Basic question on kids bike

[fgreen]

Hoping someone can suggest. It's a low tech question I got a second hand little kids bike it's got plastic wheels and a back brake which doesn't stop it, it doesn't really have any effect at all, there doesn't seem to be enough grip on the plastic wheel rim.

Is there anything I can do? It's a cantilever brake I've taken the pads off and filed them it hasn't made any difference. I'm wishing I'd not got it to be honest and I'm not wanting to spend a lot of money trying to fix it, if I can avoid it. But is there anything I can do to improve the grip on the plastic wheel and make the brake actually work so my child can use it safely? The wheel rim has a texture. I don't know if that's part of the problem. Thanks.

 

[cyberknight]

can you adjust the distance between the brake pads and the wheel rim ?
hard to say without more information / pictures, usually you can adjust the barrel adjuster on the brake lever to make the lever bite quicker and / or loosen the cable clamp bolt and pull more cable through and re-tighten .

 

[HLaB]

Hoping someone can suggest. It's a low tech question I got a second hand little kids bike it's got plastic wheels and a back brake which doesn't stop it, it doesn't really have any effect at all, there doesn't seem to be enough grip on the plastic wheel rim.

Is there anything I can do? It's a cantilever brake I've taken the pads off and filed them it hasn't made any difference. I'm wishing I'd not got it to be honest and I'm not wanting to spend a lot of money trying to fix it, if I can avoid it. But is there anything I can do to improve the grip on the plastic wheel and make the brake actually work so my child can use it safely? The wheel rim has a texture. I don't know if that's part of the problem. Thanks.

Hardly any bike will stop with the back brake, its a case of using the back brake to control speed slightly and then use the front brake to actually stop. A lot of kids bikes only come with a front brake.

 

[dicko]

Being a child in Germany, dad was RAF, my first two wheeler was of German manufacture. It had a back pedal break as did all German cycles. On arriving home to UK I was frequently stopped by grown ups and questioned ‘why no rear brake, are you mad’? Back pedal break was so powerful showing off skids was expensive on tyres.

 

[Paulus]

Hardly any bike will stop with the back brake, its a case of using the back brake to control speed slightly and then use the front brake to actually stop. A lot of kids bikes only come with a front brake.

Agreed, it's the front brake that has the most stopping effect.
The back brake only controls the speed.

 

[Cycleops]

I suspect it’s one of those really cheap small bikes. Realistically it’s never going to work properly. Dump it at your local recycling centre and pick up another there that has steel/alu rim wheels and V or canti brakes.