On Feb 26, 2009, at 2:30 PM, Dave C wrote:
> Tim, I think the poor braking is due to my inexperience at brake set- > up. I never set up cable and housing before for this type of brake or > brake lever, and I'm not sure how to terminate the housing into the > lever body. I probably need to find a picture to determine the proper > method. I don't have any of these any more. IIRC the cable housing is just inserted into the guide hole in the lever body until it stops. The cable housing must be long enough to fully stop against both the lever body and the cable stop (stop(s) for the rear brake, of course). If you pull the brakes and see the cable housing pulling tighter somewhat in its run, that's a sign that the cable housing is too short. Also, make sure you are using brake cable housing (coiled wire in the sheathing) and not shifter cable housing (a bundle of longitudinal wires in the sheathing). Shifter cable housing will fail under the forces of braking. Don't ask how I know this. Also make sure that the brake cable housing ends are not crushed and dragging on the cable- the ends must be fully open to allow the cable to slide through easily. Otherwise your hand force is overcoming the cable friction and not braking. Given how important brakes are, it might be worthwhile taking your bike to a good bike shop and having them set the brakes up and show you how. > Last night, I adjusted the front brake by following the advice here, > increasing the cable tension by pulling more through the brake pinch > bolt. I also adjusted the pads a bit. It improved the braking, but > evidently I need to adjust some more because it is still weak. How much clearance to you have between the pads and the rims? V- brakes run very close to the rims (about 1 mm away), unlike brakes that require less cable pull. You could have 3-4 mm with sidepulls or cantis and have plenty of lever travel, but not so with V-brakes. BTW, I really don't like V-brakes for these reasons. A well set up canti stops just as well and is a lot less goofing around. The only bike I have with V-brakes is my tandem which has "shorty" V-brakes. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
