squealing cantilever brakes

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PH
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Joined: 21 Jan 2007, 12:31am
Location: Derby
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Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by PH »

If you find that wear is the issue and you're otherwise happy with the brakes - I have a pair of those knocking about that you're welcome to for the postage. they're around 20 years old but haven't seen much mileage, can't remember why I swapped them but must have been something I didn't like and I don't think it was squealing.
Brucey
Posts: 44519
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by Brucey »

apologies if this is obvious but two things;

1) the brakes are toed in correctly when they are angled thusly

Image
if this is the front wheel then the bike is travelling to the right.

2) it is possible to assemble curved washer stack on the brake blocks wrongly, so that the toe setting is not retained.

Image
the correct assembly for your brakes is the one on the right

V brakes use the same configuration. You can exchange the positions of the two (grey in the diagram) concave washers, if the arm is not favourably angled. On most bikes with Oryx brakes I'd have the fatter concave washer against the brake block and the thinner one under the nut; this spaces the arms widely, and lowers the straddle improving brake power. I have even added further washes between the brake block and the arm to increase this distance in some cases, as per the "6mm spacing" below

Image

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bowedw
Posts: 359
Joined: 22 Feb 2011, 10:26pm

Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by Bowedw »

Not been that good at adjusting that type of brake blocks, also finding that after a couple of rides the problem returned, I fitted a Shimano CX50 cantilevers and find them so easy to adjust and seem to stay that way. Not cheap but has transformed my Galaxy. The older Galaxy pivot studs are set to close together to allow V brakes to be fitted unless there are some out there that I did not come across. These CX50 cantilevers are fitted tight onto the studs and the pivot is in the canti itself which probably helps as well.
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gaz
Posts: 14649
Joined: 9 Mar 2007, 12:09pm
Location: Kent

Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by gaz »

Bowedw wrote:The older Galaxy pivot studs are set to close together to allow V brakes to be fitted unless there are some out there that I did not come across.

Shimano STX BR-MC40 might do that job.
nigelnightmare
Posts: 709
Joined: 19 Sep 2016, 10:33pm

Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by nigelnightmare »

I used one of these:- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAKE-BOOSTER-PLATE-SILVER-ALLOY-FOR-MOUNTAIN-BIKE-FREESTYLER-BMX-DOWNHILL-BIKE-/202471101876?hash=item2f2437d5b4 on my old bike with canti brakes.
It stopped the squeeling and improved the performance of the brake.
Plus it gives a nice place to mount the front light. 8)

HTH
raaab
Posts: 16
Joined: 29 Jun 2014, 7:41pm

Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by raaab »

Jurassic2 wrote:Thanks PH, looks like it's worth trying at £6 + a bit of p&p guess if it's mounted to the fork it reduces the cable length and may be the flex


did you go for the up hanger in the end? If so let me know how it goes. I have the same cantis, same issues
Jurassic2
Posts: 23
Joined: 26 Sep 2017, 10:19am

Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by Jurassic2 »

Not ordered the uphanger yet, but swapped the pads again with some 60mm rather than the 72mm and seems to have reduced the squealing by 90%
So going to commute next week on it and see how it goes.
landsurfer
Posts: 5327
Joined: 27 Oct 2012, 9:13pm

Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by landsurfer »

Up hanger received, oops won't fit as lower head race fouls with up hanger .... no problem ... packing washer.
AAHH .. back of fork not counterbored for retaining bolt ... shall i take the drill to my fork crown possibly leaving a myriad of stress raisors ... no, lets not bother ... :roll:
Off to the gash box ..... !
“Quiet, calm deliberation disentangles every knot.”
Be more Mike.
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rjb
Posts: 7200
Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 10:25am
Location: Somerset (originally 60/70's Plymouth)

Re: squealing cantilever brakes

Post by rjb »

landsurfer wrote:Up hanger received, oops won't fit as lower head race fouls with up hanger .... no problem ... packing washer.
AAHH .. back of fork not counterbored for retaining bolt ... shall i take the drill to my fork crown possibly leaving a myriad of stress raisors ... no, lets not bother ... :roll:
Off to the gash box ..... !


No problem, just use a longer bolt from your gash box. :wink:
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
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