SRAM Brake Scream !

[Zimmerframe]

Do you excessively clean your rotors?

Good brakes rely on a build up of brake pad material to deposit itself onto the rotor, clean them too often and you remove this important deposit. I never clean my rotors - EVER, even if I wash my cassette and get the greasy over-spray on the rotor and I never have noisy or ineffective brakes.

Other than the efforts to STOP THE SQUEAL .. no, nothing .. I just leave them. In my head they're pretty much self cleaning - they have nice pad things being squashed against them and I'd hope they'd been designed to not need remedial maintenance every 3km's .. Maybe I should switch to a drum brakes ?

I think the bottom line is that due to the way some of the SRAM calipers work, they're far more susceptible to contaminants causing unpleasant sounds.

Just watched a new Ben Deakin Video and he obviously followed someone down who had ScReAM brakes.

Probably a good vid for @outerlimits as he starts with a helmet cam and switches to chest at the end.

 

[Swissrider]

I have Code Rs on my Kenevo and don’t have problems with screaming but horrible rubbing noise on front brake when new which took a lot of fiddling with calliper to get rid of noise. Switched to Trickstuff pads as I read increased power (on standard padsI had to use two fingers and even then got tired fingers from long descents). Recently I had a problem with a loud squeak at one point - just about a centimetre of rotor which seemed to touch the pads and cause a resonance. I found two of the pistons weren’t moving properly so freed these up and then cleaned the disc with brake cleaner. A lot of muck came off. I think problem solved but it seems SRAM brakes need lots of TLC to work properly.

 

[Mikerb]

GMBN did a good video on fixing disc brake scream some time ago. Interesting that they said new pads have a thin sacrificial top layer that during the bedding in process gets transferred to the rotor. It also covered how important the bedding in process is in terms of the subsequent performance of the brakes. In essence it consists of applying the brakes a number of times whilst avoiding heating up the rotor. Dousing with fresh water during process helps apparently.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

I have SPAM brakes and they don’t make noise in the wet or dry...

Sorry, I just couldn't let it go...

 

[outerlimits]

Sorry, I just couldn't let it go...
View attachment 21258

Haha
A lot of people think the SRAM brakes have a soft and squishy feel. Hence the SPAM referance.
Now I can’t wait to see what you come up with for Shitmano.... ?‍

 

[Swissrider]

GMBN did a good video on fixing disc brake scream some time ago. Interesting that they said new pads have a thin sacrificial top layer that during the bedding in process gets transferred to the rotor. It also covered how important the bedding in process is in terms of the subsequent performance of the brakes. In essence it consists of applying the brakes a number of times whilst avoiding heating up the rotor. Dousing with fresh water during process helps apparently.

I was pretty careful following best advice in bedding in pads and rotor and with OEM pads I had no problem. It was with new trickstuff pads (which give more power but perhaps having higher friction will show up something that wasn’t a problem with lower friction pads). What was strange is that there was just one small part of the rotor - probably about a centimetre long which seemed to have a deposit which caused a nasty squeak every time the wheel went round. I could eliminate it by gently squeezing brakes on whilst riding ( which I did for ages because it was driving me mad). Going downhill and using the brakes, no noise or squeak. Along the flat or climbing was when it happened. As I said, when I examined the callipers, two pistons on one side were not moving, just the opposite ones, so I guess I wasn’t getting full power anyway. Freeing up the pistons and cleaning the rotor seems to have worked for the moment.

 

[HORSPWR]

I've found in the past that Swissstop green pads ran very quietly;

Disc Brake Pads | SwissStop

 

[Swissrob]

My tip from a while ago.

I haven't seen this mentioned much before but I use Scotch rubber splicing tape (self vulcanising), cheap, indestructible and never comes off. I also use it to make 2 or 3 rubber dampers around the spokes on my brake discs, the end of noisy brakes forever also less vibration on discs extends pad life. Scotch® Rubber Splicing Tape 23 | 3M United States

It also makes good chain stay protection to cover up the hideous bling on the rear triangle on Specialized bikes.

 

[Zimmerframe]

My tip from a while ago.

I haven't seen this mentioned much before but I use Scotch rubber splicing tape (self vulcanising), cheap, indestructible and never comes off. I also use it to make 2 or 3 rubber dampers around the spokes on my brake discs, the end of noisy brakes forever also less vibration on discs extends pad life. Scotch® Rubber Splicing Tape 23 | 3M United States

It also makes good chain stay protection to cover up the hideous bling on the rear triangle on Specialized bikes.

Interesting ... found your other posts about using it (though only now).

@mark.ai followed your suggestion and applied the tape like this :

Is that correct ??? Or would you wrap further along an individual spoke ?

 

[Swissrob]

Interesting ... found your other posts about using it (though only now).

@mark.ai followed your suggestion and applied the tape like this :

View attachment 21309

Is that correct ??? Or would you wrap further along an individual spoke ?

I wrapped it further along the spoke but the location is a bit dictated by clearance from the caliper, ideally 3 layers or wraps but start off with 3 equal length pieces a bit too long as you need to stretch it to get it to stick, lastly cut off equal amounts of excess so the disc stays balanced. Reminds me I must do the Levo as this is getting noisy in this wet weather.

 

[mark.ai]

That tape did seem to help slightly when I tried it. But I've since changed my brakes to Hayes Dominions and they are totally different & much better in the wet (without using any tape) - hardly any screeches at all. But could be due to various things (thicker rotor, different rotor design, different pad material, different piston action etc)

 

[Zimmerframe]

As any impatient moron should, I carefully didn't follow @Swissrob's instruction to the letter.

So in a quick test I cut and wrapped spokes 1,5 & 9 with a 6cm strip of the thick self amalgamating tape (has a peel off backing - or fronting... , or the one I used did) This resulted in about 5 or 6 wrap arounds rather than the recommended three - which instantly ruins the test

Then, as this was an impatient - only 10 minutes to spare, test .. I quickly shot down the road and went head to head with a 60 tonne triple axled massively overloaded maize/corn tractor in a test of squeaky brakes .. Both vehicles braked furiously from about 25kph. I was pleased to say that in terms of braking distance, my 100kg's all up easily out braked his mere 600 times more mass. For ScReAM though, I'm going to give the win to the tractor .. it was close, but I think he was slightly louder - so maybe the tape reduced the volume ..

Will try again tomorrow with three loops of tape and go for a proper ride and get the brakes warm first.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

Why not apply the tape on all the spokes?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Why not apply the tape on all the spokes?

That was my first thought .. I did keep "pinging" the disk as I taped i to see if it resonated differently .. it didn't ...

I was thinking if I just cut the spokes and make it a fully floating disk, I bet that would stop the noise !

Has anyone tried swapping for floating disks ??

Or I could swap the disk around so it's got the spokes in compression and risk a huge catastrophic brake failure .. @Gary - you tried this yet ?

 

[outerlimits]

Has anyone tried swapping for floating disks ??

View attachment 21328

Yes, and my brakes don’t squeal at all, even tho I abuse them.
I also run a organic pad material up front and metal pads in the rear.
I have managed to bend rotors still as there are some big sticks around my parts that like to hitch a ride.
I was lucky this one was not on the rotor side.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

^ That’s not a big stick... that’s a small tree!!

 

[outerlimits]

^ That’s not a big stick... that’s a small tree!!

Everything in Australia tries to kill you. Even our sticks are big, and therefore deadly...

 

[Zimmerframe]

Everything in Australia tries to kill you. Even our sticks are big, and therefore deadly...

That's not the same splinter you had in your foot is it ?

 

[outerlimits]

That's not the same splinter you had in your foot is it ?

Don’t be silly
Tho now I think of it, our splinters are stick like over here.

 

[HORSPWR]

That was my first thought .. I did keep "pinging" the disk as I taped i to see if it resonated differently .. it didn't ...

I was thinking if I just cut the spokes and make it a fully floating disk, I bet that would stop the noise !

Has anyone tried swapping for floating disks ??

View attachment 21328

Or I could swap the disk around so it's got the spokes in compression and risk a huge catastrophic brake failure .. @Gary - you tried this yet ?

I'd put that on just because its fucken sexy!!

 

[outerlimits]

I'd put that on just because its fucken sexy!!

Do you look at fish net stockings and think the same thing ? ?

 

[HORSPWR]

Do you look at fish net stockings and think the same thing ? ?

mmmmm......maybe!

 

[Gary]

Has anyone tried swapping for floating disks ??

Floating discs are IMO terrible idea on an mtb and just cause even more grief.
Would you run a 6 bolt disc with all 6 rotor bolts loose? Coz that's basically how they feel in use.

Or I could swap the disk around so it's got the spokes in compression and risk a huge catastrophic brake failure .. @Gary - you tried this yet ?

Not sure why you're fucking around trying to find an obscure "cure" 115 replies into the thread when. the solution was given in the first 5 replies.

 

[outerlimits]

Floating discs are IMO terrible idea on an mtb and just cause even more grief.
Would you run a 6 bolt disc with all 6 rotor bolts loose? Coz that's basically how they feel in use.

Stop fucking around trying to find an obscure "cure". The solution was given in the first 5 replies to your thread.

Yeah Zimmer, stop fucking around. Get some true rotors by utilising the WTAF GaryOn trueing tool.
I have run my rear “floating rotor” disc with all 6 bolts loose. That made it a “super floater” and it still worked flawlessly. If you have had poor leaver performance whilst using floating rotors @Gary maybe you need to work on your hand strength ?‍

As for Zimmers threads, they always turn to ? floating down stream, usually pretty quickly.
It’s one of the reasons, but not the only one, why I will be leaving this forum shortly to detox and get back into sensible posts.

Peace out bitches

 

[CjP]

Yeah Zimmer, stop fucking around. Get some true rotors by utilising the WTAF GaryOn trueing tool.
I have run my rear “floating rotor” disc with all 6 bolts loose. That made it a “super floater” and it still worked flawlessly. If you have had poor leaver performance whilst using floating rotors @Gary maybe you need to work on your hand strength ?‍

As for Zimmers threads, they always turn to ? floating down stream, usually pretty quickly.
It’s one of the reasons, but not the only one, why I will be leaving this forum shortly to detox and get back into sensible posts.

Peace out bitches

Pussy

 

[CjP]

That was my first thought .. I did keep "pinging" the disk as I taped i to see if it resonated differently .. it didn't ...

I was thinking if I just cut the spokes and make it a fully floating disk, I bet that would stop the noise !

Has anyone tried swapping for floating disks ??

View attachment 21328

Or I could swap the disk around so it's got the spokes in compression and risk a huge catastrophic brake failure .. @Gary - you tried this yet ?

I did this exact thing and found the rear disc to rub on the Sram brake bracket. The little circle part.
Ended up just buying hope calipers, seemed easier than playing with sticky tape

 

[Zimmerframe]

^ That’s not a big stick... that’s a small tree!!

They're Australians .. you have to crocodile dundee it up a bit so they understand "That's not a sitck, now THIS is a stick !"

 

[Zimmerframe]

There is another solution "Muc Off ScReAM brake mufflers" ..

 

[Zimmerframe]

Not sure why you're fucking around trying to find an obscure "cure" 115 replies into the thread when. the solution was given in the first 5 replies.

I know I know, but it just seems judicious to see if there isn't an "obscure 'cure' " out there !

But to keep everyone happy, I will be trying the less obscure cures and have ordered sets of Hope's, MT520's, Zee's, Guide RE's (everyone says if they only spend 2 or 3 hours a day cleaning and stripping them and only use them inside, they're fine), MT7's, Tectro Orions, XT's Magura MT05's, Formula Cura 4 pot's.

Once they've all arrived, I can make my new youtube video "Brake or Broke".

 

[CjP]

There is another solution "Muc Off ScReAM brake mufflers" ..

View attachment 21363

I saw these the other day and laughed. They’ll make anything to suck people in. Have you bought them yet?