bikenh

Have a basically new bike, been riding it since the end of April, a hybrid with v-brakes. Surprisingly changed the brake pads on it over the weekend, couldn't believe I had already went through a set of front pads and pretty much the rears as well. Granted I have been doing a lot more 'hard' braking then what I used to do. Been riding once or twice a week a nice 15-18% grade drop with no runout to a busy highway plus plenty of mountain biking as well with the bike so I have been doing a ton of braking compared to what I used to do when I was only road riding and even less when I was road biking on a fixie and mostly foot braking. Heck it used to take me 1.5 years or more to go through a set of front pads, now 1.5 months. WOW

When I went for the first ride on the bike I was heading for the hardware store to get bolts to mount the rack to the bike and I only had the rack temp mounted at the time and about a mile from my house I lost the nut of the temp bolt I had in the rack to try to hold it onto the bike so I could get the store. I put on the brakes, front brake only, and about went over the handlebars. I was not used to having that kind of stopping power. Later in the morning I went to turn into a parking lot and put on the rear brake and skidded the rear tire due to the incredible braking power. I was totally stunned. Definitely not use to that kind of solid braking.

Now I have lost that kind of braking power. Even with the new front brake pads and the very tight adjustment of pads to the rim I can't move along slowly and get any kind of grippiness like I had back originally. I'm trying to pick up a few trials moves, like endo, but I cannot get the grippiness of the front brake at all. How do I get it back, or can I? Is it only possible with a new rim for the first few days before you lose it altogether?

Also, I have cleaned the rim and the brake pads, and I made sure last night to toe in the brake pad as well. Ever since right before I changed the front pads I have had squeaky front brakes. What else can I do to get rid of the squeaks?

Eric F 

Before installing new brake pads, I will run the braking surface of the pad over a flat file or sandpaper a bit to get through the outer glossy surface. Proper toe-in of the brake pads is also critical in proper braking performance.

freeranger

Don't know what brake pads you bought, but I've had good braking from Kool Stop salmon colored pads. Also, you may want to read on setting up your brakes on the Park Tool website. Maybe try a set up first, before buying new pads since you already have new ones.

Eric F 

Kool Stop pads are generally considered the best.

roadcrankr

I prefer less grippiness, modulating my stopping with brake lever squeezing.
Your squeaking could result from soap residue on the rims & pads.
I generally clean modestly with something like glass cleaner, rather than harsh cleaners like 409.
Like another commenter said, run some sandpaper across your pads.

bikenh

I saw in a video last night the mention of sandpaper but I hadn't tried it yet.

I did clean both the rims and pads with rubbing alcohol versus soap, definitely didn't want to have any residue left behind.

roadcrankr

"Residue" might be the wrong choice of words.
Something like rubbing alcohol actually gets it too clean, if there's such a thing.
From my experience, it will cause squeaking bigtime.

veganbikes

Depending on the pads you could have easily downgraded. A lot of people think pads are pads and they aren't. For best braking you want really high quality pads and nice and stiff shoes. In the end other people have said it but Kool Stop are some of the best either them or SwissStop. If everything is clean and properly installed then it could be pads and shoes.

bikenh

Actually it is a bit better now since I did clean them, but at the same time I also made sure to toe the pads in since I had never heard of doing that before last night. They don't squeak as bad as before but they are still squeaking enough to be annoying

maddog34

what brand of pads did you just install?

bikenh

That I cannot say for sure. I have had them laying round the house for several years, hadn't ridden much of anything at all from Feb 2020 until last summer and I had them prior to that. They are insert pads.

Actually on the ride home from the being online at the library yesterday afternoon, at first I had no noise at all, but once I hit the trail behind my house and it was sightly wet grass, then they started squeaking on me again. This morning as I rode into town they were quiet. I think what one of posters above said may have some significant bearing to remember about using rubbing alcohol.

As for the grippiness...that could still be in the brand of pads. Admittedly, like I said in the OP I really only remember noticing the grippiness the first I used them, and did have it one other time in an OhS*** braking episode, my thought was, is that how you do an endo I can't remember noticing the rear tire skidding on m other then the first time using the rear brake though.

veganbikes

You cannot say for sure? That is scary. Virtually all pads will come in a package and if they are out of the package that is a bad sign and not a pad I would use. Depending on the conditions they were kept in which probably weren't great they could have hardened up so while the pad might look new or have plenty of life on it the compound is so hard it won't really brake. I see it all the time on hardly ridden bikes people bring in after 10-20 years the pads look fine visually but you could get a finger nail in them without some serious force (which is a trick I was taught by one of my old mechanic co-workers years ago.

I would just ditch them because who knows what pads they are and where they came from and what condition they are in and all of that. SwissStop or Kool Stop is the way to go each and every time without fail. You will not find better rim brake pads and in the end that is about all the do is brake pads and they have stop in the name which is a good sign.

Kai Winters

Locking up the brakes is not something one should do on a regular basis...modulation is key...but you do you...

mpetry912 

+1 on the above. if the pads you installed "had been sitting around for a couple years" there's a pretty good chance they are hard as a rock and won't provide good braking action.

There's not a lot we can do here to make old rock hard pads "brake better".

Please buy some new Kool Stop or Jagwire pads.

install them and see if they work better. Report back

/markp

Eric F 

Sounds to me like your body probably adapted to the sensitivity of the brakes and learned how to modulate.

bikenh

They were pad inserts which I had already inserted into the holders. I had set the holders/pads aside and hadn't mounted them. I knew I would need them sooner or later and then I ended up being off the bike 2.5-3 years full-time live in care taking for a fellow I used to ride with so I wasn't riding the bike anymore. I didn't keep the packaging since there was no reason to.

veganbikes

Ok fair dinkum!

For the future I would leave them in the package and just keep the shoes on the bike and just replace the pads rather than the entire unit, it will save money and time. I would still probably replace these current pads with Kool or SwissStop.