brakes again

[Kiwiavenger]

i had a fettle last night and changed the brake pads on the allez, it had standard shimano pads before on tektro calipers. all fitted in fine and all lined up smartly. the problem i have is the front brake has a lot of pull in the lever, i tried using an extra washer on the pads (new clarks shiny silver ones!) but that just then jams the wheel! i've fiddled with the cable adjuster so it slows me a bit, but still has loads of travel and i engage them fully, i still have really weak index and middle fingers on that hand after an accident but they are fine with maybee 1-2 cm's of pull but really struggle after that so the less reach on the levers the better!

would it be worth me getting some thinner washers and trying them? or moving the washers to the inside (between pad and caliper rather than between caliper and nut?)

 

[ushills]

Have you adjusted the cable at the caliper. The washers should be used to ensure that the pads are close to the rim when the caliper arm is parallel to the rim, the cable adjusts how close the pad is to the rim.

Adjust the cable to get it closer to the rim and reduce the pull.

 

[Kiwiavenger]

i was thinking of that earlier actually but whenever ive fiddled with cables its ended badly! (saying that it was old cables on nackered old hard tail MTB's) may have a fettle at lunch as the 2 mile descent on the way home is looking daunting at the moment!

 

[ushills]

Shortening the cable, i.e. pull more of it through the bolt on the caliper should give you no problems. The only real issues are where you do it the other way and the part than was previously under the bolt and crushed now forms part of the cable, these usually stop when throwing the anchors on and it is best to replace the cable in this case. With yours you should be fine but the cable will need adjusting as it sounds like the pads are thinner than the old ones.

 

[PpPete]

Don't forget to wind the adjusters in (clockwise) before pulling cable through. You'll still probably want a bit of adjustment after you've secured the cable in the new position.