Adjusting Cantilever Brakes

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Francis Tabin on July 8, 2011 at 8:02am

i agree with NotoriusDug's suggestion. i had this problem too and ended up getting a new pair of brakes. One attachment got stuck and actually got rubbed along the wheel so much that the pad was half the thickness of the  other one. Pulled it off and saw the inside had rusted and it was not hinging properly. Got a new pair but problem still persisted, although to a less extent. I finally fixed it by following brake installation instruction to the letter, but i think the biggest difference was that i made sure the tire was centered between the pads. The mistake i made was to readjust the brakes to try and fit the minutely misaligned tire. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 8, 2011 at 8:44am

Any bike rim brake could benefit greatly from a  yearly strip-down and deep-cleaning.  Polish all moving parts/pivots so they slide past each other and regrease them so that the continue to do so.

 

Dirt, grungey dried grease, oxidation, and other contamination make the moving parts much less likely too and the force applied to the lever is eaten by this friction instead of being applied to the braking surface.  Even a brake that has had this done last year will benefit from doing this again this year.  It's amazing what kind of crappy brakes many people are riding around on.  I am sort of anal about these things but I feel it is a safety issue.  I know people who won't ride a block without their helmet but have brakes so lacking that I wouldn't get on their bikes and ride around a parking lot on them.  There are are magic talismans and there are things that really important.  I think a lot of people really don't know the difference.

 

Things like clean/oiled cables & housings, clean/lubed pivots, properly adjusted locknuts and pivot bolts and centered brakes on true rims make a HUGE difference.  You can throw salmon KoolStops at crappy rusted old brake calipers or cantilevers and it'll help but often just a clean and well-maintained brake system will work well even with cheap $1.99 wal-mart pads.  I'm also not a fan of steel rims but they can be made to work well in the dry and even in the wet if all the other things have been taken care of.

 

If you don't know how to do these things for yourself then learn how or pay a pro to do them for you (sometimes you have to insist as most pros don't want to go the full 9 yards on this as well.) 

 

Either that or just get hub brakes and forget about the crappiness that is rim brakes (n everything but weight and cost benefits.

 

This is my preachy wrenchy post for the day.  Amen. 

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page