Diatech mini V problem

Erik Voldengen said:

Nothing seems to work - no matter how hard I squeeze, I won't slow down. The levers don't bottom
out against the bar, but they do pull a decent amount of cable.

It sounds like you've got the wrong type of lever for your brakes. There are a few pulley-type
devices that change the pull length and force to adapt incompatible levers and brakes, but you'd
probably be better off to just get the proper levers.

You said you replaced pads, cables, housings, wheels. Did you try the new pads with the new wheels?
Were they aligned well? Were the rims clean and the pads scuffed?

And yet, you pull the brake, it takes up the cable but the lever doesn't bottom out, then you can't
pull any more and you're not slowing down. Are the pads contacting the rim at that point? Are they
compressing against it or just barely touching? When you've got it to that point, and you squeeze
harder, does the lever move and squish the pads, or does it stay put like it hit a stop?

Just some ideas.

Quoted message said:

-Erik

--
Rick Onanian

The back brake, even if it's working 100% will not stop you. See the voluminous thread on braking
further down the board, I don't want to start another one! LOL!!

If it is able to lock the rear wheel while you're in a normally seated position, the brake,
mechanically, at least, is fine.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

You never said if the pads are contacting the rim...but...

1) Your brake levers may be set to 'V' mode (meaning full-size V's). They need to be set to 'canti'
mode to pull more cable (if they have such an option).

2) The other problem could be that your brake pads are spaced too far from the rim. Most sets of
decent pads have two sets of ball-and-socket mated spacers, one on each side of the brake slot
(or brake arm). These two sets of spacers are different thicknesses. You want to make sure that
the thick spacers are on the side of the brake slots towards the rim, thus moving the pads
further out from the slots.

Good Luck.

"Erik Voldengen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've got a Redline cross bike that came with Diacompe 287 levers and Diatech mini V brakes. The
front brake works fine, but I can not get the rear brake to work well at all.

I've tried replacing the cables and housing (with lots of grease). I've tried replacing the pads,
and using different wheels.

Nothing seems to work - no matter how hard I squeeze, I won't slow down. The levers don't bottom
out against the bar, but they do pull a decent amount of cable.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what I could try? I wouldn't mind getting some cantis instead, but
I don't have a rear cable hanger on the frame as Redline decided I wouldn't need one 🙁

Should I fix 'em? Junk 'em?

-Erik

Uh I assure you that the rear brake is not functioning correctly. Not even close to being able to
lock up the rear wheel - no power, don't know why.

Quoted message said:

The back brake, even if it's working 100% will not stop you. See the voluminous thread on braking
further down the board, I don't want to start another one! LOL!!

If it is able to lock the rear wheel while you're in a normally seated position, the brake,
mechanically, at least, is fine.

Erik Voldengen said:

Uh I assure you that the rear brake is not functioning correctly. Not even close to being able to
lock up the rear wheel - no power, don't know why.

Quoted message said:

The back brake, even if it's working 100% will not stop you. See the voluminous thread on
braking further down the board, I don't want to start another one! LOL!!

If it is able to lock the rear wheel while you're in a normally seated position, the brake,
mechanically, at least, is fine.

check that the outer cable support doesn't bottom out against the other brakehalf
--
Marten

Quoted message said:

check that the outer cable support doesn't bottom out against the other brakehalf

DING DING DING WINNER! Thanks so much, that was it. I'm such a roadie, I've never even had V-brakes
before. It never dawned on me to check that. How embarassing.

Thanks again, -Erik

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

check that the outer cable support doesn't bottom out against the other brakehalf

DING DING DING WINNER! Thanks so much, that was it. I'm such a roadie, I've never even had
V-brakes before. It never dawned on me to check that. How embarassing.

Check my earlier post - you need to add some spacers in between the brake pads and the brake arm -
usually the included 'large' ones aore big enough. That should fix this problem, if not, get some
new pads with big spacers and longer bolts.

Quoted message said:

Check my earlier post - you need to add some spacers in between the brake pads and the brake arm -
usually the included 'large' ones aore big enough. That should fix this problem, if not, get some
new pads with big spacers and longer bolts.

Yup, I was actually already using the fatter spacers on the inside. I found some slightly fatter
ones in my junk box from a previous set of pads and it worked lovely. Thanks for the tip.

-Erik