V brake trickery

[Steve]

I made the mistake of having the free services offered by my LBS when I bought my hybrid. Both
brakes stopped you dead before it went in for one, but on its return the back brake is absolutely
****e! I have tried all manner of things to try and correct this to no avail, and the LBS maintain
that all they did was tension the cable up. Any ideas about what I could try?

Cheers

Steve

[Peter Clinch]

Steve wrote:
> I made the mistake of having the free services offered by my LBS when I bought my hybrid. Both
> brakes stopped you dead before it went in for one, but on its return the back brake is absolutely
> ****e! I have tried all manner of things to try and correct this to no avail, and the LBS maintain
> that all they did was tension the cable up. Any ideas about what I could try?

Could be the pads had worn at a certain angle and that's been fiddled slightly for some reason so
that you've only got a fraction of the former pad contact area (might not be, but...). If it looks
like that's happened loosen off the holding nut on the pads and pull the pads against the rim. Make
sure the maximum contact area possible is going on, and then, with your third and fourth hands,
retighten the nut.

The pads can sit at a variety of angles, allowed by the "ball and socket" type spacers on the pad's
mounting rod, and it makes quite a difference if you've got the wrong one for some reason (generally
fiddling with brake adjustment).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

[Graeme]

stephen.morrow@komatsu-uk.com (Steve) wrote in news:e1882fc5.0304012314.70575c53@posting.google.com:

<snip>
> Any ideas about what I could try?

Assuming the business end of the brakes and the cable tension are adjusted properly (which is
something that can take me a good few minutes of fiddling and trial and error) then maybe looking at
the brake lever end could help. There should be a bolt in the lever part that can go into one of
several positions (usually 3 I think), this part holds the end of the cable. This alters how much
pull the lever has on the cable. I *think* the position nearer the body of the brake lever gives
more pull than the further positions, I can't remember for sure as I've not needed to change mine
for years. You'll need to adjust the cables if you move this bolt (just loosen the bolt/screw at the
brake end and move it a few mm).

Hope that helps!

Graeme

[Sandy Morton]

In article <e1882fc5.0304012314.70575c53@posting.google.com>, Steve
<stephen.morrow@komatsu-uk.com> wrote:
> Any ideas about what I could try?

New blocks and clean the rims - I use acetone.

--
A T (Sandy) Morton on the Bicycle Island In the Global Village http://www.sandymillport.fsnet.co.uk (http://www.sandymillport.fsnet.co.uk/)

[Ben]

On 1 Apr 2003 23:14:05 -0800, stephen.morrow@komatsu-uk.com (Steve) wrote:

>I made the mistake of having the free services offered by my LBS when I bought my hybrid. Both
>brakes stopped you dead before it went in for one, but on its return the back brake is absolutely
>****e! I have tried all manner of things to try and correct this to no avail, and the LBS maintain
>that all they did was tension the cable up. Any ideas about what I could try?

The other two responses seem pretty comprehensive but there is always the following...

.. check the LBS grease-monkey hasn't got any oil or grease on your rim or brake pads.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." ***** replace
'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****

[Stephen \]

"Graeme" <graeme@gpdods.removethis.com> wrote in message
news:Xns93515AD7D5E52graemegpdodsremoveth@216.168.3.44...
> stephen.morrow@komatsu-uk.com (Steve) wrote in
> news:e1882fc5.0304012314.70575c53@posting.google.com:
>
> <snip>
> > Any ideas about what I could try?
>
> Assuming the business end of the brakes and the cable tension are adjusted properly (which is
> something that can take me a good few minutes of fiddling and trial and error) then maybe looking
> at the brake lever end could help. There should be a bolt in the lever part that can go into one
> of several positions (usually 3 I think), this part holds the end of the cable. This alters how
> much pull the lever has on the cable. I *think* the position nearer the body of the brake lever
> gives more pull than the further positions, I can't remember for sure as I've not needed to change
> mine for years. You'll need to adjust the cables if you move this bolt (just loosen the bolt/screw
> at the brake end and move it a few mm).
>
> Hope that helps!
>
Is there online help anywhere that shows this. My brakes are very loose at the mo and I'm loathed to
spend £40 if I can do it myself. Cheers.

PS I have 2 sets of non threaded v-brake blocks if anyone wants them for free. Bought at Asda
by mistake.

[Al_mossah]

I heard of someone cleaning their rims with white spirit, which leaves a film of oil on and renders
your brakes useless. Solution is to clean with alcohol (I use meths when I haven't drunk it all)

Peter. "Ben" <spam@randygerbil.com> wrote in message
news:6k8l8v4livfngbk55k1g9ra9cklduhangt@4ax.com...
> On 1 Apr 2003 23:14:05 -0800, stephen.morrow@komatsu-uk.com (Steve) wrote:
>
> >I made the mistake of having the free services offered by my LBS when I bought my hybrid. Both
> >brakes stopped you dead before it went in for one, but on its return the back brake is absolutely
> >****e! I have tried all manner of things to try and correct this to no avail, and the LBS
> >maintain that all they did was tension the cable up. Any ideas about what I could try?
>
> The other two responses seem pretty comprehensive but there is always the following...
>
> .. check the LBS grease-monkey hasn't got any oil or grease on your rim or brake pads.
> --
> "We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." *****
> replace 'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****