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??? about incredibly loud breaks
I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. It was about $60.
Not being much of an enthusiast, I don't intend to spend much (if any) more for one, but figured a cheap bike would get me some excercise and provide the basics that a person would want from a bicycle. In most respects is seems to do well enough, but the breaks are ***loud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!***!!!!!!. Not only are they the loudest breaks I've ever heard on a bike, but they are the loudest breaks I've ever heard on anything! They are so loud that I won't keep the thing unless they can be made to shut up. They don't just squeal, they scream with a whole bunch of different tones going on...to me they sound like a flock of geese, only a whole lot louder than any geese could be. If I stopped the bike while going past a house, I feel sure the people inside would be able to hear it very easily even if all the doors and windows were closed. Is there a way to make them shut up? |
wrote in message ... I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. It was about $60. Not being much of an enthusiast, I don't intend to spend much (if any) more for one, but figured a cheap bike would get me some excercise and provide the basics that a person would want from a bicycle. In most respects is seems to do well enough, but the breaks are ***loud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!***!!!!!!. Not only are they the loudest breaks I've ever heard on a bike, but they are the loudest breaks I've ever heard on anything! They are so loud that I won't keep the thing unless they can be made to shut up. They don't just squeal, they scream with a whole bunch of different tones going on...to me they sound like a flock of geese, only a whole lot louder than any geese could be. If I stopped the bike while going past a house, I feel sure the people inside would be able to hear it very easily even if all the doors and windows were closed. Is there a way to make them shut up? It might cost more than the $60 you paid for the bike to put quality brakes and brake pads on it (assuming it's a mountain bike type), adjustment might help but there's a reason the bike cost $60. |
The two main ways of getting rid of brake noise are
getting rid of free play in the brakes and adjusting them so that the edge of the brake shoe closest to the front of the bike contacts the rim first. Grab a brake shoe and try to move it front to back, is the brake tight, or is it sloppy? Getting rid of that slop is the first step, but it may not be possible with a two dollar brake on a sixty dollar bike. Mitch. |
On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 06:45:16 GMT, wrote in message
: I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. It was about $60. I think I can see the source of the problem here... For comparison, the brakes on my bike retail at $170. Each. A set of Kool-Stop Salmon brake pads (a cheap and common solution to squealing and underperforming brakes) is half the entire price you paid for your bike. Guy -- May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk 88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University |
wrote in message
... I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. It was about $60. Not being much of an enthusiast, I don't intend to spend much (if any) more for one, but figured a cheap bike would get me some excercise and provide the basics that a person would want from a bicycle. In most respects is seems to do well enough, but the breaks are ***loud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!***!!!!!!. Not only are they the loudest breaks I've ever heard on a bike, but they are the loudest breaks I've ever heard on anything! They are so loud that I won't keep the thing unless they can be made to shut up. They don't just squeal, they scream with a whole bunch of different tones going on...to me they sound like a flock of geese, only a whole lot louder than any geese could be. If I stopped the bike while going past a house, I feel sure the people inside would be able to hear it very easily even if all the doors and windows were closed. Is there a way to make them shut up? If you are new to bicycle maintenance, one web site you definitely should check out is Sheldon Brown's. You probably need to "toe in" the brakes, and this is covered on this page: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ta-o.html Part of this entry is below: "Good practice in installing brake shoes is to "toe them in", so that the front part of the shoe hits the rim first. As the brake arm flexes under real braking, it will permit the whole surface of the brake shoe to engage the rim. "Toeing in of brake shoes can also reduce the annoying squeal some brakes make when in use." |
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This is a cross-post reply, so I don't know if anyone has brought this up in the other replies, but brakes will squeal even on the best brakes and even when toed-in if they are literally squeaky clean. As pads break in, they pick up particles of silica from dirt, and that quiets them down. you can speed up the process by smearing a little clay-rich (not sandy) mud on their faces. Pottery clay would probably be ideal, if you can get hold of a little. Some people use cleanser to get the same effect. You got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there. - Yogi Berra |
wrote in message ... I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. It was about $60. I seriously can't imagine how they can produce and sell a bike for $60 and still make a profit. Granted they make millions of them and they use Chinese slave labor....but still. The last time I replaced the tires on my MTB - not expensive tires either - it cost me $50 for the tires and new tubes. Just yesterday I went to my LBS to order a replacement casette, chain and crank set...nearly $150. And these are by no means high end parts. Cheto |
wrote in message ... I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. etc. What everyone else said, plus this: It's entirely likely there's something truly fundamentally wrong with the way the bike was assembled and the brakes installed. Like the pads are missing, or the brakes are on the wrong side of the fork, or the fork is backwards, or something else so stupid you probably won't believe it when you learn what it is. Aside from their innate compromises, *mart bikes are often assembled by people with no prior experience or training in the task. Go to one of the sites mentioned, parktool or sheldonbrown, and carefully compare the photographs of properly-installed brakes to your brakes. Then think about what else might have been botched in the assembly of your bike, and ask yourself if it's still a bargain if it's so dangerous you're afraid to ride it. RichC |
"Cheto" wrote in message ... wrote in message ... I bought a cheap bike at WalMart today. It was about $60. I seriously can't imagine how they can produce and sell a bike for $60 and still make a profit. They have "full suspension" bikes for that much. Granted, the 'suspension' is little more than a spring, but to the uninitiated, they look the part. Pete |
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