Squeaky disc brake

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ozboz

Guru
Location
Richmond ,Surrey
Hiya , I recently bought a Lapierre MTB, the rear brake intermittently squeaks whilst peddling and on contact when pulling lever, it’s got Shimano hydro on it , the lad at the shop is clueless so I’ve piddled about and it’s still on ocaision makes these noises , any ideas how to sort it ?
I’ve never had discs before so a learning curve ,
Cheers
 
Location
Loch side.
They do that. Nothing much you can do about it. Lots of advice will not spurt forth, but squeak they will squeak.
 

BurningLegs

Veteran
My discs squeak, but only in the wet. If yours squeak in the dry then maybe they're contaminated?

Interesting that you're saying it's only the rear - makes it even more likely to be a contaminant in my opinion (otherwise both would be squeaking?). Any chance that some sort of spray lube has been used on the cassette/chain and contaminated the rear brake?
 

Slick

Guru
I have 2 bikes with discs and one bike never makes a sound but the other has rarely been squeak free. It was for a while when I replaced discs and pads but soon after despite taking the time to bed them in the front squeaked but the back remained silent and still does to this day. Took me ages to realise that the headset bearing has slowly leaked grease and there is a trail down the fork straight to the disc. It's very small but I really should have seen it sooner.
 

robgul

Legendary Member
Are they brand new? - if so did you bed them in? Recommendation is to ride down a hill a few times with the brakes half on to heat them up which beds in the pads. You could also try cleaning the rotors with special cleaner or IPA (not the beer) .... an alcohol cleaner

AND are they organic or metal/sintered? - the latter tend to squeal more

Rob
 

Kajjal

Guru
Location
Wheely World
Properly setup hydro disk brakes should not rub or squeak except in heavier rain. Squeaking usually means the pads, calliper and rotor are contaminated with oil. This could come from over oiling or have a dirty cassette / chain or just unlucky to get something off the road.

To sort this remove wheel and throw away old pads as they tend to absorb oil. Clean rotor and calliper with disk brake cleaner and then fit new pads. It is rare that cleaning old pads really works.
 

Skanker

Well-Known Member
Location
Walton on Thames
All sorts of reasons can cause squealing from brakes, cheap pads, contamination, wrong compounds.
I was a motorbike rider long before a cyclist so I tend to overuse my front brakes and bake them as they are not designed for the same braking style.
For my motorbike I use copper or graphite grease on the back when you fit new pads to prevent vibrations, which is usually where the squealing is coming from.
If you are going to try this method, grease goes on the back of the pad, NOT between the pad and disc!
 

I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
My cable Spyres are silent in all conditions, wet or dry. My Ultegra hydraulic brakes are quiet in all but the most severe conditions. My MTB XT hydraulic brakes are good but sometimes graunch rather than squeak/squeal and are worse in the wet.

All are maintained to the same standard and the same clearances/alignment.

My personal experience of disk brakes is that some set-ups are just naturally noisy regardless due to the natural frequency of the hardware, while others are silent when well maintained.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Yep, some setups squeal, some dont, even if you have replaced pads cleaned rotors etc. I found Shimano Ice-tech rotors the worst .
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
After many years and many thousands of miles of using disc braked bikes, I have found that semi metallic pads are far less prone to squeal then other types.
 
OP
OP
ozboz

ozboz

Guru
Location
Richmond ,Surrey
Thanks for replies, I dod not get oil on pads , but no saying what the lad in the shop did , are the pads like car pads and need shims ? I’ve noticed there are none, I may try for some with metal in them , what brand are they @ianrauk ?
 

Nigelnightmare

Über Member
Check the tightness of the rear wheel And/or play in the wheel bearings.
That's what caused mine to rub intermittently.
Once I'd adjusted the wheel bearings (cup & cone) it stopped.
On another wheel with cartridge bearings, they needed renewing and I packed the new ones with grease before fitting as the old ones were dry!
That was on a NEW bike and the shop said that's how they all are!
 
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