Upgrade brakes?

The chan chan man

Hi there,

I have a declathlon single speed 500 bike. Its a nice cheap bike but the brakes are crap. Can anyone give me a steer on how I could upgrade these? Not looking to upgrade to discs, but would I benefit most from new pads, calipers or levers - or do I need all??

The chan chan man

Here’s what I’m working with..

cletus

Have the brakes always been crap?

The chan chan man

Yeah, its only a couple of weeks old

07Lapierre

First, The cable release lever is set incorrectly. Turn it down and that will bring the pads closer to the rim.

Second: you might need to adjust the brake cable. If your not sure how.. watch this:

https://youtu.be/VO77mbB8w7I

iwillhtfu

Have you pushed the closing lever down? That'll make a big difference if you haven't. Other than that some pads are better than others but only marginal differences really.

cletus

Good call on the lever, didn't even notice

Deano12345

The chan chan man wrote: »

Hi there,

but would I benefit most from new pads, calipers or levers - or do I need all??

Depends on what the issue is really!

To my eye, those pads look quite far away from the rim, which means the lever will have to be pulled in more to make the pads contact the rim, I find with rim brakes set like that, the lever will almost be to the bars before it starts to stop you.

Edit : Good call iwillhtfu, didn't spot that myself.

07Lapierre

cletus wrote: »

Good call on the lever, didn't even notice

My pet hate! Amazing the number of bikes you see like this.

The chan chan man

Great! I’ll try that for a start!! Thanks all

The chan chan man

Ok tried that lever... it certainly helps but its still not stopping properly. Could it be that the pads are just crap, cheapo rubber pads not gripping the rim properly?

ED E

When you pull are your fingers moving far before you feel resistance? If the lever is nearly touching the bar before they start to tense up then you need to use that little barrel adjuster to tighten em further.


Event sh1t bikes should have OK brakes, junk tektros still stop fine.

cletus

Two things worth bearing in mind about new bikes, especially those bought from chainstores. The brakes may not have been adjusted properly to begin with, and new cables have a bedding in period where they tend to stretch, so adjustment after a period would be required anyway. The Park Tools channel on YouTube should have the required how to videos

We've probably all forgot to close that lever at some stage after having a wheel off. Some of more than once

EDIT: See Cletus mentioned bedding in of cables. It's expected in most bike shops for the bike to arrive back after a few weeks to have minor adjustments to account for that. Most will mention it when they sell you the bike, commonly referred to as a "free first service"

magicbastarder

how much flex is there in the brake lever between the when the brake blocks bite fully, and when you pull hard on the levers?
i.e. if there's much flex in any or all parts of the system (brake levers, cable, or brakes themselves) it can result in reduced braking power.
i mention this because while randomly browsing the bike section in decathlon months ago, i absent mindedly pulled on the brake of one of the bikes there and was seriously unimpressed with how spongy they felt. i think it would have been a different style of brake to the one above, though.

The chan chan man

Sorted it today - a combination of things you had all mentioned!! Thanks all - finally able to skid again!