woodbine
Senior Member
- Location
- Bristol, UK
I have a British Eagle MTB, best part of 30 years old and used only on the road (road tyres fitted). Although old, the bike spent many years laid up before being re-commissioned.
As far as I know the (cantilever) brake blocks were the original - poss Shimano blocks as all components are Shimano. I bought a couple of pairs what were advertised as Clarks blocks from Ebay and fitted a pair to the front as there is still a bit of life left in the rears.
First thing I noticed was the rubber on the new ones was much softer and less dense than the originals. Straight away, the new front blocks were noisy - not the usual squeal - more like a loud rubbing almost grinding noise. Anyway I stuck with them for a while, but noticed that they seemed to wear very quickly. The noise is constant.
Today I decided to look at the contact part of the new front blocks and found something looking metallic seems to be embedded in the rubber. Could poss also be grit that has been polished by contact with rim. Obviously this is not good for the wheel rim. Looking at the contact surfaces of the original blocks that are still on the rear, there is nothing embedded in them at all.
Anyway, can someone recommend some quality blocks to suit my situation? Something with harder, better quality rubber as I want to bin the new ones I have. I need ones that are 50 or 55 mm long. Have looked for Shimano, but can't find my type/size. Also want to avoid Clarks.
Thanks for any help.
As far as I know the (cantilever) brake blocks were the original - poss Shimano blocks as all components are Shimano. I bought a couple of pairs what were advertised as Clarks blocks from Ebay and fitted a pair to the front as there is still a bit of life left in the rears.
First thing I noticed was the rubber on the new ones was much softer and less dense than the originals. Straight away, the new front blocks were noisy - not the usual squeal - more like a loud rubbing almost grinding noise. Anyway I stuck with them for a while, but noticed that they seemed to wear very quickly. The noise is constant.
Today I decided to look at the contact part of the new front blocks and found something looking metallic seems to be embedded in the rubber. Could poss also be grit that has been polished by contact with rim. Obviously this is not good for the wheel rim. Looking at the contact surfaces of the original blocks that are still on the rear, there is nothing embedded in them at all.
Anyway, can someone recommend some quality blocks to suit my situation? Something with harder, better quality rubber as I want to bin the new ones I have. I need ones that are 50 or 55 mm long. Have looked for Shimano, but can't find my type/size. Also want to avoid Clarks.
Thanks for any help.
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