[Closed] Why are my brakes so noisy?!

A couple of years ago, a few friends of mine bought superstar brake pads at the same time, and all their brakes squealed like banshees as soon as they fitted them. Now, I don't know why, and I know that some of them are still buying superstar pads and are now squeal free, so I'm afraid my whole post might be no help to you at all.

Dunno. Both mine & wifes bikes run Guide RS, neither have been noisy at all with either the stock pads or Uberbike kevlars. I run Hope rotors & she has Formula ones.

Have you tried to align them again?

Are your rotors straight?

Thanks for the chuckle johnhe 😀

Rotors are straight and not rubbing, callipers aligned. Just given the bike a strip down and bled the brakes whilst I was at it- they've bedded in nicely but started squeaking a lit towards the last few stops!

hmmm

It is definitely something to do with your rotors and pads. I have SRAM Guide RSCs on my bike. Being factory fitted they have SRAM rotors and SRAM sintered pads. They are by a long distance the quietest brakes I've ever had!
Will be interested what happens when I put new pads on as they are uberbike ones. I will change back to SRAM if they are noisy!

Tried chamfering the edges of the pads?

What's the size of the pad like in the caliper? After market pads are often too small so move a lot more when they bite.

Is the adaptor correct? Right way round and correct spaces etc?

Only other thing I can suggest is a bit of magic water from your Camel back 🙂

Pad/disc mismatch, certain pads work better with certain discs.

I've got the Bad Touch, I've just long since accepted that no matter what brakes I have on whatever bike, they'll make a noise like a gigantic metal goose as soon as it's damp. Some people just have It.

You could try cooking or blow torching them!
My friends discs were making an awful racket and the braking power was way down, so as I tried the usual cleaning, sanding etc... and nothing worked, I took the blow torch to them and burned of any contaminates that were on them. I also put new pads on, and now they are whisper quiet and stop instantly.

I would be systematic and swap part out one at a time.

If both brakes do it, then just get one brake sorted, then move on to the next.

Rotors and disc are the first suspects so I'd be inclined to try different pads on one brake and go from there to swapping out a rotor too.

After that your back to checking alignments etc again, but it sounds like youve done that to death already.

I fitted the DB5's myself and found I had to use a couple of washers to get the pads lined up on the rotors to my liking. That said, even before the washers were fitted, they were still quite.

Good luck either-way! (Oh, im currently running sintered Uberbike pads on my DB5's and they are lovely and quite on the Centerline SRAM rotors.... though I think your caliper is different admittedly.)

I get the same, think it's superstars pad compound with sintered, discs
Are quiet with another pad material.

You've got Superstar rotors & pads & wondering why they're not right? 🙄

Copper slip?
I've got squealing Shimano slx (brand new with fins) and they've started squealing on the first ride.
Does me nut in, so I'm going to try the copper slip.

My Formula discs with Superstar Sintered Pads were squealing like a banshee. I changed the pads to Uberbike Kevlar and now they're whisper quiet.

.

Horrid brake noises went away when I stopped using Superstar pads.

Thinking about it, I'd try non-sintered pads and see if that solves it.

Sintered pads I would say.

Cheap sintered pads.

At a recent race I killed a set of pads and had to grab a set from a sponsors stand (I think they were Aztec). Have always run Shimano pads without issue, these things squealed and vibrated like mad as soon as they'd bedded in.

Have since tried them on another bike just to make sure it's the pad, replacement Shimano organic pads ordered.

I changed the pads on my CX bike a while back from the resin pads that came as standard (Shimano R685 brakes) to the Shimano metal version. Nothing else changed and the noise is horrendous (front and rear), a smear of copper-slip on the back of the pads helps for a week or two but then the noise comes back.
I only bought the metal ones because I thought they would last longer, but even that doesn't seem to be the case.
Resin for me next time.

Oil contamination from a leaky calliper?

Lots of replies!

Pads have had the 'go in the oven' trick and were sanded afterwards, although not chamfered.

Lots of comments about the sintered pads, but I've been using the same superstar sintered ones for years on different brakes, and never had a problem 🙁

No oil leaks, calipers are doing nicely. I'm in wales this weekend and will take some different rotors to try, and see if this changes anything!

My T-130 Works came with Guide RS which were fine until a wet, gritty & muddy ride in Wales during which they started squealing and nothing I did made them stop until i swapped them out for my Hope E4s.

Not sure that helps much.

Having just changed over to Superstar Sintered pads I've had the same experience as the OP. Poor braking performance (almost came a cropper yesterday because of it yesterday) and very loud.

Looking at Uberbike Kevlars now....

Is it possible superstar changed suppliers? I have ss organics which are great, but superstar are really just a reseller, they buy in bulk, stick thier name on it, and sell on, so it's possible the sintered ones are a new batch from a different OEM?

Maybe worth calling them to ask.

Had similar problems recently and tried everything to no avail. More of a rumble and groan than a squeal though. Then I changed the mounting bolts as the old one seemed a bit corroded, well it went away. Probably more to do with changing the alignment on the caliper but maybe worth a try.

I had issues with Uber Sintered on my Deores, making such a din. Found that they were overheating, as the back plates had changed colour. Decided to fit Kevlar and has been fine. Will refit the sintereds when it gets damp and cold.

Superstar Kevlar is the answer. Quiet, feel more like organic and durable. Wear a bit more than sintered but not bothered given the price, less noise and better braking. Just buy a pack of 4. Same price as a single set of original brand ones.

I don't bother with any other pads whatever the time of year.

Try replacing the sintered pads with organic ones. I'd rather not have pads than use noisy Superstar sintered pads.