charlesj
New member
My Magura HS22 rim brakes squeal horribly. I've tried new pads, cleaning the rims with alcohol, offering my soul to Satan...nothing works. Help!
rim brake squeal
- Thread starter charlesj
- Start date
I have had to tweak cheap rim brakes in the past by bending the arms so that the leading edge of the brake shoe touches the rim a fraction of a mm before the trailing edge.
Bear in mind that with the direction of travel of the rim the leading edge of the brake pad is toward the back of the bike.
Quality rim brakes will have a pair of tapered (thicker on one side than the other) and/or concave washers under the brake shoe that you can rotate to adjust pad attack angle.
Some quality brake pads will also have a chamfer at the leading edge so that the first point of contact does not have a sharp edge. You can sand or file that leading edge a titch if needed.
When you close the brakes on the rim and the trailing edge (front) of the brake pad lightly touches the rim there should be a small gap between the leading edge (back) of the brake pad and the rim. About the thickness of a piece of paper or less.
Also make sure that the brake assembly is solid and tight to reduce vibration while still allowing easy operation.
Note that many brake pads are directional are sensitive to rotation direction.
Bear in mind that with the direction of travel of the rim the leading edge of the brake pad is toward the back of the bike.
Quality rim brakes will have a pair of tapered (thicker on one side than the other) and/or concave washers under the brake shoe that you can rotate to adjust pad attack angle.
Some quality brake pads will also have a chamfer at the leading edge so that the first point of contact does not have a sharp edge. You can sand or file that leading edge a titch if needed.
When you close the brakes on the rim and the trailing edge (front) of the brake pad lightly touches the rim there should be a small gap between the leading edge (back) of the brake pad and the rim. About the thickness of a piece of paper or less.
Also make sure that the brake assembly is solid and tight to reduce vibration while still allowing easy operation.
Note that many brake pads are directional are sensitive to rotation direction.
Annieolnie
Well-known member
Hi, from what I could find out, this is a known issue. Magura recommends upgrading to their beefier brake booster. They think the lightness of the system causes vibrations which result in the squeak. One professional had the issue continuously on his front wheel because he was running lighter rims. The price of the booster jumps around a lot, but they do come up on Ebay. A lot of Magura products are more available in the EU. I'll post a picture that has your old booster on the left and the one they recommend on the right, the Evo2. You can see the difference. I also found Magura's usa site for them.
