Finally got my old bike's brakes to stop squealing after three tries

Last week, I was about to give up on my old mountain bike because the front brake screamed every time I touched it. I tried just cleaning the rim with soap and water, but that only helped for a day. The second try, I lightly sanded the brake pads with some sandpaper I had, which was a bit better. On the third try, I took the wheel off and really scrubbed the braking surface with isopropyl alcohol, like a guy at the bike co-op told me to do. The squeal is totally gone now and it feels solid. Has anyone else found a trick that finally worked after a few failed attempts?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant90113h ago

That feeling when the noise finally stops is the best. I went through the same thing with my commuter bike last year. Ended up using a specific disc brake cleaner spray after normal rubbing alcohol did nothing. Sometimes you just need the right cleaner to get all the invisible gunk off.

lucas_carr247h ago

Honestly I've had the opposite happen, where the fancy spray made things worse and a simple wipe down with alcohol worked fine.