Noisy brakes

[roadrulesok]

On road bike, I have this grinding noise from the front when I brake. I Have sanded the surface down lightly to no avail, the noise returns in the next 20 k's Any answers?

[droo]

Are your pads 'toe in'? When you pull the brakes, the front of the pad should hit the rim slightly before the back. This should stop any weird noises.

[Johan Bornman]

I bet you have black brake pads from Shimano in there? Perhaps Campy's carbon compatible black pads? They're all rubbish and tend to pick up aluminium from the rim, especially in wet conditions, but not exclusively so.

Examine your pads carefully under good light and you'll see the aluminium embedded in the pads. Now look at your rims and you'll notice how the pads scored them.

 

It will look like this:

 

 

As a temporary measure you can pick out the bits of metal with a pick of sorts but the long-term solution is Koolstop pads. Go look at www.koolstop.com and specifically for the Salmon pads.

 

Buy them online from Harriscyclery.com

 

There is a local Koolstop agent but he's fast asleep and doesn't know what treasure he sits on. Supply is erratic and their and their dealer's knowledge of the product is pathetic.

 

[Johan Bornman]

Here's a nice close-up of the problem.

 

[daggavis]

I experienced the same with the Wet Fast One..

 

JB, how do Koolstop compare to SwissStop Pads? You don't have any koolstops in stock that you can sell to me?

 

Thx

[daggavis]

JB, are the Koolstop Dual compound ones also good or are the Salmon compound the best to use?

[Johan Bornman]

Interesting question. I have never given it any thought even though my one bike has the dual compound Black/Salmon on. The other bikes all have pure salmon.

 

Here's a photo of the entire shoe.

 

 

And here is a picture of the black side. Clearly there is no aluminium pick-up there.

 

 

 

Here's a picture of the salmon side.  No pickup there either.

 

 

My conclusion is that the dual compounds don't pick up alu either.

 

But some perspective. I only bought the dual compounds at the time 'cause nothing else was available so I figured that half salmon is better than nothing. Indeed it is. However, the black side wears far quicker. If you look at the pad from the side, the black side is about 1mm down on the other side (it tapers gradually) with the shoe about halfway through its life. My photos of this just don't work.

 

 

I don't know why the dual compounds even exist, since the Salmons work well in wet and dry. I suppose it has to do with others doing the same and bla bla bla.

 

My previous MTB set were Red and they were phenomenal. They survived about 4 years of riding, four wet stage races and some more. Further, rim wear was minimimal and I wish I could get reds again. But I couldn't, so now that bike has Salmons as well.

 

I have not used Swiss Stop pads and can't comment, but I can say is that Koolstop has a patent on the stuff in Salmon pads and they have not licensed it to anyone other than Matthauser (I think they went belly up). I can safely say Swiss Stops don't have the same stuff in, but that doesn't mean much. Maybe someone else with experience and pictures can help us out there.

 

Unfortunately Dagga, I don't have any to sell. I have a set of MTB ones but V-brakes aren't everyone's cup of tea nowadays. I do have a set of Eagle Claw style but most people pull their noses up at the look of them.

 

I'm willing to bring a batch in from Harris Cyclerly if others want to club in and commit.  Just be prepared to compromise. We may have to bring the entire shoe in if we can't get inserts only or, Campy guys will have to go with Shimano style and vice versa. It doesn't really matter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[roadrulesok]

Thanks, the front pads are from BB , the back is still the original Shimano. Much less noise from the back.

John I am in cape town and would be keen on getting some of the coolstop pads in. I will distribute them locally

Cheers

[daggavis]

JB, I ordered salmon shimano inserts from SJS Cycles (sjscycles.co.uk) yesterday since their shipping is a little cheaper than HarrisC. Dealt with SJS before and they're excellent. Can't wait for them to arrive!