Help!

[VintageRuby]

Cam someone help me before I lose it completely?
I'm trying to adjust the brakes on this bike, they're callipers with one pulling cable and I cannot for the life of me get them to sit properly and actually stop me! I undo the barrel adjuster all the way out, pull the calipers together and tighten the cable then re screw the adjuster in to let out the cable so it doesn't rub the brake, but I can't get the happy medium between not having it too close so it rubs but not too far away that it doesn't grip at all. I had a test down the road and it only just stopped me (with a lot of praying in between!) and that was me pulling the brake back as far as it would go.

 

[simongt]

Vee brakes can be a pain to get right. In my experience, the cause is usually a build up of muck in the mechanisms where the tension springs emerges from. Because they're open at the back, they tend to collect all the gunge thrown up by the wheels.
Try taking the brake arms off, give them a good clean with an old half inch paintbrush and some paraffin, getting into as much of the works as possible. Dry off with some paper towel or cloth. relube with some good silicon type grease and reassemble onto the bike. Usually does the trick for me.
A wee tip, to get the spacing right between pad + rim, put a pair old credit cards in the gaps, tighten the brake arms using a D.I.Y clamp as a third hand, not too hard and then set the brake cable. When you slip the credit cards out, you'll have about 1mm gap between block + rim; just right.

 

[simon.r]

That's a V Brake. The little screw in your picture adjusts the tension. Try screwing them both* in a bit, which should mean they pull out stronger from the rim.

*Or just one if they're not equally centred. It's difficult to see from the photo but it looks as if the right hand arm (as pictured) needs more tension.

 

[bonsaibilly]

Vee brakes can be a pain to get right. In my experience, the cause is usually a build up of muck in the mechanisms where the tension springs emerges from. Because they're open at the back, they tend to collect all the gunge thrown up by the wheels.
Try taking the brake arms off, give them a good clean with an old half inch paintbrush and some paraffin, getting into as much of the works as possible. Dry off with some paper towel or cloth. relube with some good silicon type grease and reassemble onto the bike. Usually does the trick for me.
A wee tip, to get the spacing right between pad + rim, put a pair old credit cards in the gaps, tighten the brake arms using a D.I.Y clamp as a third hand, not too hard and then set the brake cable. When you slip the credit cards out, you'll have about 1mm gap between block + rim; just right.

+1, the best way to try to fix them is to strip them down completely, clean them up, lube the working parts and put them back together. Then try adjusting them.

Good way to learn. The last v brake system I had, one of the arm's springs had become bent so it couldn't pull right. I just had to straighten it with amateurish force.

 

[VintageRuby]

Thank you all for your great ideas and help, I think I've won! I'm trying to use it as a back up bike as I'm having issues with my poor old road bike, but honestly? I don't think I can get away with it. Its soooo heavy compared to my Amazon, I don't feel comfortable at all on it

 

[simongt]

Thank you all for your great ideas and help, I think I've won!

You're welcome. That's one of the great advantages of this site; someone, somewhere will have the answer to pretty much any bike issue - !

 

[TheDoctor]

You could also try playing with the spacers on the brake pads?
I usually set up V-brakes such that when the pads hit the rims, the brake arms are slightly further out at the top that the bottom.
There's some reason to do with mechanical advantage, but after some fermented grape juice I'm fecked if I can remember what it was!

 

[the snail]

Bit hard to tell from the pic, but make sure the pad/spacers are assembled correctly, usually domed washer+spacer on each side of the mounting slot, with a longer spacer that can go on one side or the other to adjust for the distance from brake arm to rim.
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/File:Brake_Block_Parts.jpg

 

[cyberknight]

The little screws on the side of v brakes adjust how central the pads sit either side of the rim

 

[simongt]

The little screws on the side of v brakes adjust how central the pads sit either side of the rim

Another tip for you; make sure you keep those wee adjusting screws clean & lubed. Being so wee, they are a sod to work on once they get dry & gunky / rusty.