Hi All

I’m after some advice please. My disc brakes front and back are extremely noisy, increasing the more I brake and regardless of how wet it is and my pads don’t need replacing.

Could it be that the discs just need cleaning? In which case what spray/method would you recommend?

Alternatively, what else does anyone think could be causing the problem? The din generated is becoming a bit embarrassing as I screech down singletrack sounding like a herd of rampant elephants…

Thanks in advance.

Number 18

Try aligning the calipers to the discs very carefully and making sure the pistons are coming out as equally as you can get them to.

I always smear a little copper grease on the back of the pad backing plate. That and as above with the alignment.

Whether or not pad compound makes any difference, I couldn’t say.

Inspect the surface of the disc very carefully looking for signs of oil or similar.

What are you cleaning your bike with ?
Are you spraying something on the frame and forks after washing like GT85 or similar ?

Also what brand of pads and which disk brake set up are you running?

I know a lot of people wash their bike in car shampoo believing it will give it lustre and shine, it will give a nice sheen on eveything including the braking surfaces

it also depends what type of pads your using, i tried everything to get sintered pads to work, but they kept squealing, so i tried a softer compound pad, no more noise, only draw back is the softer pads dont last as long, but for £18 for 4 sets from superstar thats not a problem, cheers steve

As above to make sure your rotor’s are grease free, I use acetone. Seems to evaporate quickly and doesn’t leave a smear.

My calipers on my inbred are always uneven – with sintered pads they made a hideous noise. Made me brake less but sometimes you do actually need them.

Tried cleaning the religiously with disc brake cleaner – it worked to an extent.

Have now gone to organic pads – and its amazing I can go down hills in public without wanting to disown the thing! I dont care if they wear quicker I bet I’ll still have to take them out less than I did before when i was just trying to shut the sintered ones up

it also depends what type of pads your using, i tried everything to get sintered pads to work, but they kept squealing,

I’m having the same issue with sintered pads.

Sintered pads can be a bit of a pain – what I have found works is to drag them for a while and get plenty of heat in them. Try riding a few hundred yards while holding the brakes on, that should sort it.

Thanks all for the advice, sorry for the delay in my response!

I ended up buying some Muc-off disk brake cleaner spray. I clean the disks and pads after every 4 to 5 rides or so and it keeps them quiet. I’ve been quite impressed with the spray actually.

Maybe the fact that they are sintered makes the problem slightly worse, but I’ve still got a few spare sets of pads so I’ll be using them before trying a softer compound.

I’ve been really struggling to get my sintered pads to stay quiet, I’ve tried cleaning the rotors, giving the pads a quick sand, chamfering both edges and I’ve swapped them to the other brake to see if the noise is improved, if it isn’t I think I’ll be sending them back for some other ones.