zoster Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 Hey all ! I am currently using acor plazmatic pads(im guessing they're similar to the spanish flys and inspired pads) on the back of my 24". the grind on the rim was quite worn and the brake sounded like a "swoosh" (which was a good thing). it had bite but not so great hold so i put on a light grind and now it does have hold but it also squeaks awfully and i really hate if for going around town. I tried it with and without a booster and it's pretty much the same - lound as hell, so my question is: what is a decent combo for having a good brake without scaring people around the street? i am riding rear brake only at the moment so i need a decently sounding brake. a guess would be plazmatics on smooth rim, but i don't know if i can go back to smooth when my rim is already ground, since it won't be perfectly flat and i think the pads won't work as well... thanks for taking a look! ps: i don't ride in the wet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 If you're not riding in the wet, then just run a smooth rim and some black pads. Set up properly you're onto a winner - I ran front and rear Ultimates with the standard Avid Rim Wrangler pads and they were the best brakes ever! Silent over the year and a half I ran them, way more hold than any other brake I've used, and more than enough bite (more than I've got on the HS33/TNN setup I'm running on the Boxx despite the fact I now have a grind too!) Worth at least considering. Who needs £30 brake pads when the standard cheap ones suit you better?! You should be able to get the rim pretty much flat again with a file/couple of grades of sandpaper. Enough that general use will smooth it out the rest of the way at least Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigjames Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 Plazmatic yellows on a smooth rim were awesome, but they still squeak, not a lot you can go to get away from that apart from run black pads as Luke has suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paperclip Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 I ride medium grind on rock pad's And my brake holds very well and makes a swoosh noise that be it. I used to run plaz pads on a light grind no tar again they were pretty quiet and hold well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoster Posted May 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I ride medium grind on rock pad's And my brake holds very well and makes a swoosh noise that be it. I used to run plaz pads on a light grind no tar again they were pretty quiet and hold well. the rock pads are too expensive for my liking (they also seem to be quite wide which make the brake arms stick out which i really don't like). i don't know if there are differences between the compounds of all these transparent plazmatic pads, but the ones that i have now don't hold well enough on a dead grind and on a fresh grind they are really loud. Maybe i'll try another brand to see if it makes any difference... thanks for the reply! If you're not riding in the wet, then just run a smooth rim and some black pads. Set up properly you're onto a winner - I ran front and rear Ultimates with the standard Avid Rim Wrangler pads and they were the best brakes ever! Silent over the year and a half I ran them, way more hold than any other brake I've used, and more than enough bite (more than I've got on the HS33/TNN setup I'm running on the Boxx despite the fact I now have a grind too!) i do have some wrangler pads, but at another location so i have to wait a bit to try them out, but will defiantly do. until then, i put some shimano plain black pads on, with the rim still ground, and they fell great, they seem to hold great as well, but still squeal (less then the plaz ones, but loud enough to be disturbing). I want to make sure i there isn't a way to get a decent sounding brake with a grind before i flatten the sidewalls (besides the rock pads that Seabasss mentioned earlier), so my question would be: can there be a setup that doesn't squeak on a ground rim? I don't mind that it squeaks when i pedal kick but i do mind if it does when i try to slow down while riding. If not, i'll put my faith in Luke and the wrangler pads... PS: my frame is cromo, not alu, if it makes any difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Have you tried toeing the pads in a little? Usually helps kill the squeal, but may drop the performance a tad so give it a little try before doing anything too big! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Use your feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam T Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Use your feet. Gap to front foot jam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoster Posted May 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Use your feet. i am, but sometimes you need the actual brake, and i try to block it directly and skid, so that it doesn't make a lot of noise (plus it's fun), but it still honks and makes people turn their heads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Vandart Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 If you're not riding in the wet, then just run a smooth rim and some black pads. Set up properly you're onto a winner - I ran front and rear Ultimates with the standard Avid Rim Wrangler pads and they were the best brakes ever! Silent over the year and a half I ran them, way more hold than any other brake I've used, and more than enough bite (more than I've got on the HS33/TNN setup I'm running on the Boxx despite the fact I now have a grind too!) Worth at least considering. Who needs £30 brake pads when the standard cheap ones suit you better?! You should be able to get the rim pretty much flat again with a file/couple of grades of sandpaper. Enough that general use will smooth it out the rest of the way at least This is torture. I ride medium grind on rock pad's And my brake holds very well and makes a swoosh noise that be it. I used to run plaz pads on a light grind no tar again they were pretty quiet and hold well. Dead grind and these pads, swoosh and hold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Gap to front foot jam? Not for trials for stopping generally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoster Posted May 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 so...thought to let you know i have swooshy brakes now, so hurray for that! the "winners" are the jagwire basics comp pads. they did squeak at first, then i sanded them down a bit because they were too thick and felt too mushy, and they stopped making that annoying noise. this could be because the surface might not be completely flat anymore, but a bit convex. i'll see in time, after they wore down a bit more, if they start squeaking again (hopefully not), but atm they have a decent hold and they're silent, so i'm happy (still a bit mushy 'though). i got my hands on the RW2s and i'll give them a try as well (without smoothing out the rim). i'll let you know how they work out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 My SD7 with RW2s is silent and really good on the front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 I'd imagine those are relatively similar to the RW2s really - the Avid's are some pretty generic stuff in all honesty, just in a fairly tidy package. It really is possible to get decent, usable performance from a cheap set of pads on a vee. It's not like running Magura Blacks, though certain postmen have shown those to be tolerable too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoster Posted May 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 My SD7 with RW2s is silent and really good on the front good to know I'd imagine those are relatively similar to the RW2s really - the Avid's are some pretty generic stuff in all honesty, just in a fairly tidy package. It really is possible to get decent, usable performance from a cheap set of pads on a vee. It's not like running Magura Blacks, though certain postmen have shown those to be tolerable too actually i think they are quite a different compound, softer and seem to have a different texture (a friend uses these on a smooth rim and swears by them, he's actually the one that recommended these to me) the basic shimano pads on the other hand are probably pretty much the same material and they felt great but did make noise... here's my current build btw, if anyone is interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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