Levo 2018 brake upgrade

[Rip7]

Hi I just recently purchased a BMW Turbo Levo FSR 2018 and the sram guide squealing brakes are really starting to annoy me so looking for ideas for a upgrade I have a scott carbon with shimano xt brakes as standard they never give me any grief at all so was looking at going that way but not sure what I need to buy part wise so any help would be appreciated.

 

[Swissrob]

I don't think you need a brake upgrade but different brake pads in different seasons (wet or dry) make a big difference, more information here.

Organic or Sintered - EMTB Forums

Also using the tape below to make 3 "rubber dampers" on the spokes of the disc will markedly increase pad life and reduce noise, it is also great frame protection.

Scotch® Rubber Splicing Tape 23 | 3M United States

 

[Rip7]

Thx for that I wonder what pads are on my scott with xt brakes as they make no noise at all
Also how does fitting the tape make a difference as never seen that done before?

 

[Swissrob]

Thx for that I wonder what pads are on my scott with xt brakes as they make no noise at all
Also how does fitting the tape make a difference as never seen that done before?

No one knows the trick with the tape, I invented it after doing a vibration analysis course for industrial machinery! The rubber stops or slows high frequency vibrations which create the noise.

 

[nickB]

I picture of how the tape is applied would be useful. My brakes are silent but I know a few people who may be interested in trying this.

 

[mark.ai]

Yep a pic would be great I have some Scotch 23 tape so want to try this out. I think @Swissrob is suggesting to wrap it a few times around an individual disc spoke, and then repeat on several of the disc spokes.

Also came across this link which seems kind of a similar idea but it links the disc rotor to the wheel spokes with some rubber (?) The simple way SRAM could silence your disc brakes

 

[mark.ai]

So I've given @Swissrob 's suggestion a go (at least what I think he is saying), to see if it can affect braking vibration & noise. Only tried it on one ride so far and didn't notice any vibrations or squealing - but far too early to tell yet if it has made any difference as I only occasionally experienced them before.

Here are some pics of the front brake rotor showing where I've currently put the tape. The rear rotor is the same.

I've attached the tape in 3 positions on each rotor. And on each one it is wrapped around 3 times (layers). The tape goes on pretty easily as it only sticks to itself and it can be stretched for length as needed and to deform to match the geometry of the metal.

I tried a few other positions for the tape, like further towards the outside of the rotor, but there was less clearance with the bracket mount of the brake further out so I could only get 1 layer of the tape there without it rubbing. I sort of felt I should do a few layers to get more of a rubbery "mass" for vibration damping - but I've no idea what is actually required, so just testing this for now and see what it's like.

 

[junglie69]

Hi Rip7 good choice with the BMW Levo. The SRAM brakes were really starting to annoy me as well. I tried Swissstop green pads which were a little better. What with the noise and lack of clearance pad to rotor, so always rubbing. I went XT twin piston. Overall much better no rubbing, very little noise and modulation better than single piston XT, although not quite as good as SRAM.