I knew the noise I was getting from my back brake wasn’t standard disc brake noise, and the obscene vibration that it sends up the seatpost is definitely not normal!
I’d started to come round to the idea of replacing the brakes entirely, but was worried that it was more a frame thing than a brake thing, as a few people had mentioned resonant frequencies etc.
One solution I had read was to get some lead weights from a model shop (used to balance model planes) and tape them to the disc side seatstay, approx half way up, in order to ‘change’ the frequency of the frame/brake combo.
So I visited my local model shop at lunchtime thinking it could be worth a punt. They didn’t have any lead but on my walk back I found a wee wheel balancing weight at the side of one of Edinburgh’s many horrifically potholed streets.
Put a strip of blutack on the back, stuck it to the underside of the seatstay and wrapped a bunch of tape around it. The difference it made to the braking is really surprising, no more moaning/howling or vibration under moderate braking, and the actual feel of the brake seems different (although that’s probably because I’m no longer afraid to pull the lever properly).
Anyway, I doubt it’s a long term fix, and I haven’t tried it in the wet yet, and at the end of the day I now have a lead weight sellotaped to my nice lightweight MTB, but it was an interesting wee experiment if nothing else 8)
