Is brake disc noise unavoidable ?

[Kbrook]

New road bike, first two rides in dry conditions no issues. Today wet and a bit mucky, lots of rubbing/ scraping noise. Looking at the gap between pad and disc which is minuscule I'm thinking this is inevitable?
Is this correct, the only way it could improve as I see it would be to increase distance between pad and rotor, but this seems impossible on hydraulic discs, is this correct?

 

[lpretro1]

That's normal - the mud etc gets all over rotor and caliper - yes there will be scraping as it is a narrow clearance. Yes a hydraulic brake is self-adjusting. It's a new brake so they take a little while to bed in as well - so there is often a little bit of rubbing until they do so. Don't mess with it just ride it. It's functioning perfectly normally.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Mine makes all sorts of noise when its damp or wet, in the dry its not noticeable at all. Its hydraulic as well, as has been said above the rotors and calipers pick up all sorts of crap at this time of year especially !

 

[I like Skol]

Yes and no! The brakes on my hybrid (Shimano hydraulic M785) run silently nearly all the time until the pads get a bit low then seem to start rubbing a bit more (noticeable when wet) but usually only after hitting a bump or rough bit of road. Dabbing the brakes will often sort this out and re-seat the pads in the right place in respect of the rotor.
The hydraulic brakes on my new all-road bike are essentially the same calliper (Shimano R785) and run just as well as far as rubbing is concerned but do have a terrible squeal when even slightly damp that I am still trying to sort. I am sure it will be cured eventually, it is not something I suffer on the hybrid and the set up is almost identical.

 

[Globalti]

The hydraulic brakes on my new all-road bike are essentially the same calliper (Shimano R785) and run just as well as far as rubbing is concerned but do have a terrible squeal when even slightly damp that I am still trying to sort. I am sure it will be cured eventually, it is not something I suffer on the hybrid and the set up is almost identical.

The answer is to take out the pads and grind a chamfer on their leading edges.

 

[I like Skol]

The answer is to take out the pads and grind a chamfer on their leading edges.

Used to do this on cars, especially drum brakes. Did try it on the original Tektro crap brakes that my hybrid came with but it didn't work and the Shimano ones have never needed it on the sets of pads I have worn through (not many as they last a few thousand miles at least).

 

[Kestevan]

I've the same bike as @I like Skol the original pads that came with the bike were pretty much squeal free.

Recently replaced pads with some superstar ones, and although the braking performance is unaffected any damp results in a banshee like squeal for a second or two.

Given that the "proper" Shimano ones are £30 an end and the for the same price I get 8 superstar ones Ill learn to live with the noise....

 

[I like Skol]

Nope, been out this morning. Rear is silent, front is still pants.... I may try swapping the pads front to back and see if the problem follows the pads, there by proving a contaminated set.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Mine squeak in wet and/or cruddy conditions. tends to be very effective for alerting people to your presence if they're stepping out without looking or listening.

 

[RussellZero]

Ive just got a new cx bike with discs, front squeals really noisily, rear is totally silent. From what I read, its caused by contamination of the disc or pad. I've ordered up some disc cleaning spray (MucOff) to see if that solves the problem. I wonder if when they were building the bike some oil or grease got on the disc or pad. Plenty of youtube videos that point to the same thing and show you how to clean off the disc and the pads.