Front Brake Failure

[Adasta]

So, there I was, approaching a red light when I pull on the front brake lever. As soon as I do, a bolt flies off the front caliper and shoots across the road. The left brake pad flips over to the other side of the caliper thereby nullifying the brakes. Luckily I was in the cycle lane so could pull over very easily. Absolutely no hope of finding the bolt. I was just standing there in the freezing cold doing nothing for a while!

I managed to get the bike to a bike shop and will be picking it up tomorrow morning. Very fortunate that I didn't smack into the back of a car. Had to get the bus home which was possibly the most depressing part.

Winter, eh.

 

[daSmirnov]

Good ain't it. I've had two brake failures, both on my mountain bike (it's not as well maintained as the road bike) so wasn't going insanely fast luckily.

First was on a moderate downhill, front brake just let go, one of the pads had slipped under the rim. Had to really squeeze the back to slow down, was in panic mode for a bit.

Second was the rear brake cable snapping while approaching a roundabout, I was indicating right and so had to quickly un-indicate to get to my front brake.

 

[gaz]

Bad luck but good luck you had the space to stop in time.

 

[fossyant]

Well that was lucky - so no snapped cable ?

Never had anything like that, other than with my MTB - been using it for commuting for a year, got my new fixed up on order. Got the old MTB back to MTB duties just before the fixed was ready (LBS building up). Anyway, last Sunday before the fixed was delivered, went off roading from home on my todd, middle of no-where, gear change a bit ropey, thought crud. Got home three hours later - great ride. On way to work next morning, only 5 miles in, ping, gear cable snapped - that would have been interesting in the middle of the Peaks asking the missus to pick me up !!! Only a few miles from home, but not near any road she would know !

 

[kishan]

eeeeeeeeek not good never had that happen to me

 

[Herzog]

You've given me the heebie jeebies; I might get my Allen key out before I commute home tonight.

 

[gambatte]

Could be worse....
Try a motorbike, front wheel instant deflation at 70mph! It feels like there's no connection between the direction of the bars and the direction the bike wants to go. You can only hang on and try to keep it upright. Had it twice, only once at this speed. But it was the worst as it was at the start of a long downhill.
Halfway down was a light controlled cross roads (which I had no real choice but to sail through on red!!) and the road had a gradual right hand bend at the bottom, where I eventually pulled over.
I think there's only one reason I got away with it uninjured. It was 3a.m. and there was no other traffic around.
Luckily only 1-2 miles to push a 400cc

 

[DougieAB]

I always find it a real pain to set up the brakes after an adjustment or replacing brake pads. Getting the adjustment correct so that both pads grip then release enough for the wheel to spin without rubbing drives me mad. Making sure the cables move freely and cleaning off all the mud and dirt is the first thing to do otherwise you have no chance of setting up right.