Getting the brakes working perfectly on every bike I come across is sort of a holy grail for me. Maybe it's because I like to bike fast, but weigh about 200 lbs so run into brake problems more often than others, maybe it's the winter biking where your brakes really have to be reliable, I dunno.
I've become pretty adept at toeing in brake pads to various angles, swapping out brake pads, filing them down when they get glazed, digging bits of rim out of them, keeping the rims as clean and oil free as humanly possible. A few days ago I installed a big aluminum horseshoe on my bike with v-brakes:
It's called a brake booster. You take out the bolts that hold your brakes on, put in a spacer and some washers, then screw this on the front. It is the best 5$ I've ever spent on a bike. This thing keeps the pivots that your brakes are on from flexing (which apparently they do when braking). It has two effects:
- Your brakes just feel better. They're less mushy, and easier to modulate. They seem to be more powerful as well.
- I've tried two different types of brake pads with them, and about several different amounts of toe in (from about 2 mm to parallel with the rim). These things eliminate brake squeal. I put on a set of brake pads that previously squealed so badly it was impossible to use them . . . whisper quiet. I spent all winter last year adjusting these pads to try and get rid of the squeal (in my freezing cold garage) with no luck.
I'm going to stick a booster on my road bike with cantilever brakes to see if it gets rid of the shudder that I sometimes experience under hard braking in the front. If you have v-brakes I would recommend these things 100%.
