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I'm hoping someone out there who's solved their brake chatter problems can help me out.

I've got a 58cm frame (so long headtube) and chatter that won't go away. My current setup is Tektro Oryx brakes with road (short as opposed to longer MTB) brakepads, Easton EC90x fork, and Ambrosio rims (not machined). Got the chatters. Rear brakes work fantastically. My only solution so far is to (gasp! I know...) use some light oil on the front rim. Cuts down on power, but eliminates the chatter. Besides being mildly crazy, any thoughts? I used to race in the NE, and when the going got muddy, i.e. the rims got muddy, the chatter got better (and the braking worse obviously), so I figured why not just start out that way.

I've tried pretty much all combinations of these things: toe in, toe out, xtr MTB pads, ritchey mtb pads, Dura Ace road pads, Kona Project 2 steel fork, Shimano R550 wheel (machined rims), and still get the chatters. My fork, the Easton, doesn't have a bolt hole to mount a fork-mounted cable stop (grr) or I'd try that too.

Who's tall and got an Easton fork? What are you running that solves this problem?

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An update on my 58cm Bianchi Axis with Tektro CR720 brakes. I did some research and the Harris bike article is out dated. If you have a hole in you fork (like for fenders or caliper brakes) the Tektro 1272AF front cable hanger will mount to that hole. I had to get a longer 50mm bolt to get this to fit, but I got one at the local hardware store. I bought a length of brake housing and mounted the hanger. I left everything else alone and the chatter stopped! Stock pads on the Tektro brakes suck, basically. So I then put on Kool-Stop salmon pads and braking power is much better. I can now crank on the brakes and stop with out feeling like my bike is going to shake it's self to peices. I think I paid $35 tops, even after shipping, for everything. And the new hanger weighs no (or not much) more than the regular one did. Added benifits are gentler bends in the brake cable, and less exposed cable. I have in-line brake levers and did notice the one for the front brake have noticeably less pull before engaging. It works just fine, maybe I even like the feel better, but I have yet to notice any difference in performance from the in-line lever.

Hope this helps.

You may find more useful info about my specific experience here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pittsfield-ME/The-Bicycle-Guy/6319118...
take a look here ,rider says he eliminated chatter
http://re-turn.blogspot.com/2009/08/cure-for-cantilever-cross-fork-chatter.html
The best thing I ever did was grind off the back third of my front brake pads. I've had very minimal chatter since. Now it only chatters under very very hard braking. Like emergency braking when someone crashes directly in front of me on a downhill...
If you toe your pads in, the chatter almost always goes away!!!
stopping power is sometimes compromised.. but my solution is the koolstop salmon pads and toeing.

i use stans 355 rims, and old wolber tubular rims, neither have machined sidewalls, and have had great luck with this combo.
I too used to have brake chatter with Tektro Oryx brakes. Last season I changed to Empella Froglegg brakes, and run the front straddle relatively high. This definitely reduced the chatter compared to the Oryx brakes.

I don't feel I have any issues with the setup and I don't feel I'd be better with more powerful brakes. I've tried Koolstop dual compound pads and I was a bit disappointed. I quite like Swissstop Canti Rat black brake blocks, but I destroy them at an alarming rate in the mud (see my other recent post!). Only my second season so not that expierienced, but pretty happy with my brake setup this season.

Cheers,
Steve
I switched to a steer tube mounted hanger and, yes, brake chatter was much worse on my stock cro-mo Redline fork than a fork mounted hanger, both presented chatter. But after looking at some of my pics of nat's I noticed some riders running a way high straddle hanger i.e. Molly Cameron, Jon Baker. So I decided to mix it up a bit. Low profile brakes (avid shorty 4's) steer tube cable hanger, high straddle cradle and toe in on my brake pads, not too extreme but enough. In my short term, tests under hard braking this pretty much eliminated fork chatter My brakes still squeal a bit but watch any video of the national champs races and you will hear brake squeal. However as Andrew had mentioned I did lose some braking power in the front, only time will tell if this is a reasonable way to eliminate fork chatter, I am satisfied with the result though.

UPDATE just got back fro a short ride down a big hill...no fork chatter. Mind you, I'm no light weight so it takes me some time stopping, but with this setup I am very satisfied.
thanks for posting jesse. lots more on this in issue 8!
Update 2.0! Just added trp eurox's to my bike. Wow what a difference set up with a high straddle cable with just a tiny, but accepable, amount of chatter. I love these brakes!
Zinn mentioned in a recent column the thought of switching to a short V brake. Since the pull of the wheel doesn't tight the brake, there's no chatter. I did a little research, and could find only one maker of short learn pull brakes. Looks like for about $10 you can test the theory. Google "linear pull short brake"

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