NoWhammies

Had my bike out in the rain/wet roads for the first time. After riding the bike all summer, the disc breaks were quiet when stopping. Today though when the brakes were applied the squeal was pretty damn loud. I'm sure the cars around me knew I was stopping, that's for sure.

Just curious to know if this is normal behaviour for wet disc brakes. Thank you.

fietsbob

No specifics? what brake caliper, what pads? rigid steel fork? Or what ?

Anecdotal .02 My BB7 with Kool Stop organic compound replacement pads were quiet in the rain, Avid stock were not. wet or dry..

I don't ride very fast or far in the winter, like you in the big city probably do .. so Id just live with it..I replaced my BB7 with TRP HyRd, Only the front squeals when its wet

Might try an organic compound pad on the front, they use a Shimano Deore style pad , Koolstop does not make one in that shape..

J&B has a couple in their stock list ..






....

Andrew R Stewart 

Sometimes yes. What kind of pads? Have you done any cleaning yet? Andy

Bigbus

My front is annoyingly bad but the rear only squeals when it feels like it. Sometimes it does, and most times it doesn't. Sorry, I'm no help.

spdntrxi

most of the times yes.... mine make noise at first then tend to quiet down with more use.

NoWhammies

Standard Shimano pads. And yes. I cleaned both the front and rear pads the day before.

fietsbob

If semi metallic, consider Organic compound pads as a test ..

JonathanGennick 

FWIW, I avoid cleaning and leave well enough alone when my brakes are quiet. That said, I've seen wet weather and even just riding through mud lead to squealing brakes.

Is the squeal continuing? Or have they quieted down?

NoWhammies

@JonathanGennick I've had good luck cleaning the pads on my bike throughout the summer. The bake dust, etc. Normally in the summer the squeal goes away after one or two stops. But the advice to leave well enough alone is good advice. I'm always worried I'm going to make things worse off, or do something I have no clue about.

I haven't been out on my bike since, so I can't comment on if they have quieted down or not. I hope to get out for a spin later today so we'll see.

Lars Halstrom

Since you live on the coast, your rainwater contains salt. Don't forget to rinse them off when you get home. If you clean the rotors, you remove the bedding in material rubbed off from your brake pads. You'll have to re-bed the brakes again. What I do is find a long downhill and ride down it and squeeze the brakes until you're almost stopped and then release the brakes. Do this about 15-20 times as you go down the hill. Avoid coming to a complete stop during these braking intervals because this will leave an uneven surface of brake pad material. Riding on the road in the rain your tires can pick up oil fluids from cars and trucks. This will make your brakes squeal as well. You should clean off the rotors with alcohol and the brake pad surfaces. Then re-bed the brakes all over again.

Lars
Seattle

delbiker1 

I have Avid mechanical disc brakes and they do squeal when wet, but less so when they are dripping wet. The front is much noisier. I have never cleaned the pads or the rotors. I am going to get new pads/rotors soon as they have had a lot of use and have lost some stopping power,

fietsbob

My BB7 with Kool Stop Organic compound pads were OK , in the wet, at my slow speeds..

Glenn6870 

DrIsotope

^^^ Pretty much this. Every type of caliper I've ever used, with every pad compound, has honked like a goose when riding in the rain. I consider it a feature, not a bug. People notice.

Absolutely no need to change anything. If the brakes were quiet when dry, they'll be quiet again.

NoWhammies

Thanks folks. I haven't been out on my bike since this post. I keep waiting for a good day to get a ride in. With some luck that will happen this weekend. Ideally the roads will be dry and I can a full inspection of the whole braking process.

wipekitty

Squealing disc brakes in the rain are common, in my experience.

I was on a group gravel ride in the rain one time, and with ruts and random washouts, the descents got pretty loud!

Slightspeed

Mine do, too. Squeal when it rains, but not as much as I do. 😂

NoWhammies

I don't know why, but I just assumed disc brakes would be silent in the rain. Glad to hear that my bike/brakes making noise mean I'm not the only one.