HOW?

Don’t get me wrong, ridiculously powerful and incredible modulation, but they squeal more than anything else I’ve ever ridden!

FWIW they’re only a few rides old from new, running OEM Formula pads, and OEM 6 bolt discs (180FR, 160RR) so it’s all pukka stuff.

Any tips?

Did you bed the pads and discs in?

I have the RX’s and they squealed badly until I bedded them in properly. Now they only squeal until the first hard stop puts a bit of heat in them.

Give the discs and pads a light rub with sand paper, clean with brake cleaner and then bed them in by riding at a half decent speed and then slowing down sharply to a crawl and repeat a good 10-15 times. Do one brake at a time and do it on a dry day

some good pointers here, http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/workshop-step-by-step-guide-to-quiet-disc-braking-22829/

OK cheers guys

To be fair, done all the usual stuff suggested above. I’m finding that Formula’s do seem very sensitive to setup compared to Shimano say.

Just rubbed the pads down with a file, used loads of brake cleaner, reinstalled and went and did a few sharp stops. Seems that exactly as described above, they squeal like a bitch (and have no bite) until there’s a bit of heat into them, but as soon as there’s heat in, MY GOD they bite!

I think I need to go to the top of a VERY big hill, and go cook them for a bit…

Me and my mate with the same brakes are finding the same issue. Lovely power and modulation but noisy in application. I think I’m going to try some organic pads as i never had much luck with sintered pads on my xt-785s. Organic pads transformed them to smooth and quiet so hoping this will will do the same with these

Well I’ll find out tomorrow if my work has made enough of a difference. Anyone doing the Wentwood 50 tomorrow, if you can hear someone from miles away with ultra squeaky brakes, it’s probably me! 😳

No one, not even that article, has mentioned copper grease. A tiny amount on the surface between the piston and back of the brake pad will get rid of any noise. Exactly the same as you would do with a car or any other brakes. Don’t use any other sort of grease though, it will melt and could contaminate the braking surface.

I had some Formula R1’s and they were just the same with the standard organic pads. They just don’t like wet and muddy. After a long process I found Aztec sintered pads and problem solved. They don’t need much bed in time, last ages and were near silent in all conditions including Calderdale grit and mud. A couple of riding buddies with Hope brakes love em as well. I have a couple of spare sets left. New bike has X0 Trail brakes but unfortunately Aztec don’t make pads for these yet 😕

Several months on, a few sets of pads down, and still no better!

Word to the wise, copper grease (no matter how carefully you apply it) will eventually contaminate the pads! I found out the brown trouser way sadly…

Just about to try some RWD Sintered pads and also some Clarks Organic, see if either of those are better than anything else I’ve tried so far! Might also try the spare Avid HS1 rotors I’ve got kicking about, to see if that helps to quieten them down.

I’ve always used Formula’s sintered pads with no problems at all…their organic ones are another matter though.

Mine were squealing like pigs from new, spent ages bedding in but may have got it wrong as they only lasted a few rides.

I replaced the stock pads with Uberbike’s race matrix type, silent and very powerful ever since.

I have found that the Uber bike sintered pads squeal, but race matrix ones silent.

Over here (the Alps), sintered = noisy. No way around it.

Less of an issue in the UK as shorter descents means less heat, but sintered pads always squeal really badly over here.

try different pads as suggested but formulas run very close to the disc anyway, unlike shimanos, and are temperamental for that reason. great for stopping but should come with free ear plugs

I think it’s the fact the OEM Formula disc is very light weight, and hence has a natural frequency in the “squealing” range. My set of wheels that have non OEM discs don’t squeal, my set that have the OEM discs do!

Keep meaning to zip tie a couple of bits of silicone tube over the disc spokes to see if it changes the frequency of the squeal…

I found sintered pads to be pretty squealy (especially when damp).
I’m currently running Superstar comps kevlar pads and they seem to be much quieter (but to be honest they haven’t been in the wet much yet).

http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/kevlar-disc-brake-pads.htm

The springs supplied with the pads are rubbish but I must say the pads have been pretty damn good in the couple of months I’ve been running them. 🙂

Superstar Kevlar pads were without question, the worst pads I’ve ever used, so won’t be taking that advice I’m afraid!

Sintered pads do squeal when they’re hot anyway, but it’s when they’re cold and dry it annoys the hell out of me! Even running organics in the T1’s they still squeal too much, so going to try as many people suggest, some different rotors. Maybe even some Shimano ones.

Update (for anyone who cares)…

It seems that maxtorque was on to something. I found more information on other forums of people with Formula’s running non Formula rotors in order to stop the squealing. Evidence suggested that some floating rotors make the biggest difference, so I bought some of the Clarks CFR-10a rotors (on which the pad track depth is a perfect match for the Formula pads) 180F/160R and went out for a few rides.

And for the mostpart, it works!

They’re not totally squeal free, but they’re silent 95% of the time now rather than 5% of the time. That’s good enough for me for now anyway. 🙂

I was just going to add, I use mine with the heavier “oro” formula rotors instead of those shite entirely-made-of-holes ones they used to only sell with the XC race brakes, but now sell with everything because people like lightweight. They still honk a bit but then all my brakes do- they’re no noisier than anything else I’ve used.

those shite entirely-made-of-holes ones they used to only sell with the XC race brakes, but now sell with everything because people like lightweight.

Which also wear out amazingly quickly, and then cause massively uneven pad wear which accelerates the worse they get, all caused by the hole pattern.

One word… Kevlar.

Still can squeal at times, but far less than sintered.

And yes, Superstar Kevlar pads. Contrary to the above “worst ever”, they are to me the best pads. Zero difference in feel to the official organic pads and a quarter of the price and last longer. Never have issues with them.

Not convinced about copper grease for a pedal bike. The use with cars and motorbikes originally was to stop pads from bonding in high heat to the pistons, and then people claimed it helped stop squeal so became something everyone did because everyone else said they do it.

With bikes, there’s a small surface area and high risk of contaminating the pads, plus copper grease doesn’t mix well with aluminium and bikes often have ali parts, either in the frame, bolts or the brake components.

Anyway, I’ve always thought the squeal isn’t from vibration but is friction squeal. That’s why sintered squeals more as it has metal within the pad material rubbing against metal rotors.

I solved my squealing Formula problem by fitting Shimano brakes…

I’ve read- though don’t know it to be true- that in automotive use, the heat causes the lighter part of the grease in copper grease to flash off, so leaves a very thick copper residue. Whereas on pushirons it’ll not get hot enough often enough, so stays as relatively thin grease. Seems legit looking at my car and motorbike brakes, though that could equally be a mileage thing…

Hob Nob – Member

Which also wear out amazingly quickly, and then cause massively uneven pad wear which accelerates the worse they get, all caused by the hole pattern.

You knows it. I love my Formula brakes but they do some unloveable bullshit as a company

I was a Formula Fan

They look cool, got all the right top reviews…

I’ve owned Oro’s, One’s, Bianco’s, Mega’s

Almost all of them suffered a whole heap of issues. I sent some back for warranty replacement, others I had to get bigger rotors (200/180) to feel as if they were capable of hauling me up

And, yes, the squeel – oh my lord the howl. The rest of the group were always on at me, walkers would get scared to death…

I tried ALL MANNER of stuff to get rid of it – sanding, isoprol alcohol, pads, eamiling Formula loads of times (a chap in the US was very friendly), strasightening out discs, different wheels, torquing spokes, changing the forks, changing the frame, losing weight… all failed 🙂

In the end I went Shimano and have been a very happy braker since

The XT’s on my current ride are completely faultless

A mate brought SLX’s and has been very happy too

Zero squeal, loads of performance. Quality

Give your Formula’s away, buy XT – it will pay you dividends in short time 🙂

mboy buy SLX’s. I wouldn’t run anything else. I had yours – HATED THEM.

Im using some EBC organics at the moment and they dont squeal at all on my T1S’s

I only ever found the formula sintered pads to squeal when they were cold and wet, or even damp from washing the bike a few days previous.. The best solution was to drag the brakes slightly on the flat so that they got some heat into them. This generally cured the squealing. Once they had some heat in them they worked fine all day.

Glad to have been a service!

I permanently fixed my Formula issues with these:

😉

+1 for the superstar kevlar pads, add in some superstar floating rotors and my T1s are v quiet and wonderfully powerful

Max – are those four pot Saints?

Indeedy doody, M820 Saints 😉

Uberbike Race Matrix pads fixed mine, plus made them silly powerful. I think the stock pads are rubbish.

Give your Formula’s away, buy XT – it will pay you dividends in short time

mboy buy SLX’s. I wouldn’t run anything else. I had yours – HATED THEM.

I permanently fixed my Formula issues with these:

LOL 😆

These T1’s are my first non Shimano brakes for a decade! I know how good Shimano’s are, but what I feel is missing on some of the latest generation Shimano’s is that bit of modulation that the Formula’s have in spades. XT’s have become sharper and sharper with each generation, they’re impressively powerful but they have become less subtle with every new model.

I fancied a change basically… And the T1’s, when set up right, are fantastically controlled as well as powerful. But after 10 months of use now, I will concede that they’re VERY typically Italian… That is to say very temperamental and not particularly reliable! Oh, and pad wear is WAY higher than on the SLX’s on my other bike…

The funny thing is, of all brakes I’ve tried on other bikes recently, the ones that have most impressed me have been the new SRAM Guide 4 pots on a Whyte G-150. So much power, so much control, and the promise that SRAM have finally made their brakes a lot easier to bleed and they are less temperamental too! Hmmm…

Very Italian lol

Max – yeah, when I finally gave up for good with Formula I went to the Saints.

I wanted POWER and OMG have they got it!

I think there’s more power in them than my classic Mini brakes had 🙂 Immense. Only thing they are big, rather ugly (esp the lever end) and heavy. I should sell them as they only saw a few rides and sit in the shed now

XT/SLX FTW