Vbrake dilemma

rollingscone

Hey all,

Following Cramcycle's sound advice I decided I'd better give my brake springs a service and duly removed the calipers, cleaned and oiled them.

Less cleverly I started messing about with the cable tensioner Instead of going straight for the springs.

Now I have a set of functioning V brakes operated by an incredibly slack lever.

I've used the adjusting bit on the levers to get it back to a functioning level of tension but i can't replicate the tension on my back brake lever.

Panic!

com1

loosen the tensioning nuts for the brake (I would set them to about the halfway point), loosen the brake cable anchor bolt and, while squeezing the brakes onto the wheel rim, pull the cable taut (though not too tight) and tighten the anchor bolt. If needs be then adjust the tensioning nuts so that the wheel runs free and your brake pull is as you would want it.

It might be a good idea to replace the brake cable too. I had problems with reusing old cables before, they were getting stuck in the guides and housing. After one pull the brake lever stayed loose and the pads started rubbing the rim. A new cable made everything work like new again.

My LBS gave me some great advice - a drop of oil on the cable and a spot of grease on the end of the housing before running the cable through - the cable will pick up the grease tracking it through the housing. Worked a treat.

tonycon28

Their are some good tips here - scroll down to the third reply with the bullet points. I suspect that you need to pull the cable tighter were it attaches to the actual brake.

http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/858/how-to-tighten-a-brake

rollingscone

Thanks guys, I'd already tried all that, looks like I just needed to tighten the spring tensioners a lot more after the adjustments (Note to self, replace grub screws on spring tensioners)

com1

Sorry, its been a while since I looked at v-brakes... when you squeeze the brakes by hand do they spring back out again? If not, you may need to tension the springs on the brake bosses.

The brakes bosses are attached to the frame (the brakes pivot on these) normally have 3 holes in them. The brake spring ends in a bar that will fit into one of these holes. Loosen the brake cable again and try fitting the end of the spring into one of these holes - you will know the correct combination by squeezing the brakes against the rim - there should be some tension when you do this and it should spring back.

I put a fairly crude picture below - the boss on the frame is the black circle. The brake arm (grey) and spring (yellow) are on the right The black circle in the spring is the end of the spring which should fit into one of the holes on the boss. Hope it makes sense (it may be more obvious when you look at the actual brakes )

I think that there is normally a small screw at the spring housing for minor adjustment. It can be a bit of a PITH the first time you try this but it does get easier