this is a second hand bike I got a few months ago, everything works as it should
this is my first bike with disk brakes so I'm not sure if this whistling noise is solvable or do i just need to replace the pads/disk
I'm planning on replacing the pads either way once i find where to get them near me
by aweoi079
3 Comments
So, that style of rotor (with near-perfectly even-spaced slots that are not in-line with the direction of rotation) is going to be prone to introducing all sorts of harmonic vibrations.
Combine that with really small and round pads (BB5? EDIT, no, BB5s don’t have a bolt hole. Some old Tektro?) that are less resistant to pad tilt (long rectangular pads are harder to induce a tilt in)…
Combine that with pads that are asymmetrically worn (your calipers may be out of alignment with the rotor) and you have a near-perfect recipe for brake noise.
And all that’s assuming there’s no contamination.
So, clean your rotors well with acetone or alcohol as the final rinse, replace your pads, align your calipers with your rotor (what model caliper), and see if things aren’t improved.
Disc brakes *can* make noise if they’re not set up correctly, have worn or contaminated pads or rotors, or some pad/rotor combos do just make noise. These rotors and pads are possibly the cheapest ones available, and I’m guessing the brake calipers themselves are budget ones, known for being awful to set up. Get your local bike shop to check it over and replace anything needed, then set up properly. They might end up being quiet, or they’ll still make noise.
Get new pads and realign the calipers. The chirps are the edge of the pads catching the on the rotor slots. Pad wear does look uneven luckly those pads are cheap as chips.