Upgrade stock brakes

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Keith Hughes on January 28, 2012 at 7:11am

That is great info. I will rebuild exhisting and see where that puts me. I would be willing to throw something with a vintage feel, but would never get rid of stock.

James BlackHeron said:

Yes, that bike is really Superbe... (dah-dum-dum!)

I'd really hate to mess with its stock/vintage (and seemingly mint condition) by doing any irreversible mods on it.

If Kool-stop salmon pads and adjusting what is on there now doesn't get the results Kieth is looking for, I'd suggest building an alloy wheelset on a set of donor hubs and saving he stock wheelset for vintage value. Working Bikes has a decent selection of used hubs this time of years -if I haven't snatched them all up already (guilty as charged -but it has been a few weeks since I was down there.) Going with the Raleigh front hub will mean it fits the Raleigh forks without any modifications.

If you can't find an AW hub at WB or other source I might be persuaded into giving up one of the half-dozen or so I have on my workbench in various degrees of being refurbished. I could finish one up in a couple of hours if need be.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 28, 2012 at 7:10am

Gorgeous bike! I'm glad your lean toward keeping it stock. I have nothing to contribute but cheerleading. Please keep us posted as my wife's Schwinn Collegiate has the same weak front brake (and steel rims) problem. Plan A was to upgrade to an alloy rim. But I'm intrigued now with the idea of a brake hub. Thanks James!

PS: Blue City is doing wheel builds for $30 during their Winter Sale, if I read the ad correctly.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rene Lawell on January 28, 2012 at 8:37am

Because of the fact you don't have any brazons you cant go with the standard brake they are using now, called, v-brake. so since most of the big names have gone to v-brakes, like shimano, sram, and avid. you will need to find a compatible side pull brake with a center mount. my suggestion to you is, change your cables, and pads and then have the brakes adjusted properly by a bike store. most likely from what I saw in your picture your brakes need adjusting badly, but your pads are bad. and just for grins you could probably change the cables, which are easy on that kind of bike. hope this helps.

You could also invest in a better set of pads for the bike too. those are the .99cents one my store sells. this in combination of getting them adjusted properly you should be fine. I hope this helps. --Rene

Your repair should cost you about $50.00 for parts and labor.