After a basic alignment and cleaning caliper pistons… If there are further alignment problems, remove the bleed screw, depress the brake lever by a few mm, and reinstall the bleed screw while the lever is slightly depressed. This will enhance pull back on the pistons and pads. Job done! Easy. Scrubbing powder works better than sandpaper for reconditioning the rotors. Less aggressive and more consistent. Just need to remove the rotors before and thoroughly rinse them after. Having ridden rim brake bikes for decades, I’d never go back. Hydraulic disc brakes are superior in all conditions. The degree of control is amazing. No more difficult to service… just different.
i love my squeaky brakes. I ride on the Atlanta beltline and it is full of clueless people walking, running, biking and riding electric scooters. Nothing clears them out than when you come up behind them and hit the brakes.
@@NanoDex Sooooo, for a hundred years BEFORE disc brakes what was the stopping rage in the rain? And what were YOU rocking BEFORE disc brakes, in the rain?
I've read somewhere that car's rotors are far thicker and, for that reason, they vibrate much less. Thus, the noise is not produced (or it cannot be heard anyway) in a similar case.
I had an issue some time ago where I had brake squeal and none of the methods in the video fixed it. Went to a bike shop and they pointed out that my rotor had heat damage which were causing the sound. Had to replace the rotor, but everything is good now.
My Everyday bike with disc, No problem, my MTB with disc also no problem, my road bike with Ultegra a nightmare, I think they make the tolerances to tight on the road group sets
A lot easier brake pads bedding in procedure is before installing them, wet them with water (tap will do) and rub them against each other whilst wet for a minute or so. Then wash them under water to get off the rubbed bits and dry them with a cloth. Install and ride without any bedding in - works a treat. I saw this in one of the bike mechanic preparations for the bike before race and used it a few times. Saves loads of time.
Also some pad materials are more prone to screaming. Like sintered pads often make much more noise than resin but i personally much prefer sintered. I like really agressive bite on my brakes.
@askgcntech I just bought my first bike with Di2. It says that "The components are designed to be fully waterproofed to withstand wet weather riding conditions; however, do not deliberately place them into water." The UK has been endless rain this year with flooding. Is it OK to ride through flood water of 100m or so (lengthwise not depth obviously)?
To all those extolling the inferior qualities of rim brakes - wait until your rim pads gets impregnated with grit or some other forign matter, then if you don't catch it quickly say good bye to your expensive rims. Discs in similar circumstances, apart from being superior in every detail, will only need a new set of pads at best or, rarely a new rota at worst. Once your posh set of carbons is even slightly scored its game over.
I'm quite disappointed to see that pads and rotor glazing wasn't mentioned in this video since it's a very frequent source of brake squealing. It happens when the system gets too hot especially with organic pads. Also, although putting a new set of pads on a used rotor is possible, it's not a good practice since the rotor surface will be irregular. Therefore, there will only be about 40%-50% contact with the new pads thus creating even more opportunities for glazed pads or rotor.
@colincanyon2519 just till it's dull , it's not a lot required. I can get rid of light contamination by riding along the flat and very gently applying a brake and peddling against it , if it makes a noise you have put on too much pressure, it starts out you can't use hardly any pressure but in a short time you can use more pressure and it still won't squeal. You keep doing that till you max out the pressure you can ride against and then you find a hill and run down it holding the brakes on just under the moment the squeal and peddling if need be till you have the brakes on as hard as possible and the squeal zone has now gone past your normal use of brake pressure. Short story you warm up the brakes by keeping them just under the harmonic squeal zone the whole time until they are running clear again
Despite all that, every pro bike race you watch on TV features horrible squeaking/squawking when the peloton slows down. If the supposedly best wrenches working on the best bikes for the best riders can't stop it.. Last time I dealt with this was Shimano Ultegra...after doing all the stuff in your video + more, I swapped the fancy, two-piece rotors out for the cheap one-piece Shimano versions made-in-China along with the Shimano brake pads for Swisstop organics. All quiet...for now anyway!
What I learned from seminars, and courses in the motor industry, on disc brake noise. if the pads and discs are not contaminated, but a squeak occurs when braking in the wet, but only for a second or two. Then it can sometimes be down to 'harmonics'. i'e' water between the pad and rotor creates vibration. This causes a squeal, as in when a wet finger is rubbed aroung the rim of a wine glass, thus producing a noise. Once the water is cleared from between the pad and rotor during braking, then the noise ceases. That's what they taught us anyway.🧑🎓🙄
After a sportive race, I dowsed my rear disc brake in celebatory (non-alcoholic) beer. The worst screeming brakes I ever heard. It did sound like a truck, not even like a car. Some sanding an isopropanol did fix it easily, though.
I just replaced my brake pads (SRAM Rival AXS) and there is almost no space now between rotors and pads. I took the wheel out and pushed the pads back with the correct tool, and it's now just marginal. What do you suggest? #ASKGCN
My rear disc brake was rubbing. Turns out it was the misaligned caliper. I was able to easily fix it after following the instructions on the video. Thank you GCN.
If you use resin based pads they make less noise than the metalbased pads. Most road bikes do not need the metalbased pads that cool better and can resist high temperaturen. But most roadbikes do not need these pads and the resinbased pads stay clean better when you do not do a lot of extreme breaking.
What do you think, what happens if the disc brake vibrates to feel? It is not worn so much that neither the disc nor the brake pad needs to be replaced, and there is not enough dirt on it to make a sound, and no damage can be detected.
Contamination is a demon sometimes. One time I did pads and rotors multiple times only to find it was a leaking caliper that was causing the issue. Rip my money. I take a staged solution to brakes now. Lv1 Alignment and rotor warp. Lv2 sand rotors, sand pads, clean both iso, clean caliper piston and reset, torch rotor on bike, caliper on, pads out. Somthing is screwed if its not good after that. Also, if your out of alignment it can cause contamination. If your rotors got a good warp, even one within the gap, can cause contamination. Everything has to be aligned perfect as you can, that is half the battle of reliability. Gradual contamination is a thing imo. You want the pads to be sweeping the rotors clean, perfect alignment all ways is what gives this. This is why some bike frames brake better than others, better honed mounts, stiffer too.
Im going to try a very very light smear of copper paste / copaslip on the backs of the brake pads, NOT on the friction material obviously! I've tried everything now apart from burning and im convinced my new Ultegra calipers and replacement pads are resonating under braking causing squealing, a bit like a violin bow on its string! Anyone else tried this? My other Giant with same set up has been squeal free, bedded in the same way!
Not a big fan of Ultegra..as noted elsewhere I swapped the rotors out for cheap, one-piece Chinese Shimano rotors + Swisstop organic pads. So far, nice and quiet.
Yay, another video where all the rim brake people feel the need to tell everyone how wrong their conclusions about disc brakes are. Just admit that you're too old to handle new technology and head on over to the retirement home so you're not in our way out on the road.
I have both and in DRY conditions I ask WHY I have to fiddle around with noise, hydro issues (hoses, bleed kits, oil, olives and barbs) when a decent dual-pivot caliper squeezing rubber blocks against the sides of an aluminum rim with a machined brake track works just as well while being lighter to boot? I'm old, but after "handling" all this new technology more and more it seems like planned obsolescence vs any big improvement when I've had great fun for decades zooming down almost all the famous descents of the Giro and Tour...on rim brakes.
This will keep happening, disc brakes want you to be their little slave. A bit of usage and dirt and they'll sing. If you want them to be quiet you need to clean and sand them often which I refuse. As I said many many times I have 2 road bikes with shimano 105, one is rim brake, the other hydraulic disc and oh boy let me tell you yet again, rim ones works better, stops better, need zero maintenance, and keep better their stopping power. Disc ones under heat, a long descend, and under rain are a joke, awful performance. Rim ones keep their ground much much better, opposite of what manufacturers tell you to sell an inferior yet more expansive system. Those saying cars use disc brakes are wrong, the car brake system is completely different
I always thought people who commented to say "rim brakes are best for road bikes" were silly boomers. I now understand where they were coming from. Too many reasons to list, but noise, expense, weight and constant hassle have put me right off them. Great on mountain bikes, but even after all these years, they're still a pain in the arse on road bikes.
Get rim brakes, they don't squeal. I hate my disc bike for this very reason, no matter what I do after a couple of rides they start squealing again, drives me mad!
Completely agree. It sucks though new bikes are yes or yes disc and I'm hating them. And opposite of what they keep repeating, disc even being hydraulic stop WORST
Disc brakes on bikes are a pain. Frames aren't flush to the calipers making them line up is a pain without using special tools. Rotors bend if you sneeze on them.
In every one of your comments you say fire Alex. He's one of the most knowledgeable presenters and a super nice guy, which I'm sure is more than we can say about you.
Always brings a smile to my face to see my biggest fan @leonardnovel leaving a comment. Slightly disappointed to see it's different to the usual one though
What do you do to stop squeaky breaks?
I increase the volume of my headphones.
spray wd40 on it 🙂
ruclips.net/video/zE6NFkGf-Fc/видео.htmlsi=8ioEMc7qMMhzO2Ks
Ride my rim brake bike
After a basic alignment and cleaning caliper pistons…
If there are further alignment problems, remove the bleed screw, depress the brake lever by a few mm, and reinstall the bleed screw while the lever is slightly depressed. This will enhance pull back on the pistons and pads. Job done! Easy.
Scrubbing powder works better than sandpaper for reconditioning the rotors. Less aggressive and more consistent. Just need to remove the rotors before and thoroughly rinse them after.
Having ridden rim brake bikes for decades, I’d never go back. Hydraulic disc brakes are superior in all conditions. The degree of control is amazing. No more difficult to service… just different.
i love my squeaky brakes. I ride on the Atlanta beltline and it is full of clueless people walking, running, biking and riding electric scooters. Nothing clears them out than when you come up behind them and hit the brakes.
GCN Tech: Your Disc Brakes Are Noisy (And How To Fix Them)
Manon: Buy a rim brake bike. Solved!
If your disc brake are squeaking, it caught a rat!
So that's why...
Rim brakes, HAH! Yea till it rains....you know when I really want brakes? In the rain
@@NanoDex Sooooo, for a hundred years BEFORE disc brakes what was the stopping rage in the rain? And what were YOU rocking BEFORE disc brakes, in the rain?
@@NanoDexI ride on heavy rains multiple times, where the road literally flooded. Yet i still brake just fine with my rim brake
It is almost like you guys knew my brakes are squeaking 🧐
Just coincidence and our contacts with the FBI too
@@gcntechF-ull B-looded I-talians?
They could hear you from GCN Mega Base 😉
Alex did the same video on 26Aug2024 "Stop noisy brakes..." Who's next?
My rim brakes are quiet
So are my discs. What's your point?
Why haven’t we learned more from car disc brakes? Mine have always been quiet, regardless of conditions, contamination, etc. etc., etc.
I've read somewhere that car's rotors are far thicker and, for that reason, they vibrate much less. Thus, the noise is not produced (or it cannot be heard anyway) in a similar case.
I had an issue some time ago where I had brake squeal and none of the methods in the video fixed it. Went to a bike shop and they pointed out that my rotor had heat damage which were causing the sound. Had to replace the rotor, but everything is good now.
I like disc brake noise.
same. also i think it's helpful for other people around me because it makes them more aware of my presence.
There aren’t many of you
shrugs howls along with bike.. and at night can howl at moon.. admit it you’ve done it.
Quiet bike happy bike ^^
How about scraping you finger nails down a black board for a bit of light relief!
Man! My feed has like 5 videos about disk brake noise in 2 days.
But have you fixed your brakes or not?
My Everyday bike with disc, No problem, my MTB with disc also no problem, my road bike with Ultegra a nightmare, I think they make the tolerances to tight on the road group sets
A lot easier brake pads bedding in procedure is before installing them, wet them with water (tap will do) and rub them against each other whilst wet for a minute or so. Then wash them under water to get off the rubbed bits and dry them with a cloth. Install and ride without any bedding in - works a treat.
I saw this in one of the bike mechanic preparations for the bike before race and used it a few times. Saves loads of time.
Ooh, haven't heard of doing that before - I'll give it a go. Thank you.
Also some pad materials are more prone to screaming. Like sintered pads often make much more noise than resin but i personally much prefer sintered. I like really agressive bite on my brakes.
@askgcntech I just bought my first bike with Di2. It says that "The components are designed to be fully waterproofed to withstand wet weather riding conditions; however, do not deliberately place them into water." The UK has been endless rain this year with flooding. Is it OK to ride through flood water of 100m or so (lengthwise not depth obviously)?
i find diamond grindstone for knife, works better for cleaning pads
You can easily check pad wear because most calipers enable the pads to be seen.
To all those extolling the inferior qualities of rim brakes - wait until your rim pads gets impregnated with grit or some other forign matter, then if you don't catch it quickly say good bye to your expensive rims. Discs in similar circumstances, apart from being superior in every detail, will only need a new set of pads at best or, rarely a new rota at worst.
Once your posh set of carbons is even slightly scored its game over.
In only just realized Manon has left . . . .
Moved to Discovery
Stop Squeaking, ...start quacking! :D
🦆
I'm quite disappointed to see that pads and rotor glazing wasn't mentioned in this video since it's a very frequent source of brake squealing. It happens when the system gets too hot especially with organic pads. Also, although putting a new set of pads on a used rotor is possible, it's not a good practice since the rotor surface will be irregular. Therefore, there will only be about 40%-50% contact with the new pads thus creating even more opportunities for glazed pads or rotor.
What's the best fix for glazed pads and rotors?
I actually have this going on at the moment, should I just sand them?
@colincanyon2519 it's what I do , fig 8 motion pad sand on 800grit placed on a very flat surface, and just make the disc evenly dull .
@CarkeekW
I did sand discs before but probably nowhere near enough, I'll do that with the 800 grit 👍
Cheers man you've been a great help 👌
@colincanyon2519 just till it's dull , it's not a lot required. I can get rid of light contamination by riding along the flat and very gently applying a brake and peddling against it , if it makes a noise you have put on too much pressure, it starts out you can't use hardly any pressure but in a short time you can use more pressure and it still won't squeal. You keep doing that till you max out the pressure you can ride against and then you find a hill and run down it holding the brakes on just under the moment the squeal and peddling if need be till you have the brakes on as hard as possible and the squeal zone has now gone past your normal use of brake pressure. Short story you warm up the brakes by keeping them just under the harmonic squeal zone the whole time until they are running clear again
Despite all that, every pro bike race you watch on TV features horrible squeaking/squawking when the peloton slows down. If the supposedly best wrenches working on the best bikes for the best riders can't stop it..
Last time I dealt with this was Shimano Ultegra...after doing all the stuff in your video + more, I swapped the fancy, two-piece rotors out for the cheap one-piece Shimano versions made-in-China along with the Shimano brake pads for Swisstop organics. All quiet...for now anyway!
What I learned from seminars, and courses in the motor industry, on disc brake noise. if the pads and discs are not contaminated, but a squeak occurs when braking in the wet, but only for a second or two. Then it can sometimes be down to 'harmonics'. i'e' water between the pad and rotor creates vibration. This causes a squeal, as in when a wet finger is rubbed aroung the rim of a wine glass, thus producing a noise. Once the water is cleared from between the pad and rotor during braking, then the noise ceases. That's what they taught us anyway.🧑🎓🙄
Squeaky brakes are very effective at alerting 'phone zombies of an impending collison, more so than the "ting" of a bell.
I'm keeping mine!
I myself quite enjoy the squeal :D I know it is not from pads being old or something else clueless, just "pay attention pedestrian" breaks.
After a sportive race, I dowsed my rear disc brake in celebatory (non-alcoholic) beer. The worst screeming brakes I ever heard. It did sound like a truck, not even like a car. Some sanding an isopropanol did fix it easily, though.
I just replaced my brake pads (SRAM Rival AXS) and there is almost no space now between rotors and pads. I took the wheel out and pushed the pads back with the correct tool, and it's now just marginal. What do you suggest? #ASKGCN
My rear disc brake was rubbing. Turns out it was the misaligned caliper. I was able to easily fix it after following the instructions on the video. Thank you GCN.
If you use resin based pads they make less noise than the metalbased pads. Most road bikes do not need the metalbased pads that cool better and can resist high temperaturen. But most roadbikes do not need these pads and the resinbased pads stay clean better when you do not do a lot of extreme breaking.
Hi Conner very good 👍 advice… where can you get that blue thing from what stop your front wheel from moving 👍
I don't have and don't need disc brakes, because a) i don't ride in the rain and b) i prefer to descent nice and easy not "like a deamon"...
my squeaky front brakes on my gravel turned out to be misalignment as the wheel bearing was shot
😅 😅 😅 Sounds like cantis on my paper round bike 30+ years ago
Sram pad is noisy just put swisstop or galfer and problem solved
What do you think, what happens if the disc brake vibrates to feel?
It is not worn so much that neither the disc nor the brake pad needs to be replaced, and there is not enough dirt on it to make a sound, and no damage can be detected.
When I thought about the problem, this came up during the inspection: ruclips.net/user/shorts8mX6-4TqnEs?si=EBTrQ1u1S7nBWqPv
just one long hard ride and guarantee your brakes will stop squeaking
SILCA Ultimate Brake + Drivetrain Cleaner!
Contamination is a demon sometimes. One time I did pads and rotors multiple times only to find it was a leaking caliper that was causing the issue. Rip my money. I take a staged solution to brakes now. Lv1 Alignment and rotor warp. Lv2 sand rotors, sand pads, clean both iso, clean caliper piston and reset, torch rotor on bike, caliper on, pads out. Somthing is screwed if its not good after that. Also, if your out of alignment it can cause contamination. If your rotors got a good warp, even one within the gap, can cause contamination. Everything has to be aligned perfect as you can, that is half the battle of reliability. Gradual contamination is a thing imo. You want the pads to be sweeping the rotors clean, perfect alignment all ways is what gives this. This is why some bike frames brake better than others, better honed mounts, stiffer too.
What a PITA!!! Thanks bike industry!
Im going to try a very very light smear of copper paste / copaslip on the backs of the brake pads, NOT on the friction material obviously! I've tried everything now apart from burning and im convinced my new Ultegra calipers and replacement pads are resonating under braking causing squealing, a bit like a violin bow on its string! Anyone else tried this? My other Giant with same set up has been squeal free, bedded in the same way!
Not a big fan of Ultegra..as noted elsewhere I swapped the rotors out for cheap, one-piece Chinese Shimano rotors + Swisstop organic pads. So far, nice and quiet.
Yay, another video where all the rim brake people feel the need to tell everyone how wrong their conclusions about disc brakes are.
Just admit that you're too old to handle new technology and head on over to the retirement home so you're not in our way out on the road.
I have both and in DRY conditions I ask WHY I have to fiddle around with noise, hydro issues (hoses, bleed kits, oil, olives and barbs) when a decent dual-pivot caliper squeezing rubber blocks against the sides of an aluminum rim with a machined brake track works just as well while being lighter to boot? I'm old, but after "handling" all this new technology more and more it seems like planned obsolescence vs any big improvement when I've had great fun for decades zooming down almost all the famous descents of the Giro and Tour...on rim brakes.
This will keep happening, disc brakes want you to be their little slave. A bit of usage and dirt and they'll sing. If you want them to be quiet you need to clean and sand them often which I refuse.
As I said many many times I have 2 road bikes with shimano 105, one is rim brake, the other hydraulic disc and oh boy let me tell you yet again, rim ones works better, stops better, need zero maintenance, and keep better their stopping power.
Disc ones under heat, a long descend, and under rain are a joke, awful performance. Rim ones keep their ground much much better, opposite of what manufacturers tell you to sell an inferior yet more expansive system.
Those saying cars use disc brakes are wrong, the car brake system is completely different
Bloody hilarious with all these anti disc brake commenters coming out from under their rocks. 😂
Quite a few disc brake users under rocks too.
fire the best )
Life's too short for disc brakes. They're just one big f*ck about.
Not too short to waste time watching and commenting on a video you have no use for, though, apparently. LOL
I always thought people who commented to say "rim brakes are best for road bikes" were silly boomers. I now understand where they were coming from. Too many reasons to list, but noise, expense, weight and constant hassle have put me right off them. Great on mountain bikes, but even after all these years, they're still a pain in the arse on road bikes.
Get rim brakes, they don't squeal. I hate my disc bike for this very reason, no matter what I do after a couple of rides they start squealing again, drives me mad!
Yeah same here 👍
Riding in wet weather my rim brakes scream much louder than my discs, which very rarely make any sound at all.
My rim brakes don’t squeak. Or rub.
My disc brakes also don’t squeak or rub
well i'am so happy to have RIM Break for 20 years now!!
Oke boomer
Completely agree. It sucks though new bikes are yes or yes disc and I'm hating them.
And opposite of what they keep repeating, disc even being hydraulic stop WORST
@@michprent I bet you can't wait to take your training wheels off. Next step, diapers.
@@benoitarteau2078 It’s almost like people have never experienced squeaking or pad chatter on a rim braked bike. Makes me laugh…
Bad pad-rim combination and you can get the banshee sounds on rim brakes too.
Simple solution: use rim brake
What if it doesn’t fit your bike huh? 🤓🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
Best brakes are: Campy Record rim brakes.
Why do you refer to them as 'Disc brakes' but then refer to the 'Discs' as 'rotors' You never refer to them as 'Rotor brakes'
Disc brakes on bikes are a pain. Frames aren't flush to the calipers making them line up is a pain without using special tools. Rotors bend if you sneeze on them.
Nobody admits the real cost of disc brakes.
❤ Thank you Connor, for being so nice and knowledgeable! GCN should fire Alex Paton.
In every one of your comments you say fire Alex. He's one of the most knowledgeable presenters and a super nice guy, which I'm sure is more than we can say about you.
@@WarHammerWH Yeah Alex is great. This commenter appears to be a bit disturbed. He probably rides a disc brake bike 😅
Always brings a smile to my face to see my biggest fan @leonardnovel leaving a comment. Slightly disappointed to see it's different to the usual one though
@@alexpatonGCN Are you still here?? 😅
@@alexpatonGCN Classy reply, as expected.
Basically disc brakes are well gay