[mudworm]

I love my Formular Oro K24, but sometimes they squeal and howl like mad. I wonder how I can fix the problem.

We did three days of riding last weekend that involved a lot of creek crossing. Our brakes (my K24s and my hubby's Biancos, all on sintered pads) would squeal bad for a while usually right after crossing a creek. Okay, that's a known issue and they do get quieter later. So no complaints there. But yesterday, I took the bike out for a ride for about an hour and half. Man oh man, the rear brake howled really loud any time I touched the lever, very embarrassing when you ride with a group. I would assume the brakes should have warmed up half way into the ride.

Is it a good idea to sand the rotor? I guess I'll try to swap front and rear pads. But my ultimate question is: is there a systematic way (instead of trial and error) to diagnose howling brakes?

 

[Cable0guy]

Did you try cleaning with 100% isopropyl alcohol? Both pads and rotors? Rub pretty hard.

 

[TLL]

Clean the rotors first, then check caliper alignment, as misaligned calipers will often squeal.

If the pads appear super glazed, you can rough them up a tiny bit with a fine file.

 

[mudworm]

Thanks cableguy and TLL. I cleaned my pads and rotors real good last night. Will see how it holds up this weekend. It would kill me if my brake howls the entire 15 miles going downhill. Let me hope that does not happen.

 

[mudworm]

I like my Formula brakes, so I don't want to leave my thread dead on a down note. After cleaning the rotors and pad real well with rubbing alcohol, I had no problem with them this past weekend for 30+ miles of downhill. Thanks guys for the good suggestions.