City Jets + Big Hill

[Deleted member 20519]

Got my City Jet tyres in the mail a few days ago from a CC'er: Andrew Culture. Had a bit of trouble fitting the front tyre, managed to burst the inner tube but I had a spare one handy so no problems there.

As you can see from the picture below, I've fitted some metal v brakes and some metal brake levers. Brakes are much better now: I can actually stop!

What I can say about them is that they ride really, really well. Compared to my knobbly tires, these smooth ones are very comfortable. The day I got them, it was absolutely pouring but the tyres were fine on the roads, no crashes (yet ).

I was 'up the braes' as it's known, it's a fairly steep incline that goes on for about a mile and a half. Tough to get up it but it's rewarding coming back down. I got to draft behind my dads car, reached speeds of around 35mph. Never gone that fast before, maybe the tyres had something to do with it?

I've finally gotten my bike kitted out to commute, three days before school finishes

Here's some snaps from the way up the hill:

(who says Scotland is subject to mass deforestation?)

If you're going to quote this post, *PLEASE* remove the images!

 

[HovR]

Very nice - Looks like an ideal bike for your commute.

Nice clean chain as well!

 

[Norm]

Love the bike, looks really good in that "none-blacker" colour scheme. However, if that's how your brakes are sitting in use, rather than when they were first fitted, then they need adjusting to even up the spring tension.

 

[redcard]

You want to be riding from Paisley through Kilmacolm then onto Port Glasgow if you want a challenging hill - the Clune Brae.

I think I reached 40mph going down it this morning, and managed about 10mph average on the way up, though I had to stop about a quarter of the way up. Once I'd composed myself I made it to the top, then it's a speedy decline into Kilmacolm, and the road is always fairly quiet.

Got a few days off work, so gonna do then same again tomorrow, hopefully without coming off the bike.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Love the bike, looks really good in that "none-blacker" colour scheme. However, if that's how your brakes are sitting in use, rather than when they were first fitted, then they need adjusting to even up the spring tension.

How would I go about adjusting the spring tension?

 

[HovR]

How would I go about adjusting the spring tension?

Viola!

Look for a screw in roughly the place labled "Spring tension centering screw". Tightening this screw will move the brake pad away from the rim, and loosening it will bring it closer to the rim.

Ideally the two V brake arms would be roughly symmetrical through a central vertical line of symmetry.

 

[MrJamie]

Nice pics

Centering the V brake is a bit like balancing 2 sides of an old fashioned scale, itll be quite a fine adjustment and quickly goes from all one way to all the other way. The rear brake could possibly be made more effective too if you changed the angles a little. If the two "sides" of the straddle cable are sloping down at about 45 degrees from the brake cable to the arms. Hard to tell from a photo, but the angle that the arms are pulled at can make canti brakes utterly useless or very sharp.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Great pics, Jaz, lovely bike! It's cleaner than mine

 

[Norm]

How would I go about adjusting the spring tension?

Pretty much exactly as HovR said but I'd emphasise the balancing act thing. Don't have either side screwed tightly in or fully out, they should both be part of the way through their travel.

 

[HLaB]

Nice photos although like suggested I'd adjust the brake lever tension and your brakes will be better again, enjoy

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Managed to get the brakes pretty centered, nice and powerful now. I'll have a crack at the rear center pull tomorrow. Thanks! On another note, I'm doing my first commute with a friend tomorrow. Wish me luck

 

[MrJamie]

Managed to get the brakes pretty centered, nice and powerful now. I'll have a crack at the rear center pull tomorrow. Thanks! On another note, I'm doing my first commute with a friend tomorrow. Wish me luck

Awesome , but make sure if your brakes are drastically more powerful that youre careful with them, especially downhill where your weight is closer to the front wheel. I fitted better pads a couple of weeks ago and set up my vbrakes nicely, rode down the street, tested them and very nearly went straight over the bars - my first endo since i rode a bmx in my early teens.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Awesome , but make sure if your brakes are drastically more powerful that youre careful with them, especially downhill where your weight is closer to the front wheel. I fitted better pads a couple of weeks ago and set up my vbrakes nicely, rode down the street, tested them and very nearly went straight over the bars - my first endo since i rode a bmx in my early teens.

I promise I'll be careful! Tried them out before it got dark, back wheel never used to fly up. What would you do in an emergency stop of ou go over
Your hadlebars?

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Sorry for the spelling, phone keyboard is awful.

 

[MrJamie]

I promise I'll be careful! Tried them out before it got dark, back wheel never used to fly up. What would you do in an emergency stop of ou go over
Your hadlebars?

Not sure really, i posted on here asking if brakes could be too sharp, ive heard a couple of people on here say how theyve emergency stopped behind a vehicle and gone over the bars into the back of it, so I took a little bit of tension off the brake cable, like 1 turn on the barrel adjuster to make them more like good brakes and less like a catapult