The Chainlink

Adjusting Cantilever Brakes

Ok so I admit I am a dipshit regarding bike maintenance.  I took off a front tire and unhooked the cable from the one brake that is able to be released without using an allen wrench.  Heres the problem...

 

When I went to reattach the cable it was hard as hell so I tried adjusting the cable on the other half of the brake assembly.  What this did was allowed me to reattach the cable on the one half but also made that half inoperative, whereas now when using the brake only one side clamps down and the other side just stays in one position - rubbing along the wheel.

 

This is the kind of brake I am dealing with and the one on the left is stuck and the bugger I am trying to adjust.

 

 

I know this might be hard to understand, but if anyone does please give your advice how to fix it or post links to youtube videos that could help me figure out how to do this properly.  I don't want to just go to a bike shop.  Learning is fundamental :)

 

Thanks!

 

Aaron

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 7, 2011 at 10:14am

If I read your problem description correctly, this video explains how to solve it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8dkU5NhCVY&NR=1

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 7, 2011 at 10:42am

That video is for v-brakes...

 

OK so fist thing first check that the wheel is installed straight in the drop outs.  I know it sounds dumb but it is very easy to get it a little off and then go nuts trying to make the brakes 'center' on the the crooked wheel.

 

To be honest I can't find a video that is worth a crap about it and it is pretty hard to explain it via text so basically I would say your best bet is to swing in the bike shop and have them show you how to do it so you are able to do it next time. 

 

I am also lost from being helpful because I am no compulsively watching this sweaty goof in terrible shades dispense horrible bike service advice on youtube.

 

Oh internet, you are so dangerous.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 7, 2011 at 10:50am

I know it's for v-brakes....

 

It showed the 2 most important reasons (besides putting the wheel in wrong) why brakes don't work. The tension spring need adjustment, and for the finer adjustment you use the screws perpendicular to the brakes.

 

Whenever I have had issues with brakes it's one of those 3 things


notoriousDUG said:

That video is for v-brakes...

 

OK so fist thing first check that the wheel is installed straight in the drop outs.  I know it sounds dumb but it is very easy to get it a little off and then go nuts trying to make the brakes 'center' on the the crooked wheel.

 

To be honest I can't find a video that is worth a crap about it and it is pretty hard to explain it via text so basically I would say your best bet is to swing in the bike shop and have them show you how to do it so you are able to do it next time. 

 

I am also lost from being helpful because I am no compulsively watching this sweaty goof in terrible shades dispense horrible bike service advice on youtube.

 

Oh internet, you are so dangerous.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 7, 2011 at 11:12am
Sheldon has some good advice.
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on July 7, 2011 at 11:46am
Do your brake levers have quick releases? that makes it a lot easier to get some slack in the line to set up the straddle cable
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 7, 2011 at 11:53am

A 3rd hand tool makes adjusting canti's easier but a link cable really doesn't need this as much as a straddle-cable type does.  A 4th-hand tool works OK on straddle-cables but not so well with link cables.  

 

Sometimes it is just easier to adjust the link cable first and then attempt to put it on the brake itself if there is enough room to do this.  When adjusted just right the link cable should be able to be popped on or off without removing the wheel (and thus facilitate removal of the wheel without deflating the tire.)

Permalink Reply by Kevin Sullivan on July 7, 2011 at 12:33pm
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 7, 2011 at 1:51pm

Seriously?

 

Did you even watch that video?

 

Not only does that sweaty douche-tard not preform the adjustment Aaron needs he used f'n vise-grips on his bike!  Pliers and vice-grips are the LAST thing you should ever think of putting on a nut or bolt, a tool to be used only when the fastener has been stripped or mangled beyond use.  Using a vice-grip on a fastener is an excellent way to damage it so proper wrenches no longer fit it in the future; never trust the mechanical skills of anyone working on anything if they use pliers or vice-grips where a proper tool would apply. 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Sullivan said:

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 7, 2011 at 3:19pm

The guy is adjusting a cantilever brake that uses a yoke/transit wire and not a link wire like the OP here has posted a picture of.  The way the cable is adjusted is different depending on which type of cabling it uses.

 

The vise-grip method is a bit hard on the yoke cable carrier but it does make it a little bit easier when one doesn't have a 4th hand tool to keep the cable tight so one can use both hands and two open-end wrenches on the carrier pinch bolt.   I don't do it this way but a lot of people do.

 

Bike mechanics isn't rocket science.  Having the "right" tool is nice -but it can often be done without them.  If you work on a lot of different bikes (especially older ones) buying every tool that is suggested will end up costing you more than the bike.   Not that that is wrong...  Some people just don't want to do that.  It's just a bike, right?  ;)  It isn't a space shuttle. 

Permalink Reply by Lee Roy on July 7, 2011 at 3:53pm

Just a thought here on what happened in the first place. 

The brake cable was disconnected at the cantilever end, the cable housing unseated from the lever end. Then, when the cable was reconnected, the casing took up the slack to reconnect.

The casing needs to be adjusted/pushed back into it's place in order to reconnect the cantilever.

Permalink Reply by Bailey Gene Newbrey on July 7, 2011 at 7:21pm

"I don't want to just go to a bike shop.  Learning is fundamental :)"

 

Bike shops are fundamental as well. They can teach you. Also, we gotta eat.

Permalink Reply by Vondo on July 8, 2011 at 1:00am

If the brake was working ok before, I don't think spring tension needs adjusting. It sounds like you unhooked the link wire (left side on your image) and then pulled too much cable on the right side, tightened the bolt and then tried to hook the link wire back. The whole link wire might be off to the right. Usually it helps to hook the link wire first, then pull the cable through on the right side. Also, make sure your cable is in the "locking notch" on the round part at the top of the link wire assembly. I hope I'm explaining myself clearly, I'm less than sober...

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