue. Now when cleaning my bike I use Muc-Off disc brake covers to prevent any contamination when cleaning the rest of the bike and I just wipe the rotors with a Silca Gear Wipe. Since doing this I do not experience any squealing at all even in the wet. I use Shimano Ultegra 8100 brakes with the new RT-CL800 rotors and the L05A-RF brake pads resin with fin. I have found this combination to be by far the best as I was using different lower spec Shimano pads before which were not very good. The finned pads also look cool, the SILCA Gear Wipes are very expensive but they are also very good for cleaning your bike in general. Following Shimano's bedding in process for new pads is also very important before you start using them.
watching this after i stupidly put a lot of lube in my brake pads smh.
You can’t. Once it’s contaminated, it’s contaminated forever. If it’s minor contamination, clean the disc and pads thoroughly and use Squeal Out Disc Brake Anti-Queal Treatment cream as another step to deglaze the pads and remove extra contamination. Squeal Out!
Not even when you spray them with disc brake cleaner and let the pads burn for 5 to 10 seconds afterwards? Seems to work for me.
There's alot more to it than these simple go to's , if the rotors are badly grooved they'll act like a vinyl record playing a tune & if the pads are hitting rear first they'll judder hence vibrate/making a screetch just like rim brakes towing in at the rear does.
Why are so many rim brake defenders watching/commenting on this video? It’s like they just can’t stop themselves.
But how to silence a freewheel - that's the question!
Stop
Go single speed.
traffic noise! it even blocks the rim brake martyrs. the waxers are all busy trying to spot your dirty chain from lube, easily distracted.
just keep pedalling all the time 😜
Done this a dozen times on my disc roadbike but never had do anything to my rim brake bikes.