new bike..squeaky brake

[Chimera101]

Hi all,

This has probably already been asked and answered loads of times but i canny find it.

I got my new bike yesterday (new to me that is), and all is well except that teh back brake squeaks like..well like a very squeaky thing. It only happens at low speeds anythin below 15mph. The brake does what its ment to do it stops/slows me down but is there any way to stop the squeak

other than not using it that is.

any advice would be appreciated

[Pete]

Lots of things you can do

- Check the pads to see if they're worn. Depending on the bike you should be able to do this with without taking them out (look for wear indicators. Some don't have wear indicators so see if there's plenty of meat on them)

- If the pads have plenty of meat on them take them out, smear the BACK with a bit of copper slip/grease (this stuff). It could be that when you apply the brake the pad is vibing against the piston, putting copper grease there stops the vibing.

- If the pads are relatively new they may not have bedded in properly. Take the pads out, sand them down until it's a nice level surface again. Reinstall the pads and go easy on them for 100 miles or so to bed them in.

- If the pad surfaces are nice and level, there's grease on the back and there's plenty of meat left you can try sanding a 45 degree angle into the leading edge of the pad. The reason being that the pad could be vibing off the disc, or a bit of grit or debris could have become trapped. Sanding it at an angle stops the vibing.

See, told you there's plenty you can try the first thing I'd do would be to check the wear. Second would be to copper slip the back of the pads.

[Guest]

If its a newer-ish break i do believe they use different components now that make the breaks squeak...

My granddads car breaks squeak and according to the mechanic is because of there being some metal or something init?

My front ones on the SV used to squeak....gave them a good clean down yesterday seem fine now...

Maybe there is a bit of rust on the disks ?

[Guest]

yep, thats why you coat the back of the pads (metal) with coppaslip/copper grease, so that where they touch the pistons (metal, again) they dont rub and resonate, hence the squeal..

[Colin the Bear]

And to resist the salt.

[Chimera101]

thanks everyone, i'll get myself a manual for the bike and then have a look and see whats what. hopefully ill soon have squeak free breaks.

[Pete]

Ah yes incidentally like Chris said it could be just the nature of the pad. I had EBC pads on the rear of my last bike and no matter what I tried they were forever squeaking, even after a few thousand miles! Apparently it's common with EBC sintered pads...so I don't use them anymore!