??? 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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