The rim breaks on my wife’s bike are incredibly squeaky and loud. I can’t figure out how to adjust them to stop. There isn’t an adjustment for toe that I can find, but maybe someone could point it out to me.
The pads are also pretty hard and cracked in some places. Could new pads do the trick?
by the-montser
10 Comments
New pads will definitely help but unfortunately polished rims will always be pretty loud. The adjustment for toe is actually just to bend the caliper
ok, so first thing is those are prety old pads on a steel rim. Lower your expectations. As a side note, how much do you love your wife and do you live in a hilly area? no reason. I survived years of those dangerous excuses for brakes for years in my youth and survived with only mild trauma. The noise is the least of your concerns.
as far as fixing, you could start by replacing those pads and cleaning the rims down well. after you have learned some basic bike maintenance, go out and buy your wife a newer bike. If funds are tight, maybe look for some replacement wheels with an aluminum braking surface. If funds are really tight, find a sturdy stick to jam in the spokes for emergency situations.
Replace the pads and clean the rim, contamination usually causes noisy brakes. All that said, this looks like a really old, rusty, cheap bike, you can’t be expecting miracles here.
Steel rims. Pay your dues.
Clean the rims and pads with brake cleaner, if it doesn’t help, then also replace the pads with something nicer. But definitely clean everything first. In my experience most of the time the brake squealing sound comes from brake pad or brake surface being contaminated with oil.
Cheap brakes and cheap rims.
If she is in love with that frame you can upgrade to dual pivot brakes and alloy rims, or for about the same price you can get a much nicer bike.
By the look of it, I expect things to squeak, rattle or possibly drop off when hitting a bump.
Clean the bike, replace the pads and do some much needed maintenance.
New pads clean the surface of the braking with alcahol and rag should work as long as the brake System is good. Good luck
Noise= vibration, they vibrate when they’re 100%parallel with the rim, ideally you want some amount of clearance on the back of the pad, minimal, but some.
a piece of paper thick should be enough to make them quieter
At the moment you brake they will bend forward that little amount, so they shouldn’t wear unevely, at least not much
V brake pads should work on there. They have washers in them that allow for a little toe angle that should help with noise.