Hi - newbie Cyclocross bike owner question

[gouldina]

Greetings. I recently bought a Voodoo Limba cyclocross bike from Halfords -the 2008 model. I mainly bought it because I was looking for a new commute bike and it appeared to be a massive bargain at £400 for a scandium framed bike with carbon forks and Shimano 105 kit. However, I'm not mad on the brakes (Avid Shorty 4s) and I'd like to change them or at least improve them somehow.

Firstly, there's no fine adjustment. Is it possible to retrofit this?

Secondly, when the brakes are close enough to the rims for my liking, you can't release the brake cable from the brake in order to take the wheel off - punctures would not be fun with this arrangement. What can be done about this?

Thirdly, the judder like hell and aren't all that great in the wet IMO. There's a disk lug on the front fork. If I wanted to replace them with (say) Avid BB7 road disks, would I need to replace the whole front wheel or could I just change the hub maybe?

Thanks in advance.

 

[beancounter]

Secondly, when the brakes are close enough to the rims for my liking, you can't release the brake cable from the brake in order to take the wheel off - punctures would not be fun with this arrangement. What can be done about this?

Isn't there a barrel adjuster somewhere?

bc

 

[gouldina]

Isn't there a barrel adjuster somewhere?

bc

Not on the brakes no.

 

[Happiness Stan]

Are the brakes canti brakes? If so they can be a bugger to adjust. Its a case of locking off the cable at the right point. Toeing in the shoes should stop judder. If canti brakes, you should be able to lift the cable out of the brake so you can take wheel off.

 

[gouldina]

Are the brakes canti brakes? If so they can be a bugger to adjust. Its a case of locking off the cable at the right point. Toeing in the shoes should stop judder. If canti brakes, you should be able to lift the cable out of the brake so you can take wheel off.

They are cantis. I seriously can't take out the cable though unless they're miles away from the rims and the levers virtually touch the bars when braking. Perhaps I'm missing something obvious here but I can't see what.
I've bought myself a very small mole grip to act as a third hand in case of an emergency where I have to remove the brake cable to change the wheel. It's definitely a three handed job.

 

[gouldina]

I've managed to fix much of the judder by mucking around with the brake. The remaining problems of not getting the wheel off without undoing the brakes and not having a fine adjuster remain however.

 

[MacB]

you should be able to match an inline cable adjuster to the cable hanger for fine tuning. To help with front brake judder etc the Kona DF fork mounted cable hanger is highly rated. Regarding adjustment I'm not so sure, Sheldons site gives some good info:-

http://sheldonbrown.com/brakes/index.html

my understanding is that the wider cantis allow for greater clearance and better modulation. The Tektro CR520 is rated very highly as a canti. Looking at the pics of the Avid 4's on the Voodoo, it would seem that the straddle wire is preset for angles.

Others on here can give far more info but I've not come across much in the way of negatives for the Tektros.

 

[MacB]

oh yeah, if the pads are setup with various washers, it's possible to change the order of them to reposition the pad, cope with different width rims etc.

 

[gouldina]

Thanks for the info MacB. Much appreciated.

 

[moolarb]

I've got those brakes on my Trex XO2 and you're right, you can't get the cable out to get the wheel off unless the cable is quite slack. On mine though you just have to deflate the tyre and squeeze the wheel out. Obviously if you're worried about getting the wheel off when you've got a puncture then it's gonna be deflated anyway.

I've sorted the judder on the front brake by toeing in the shoes but they still squeel a bit. My LBS recommended an uphanger to attach the cable at the fork, rather than the stem (as per MacB's suggestion).

 

[jpembroke]

Tektro CR520s

Pros: they work

Cons: they're ugly

That's it!

 

[Gary D]

Something else I would try if I were you is to swap the brake blocks for some Kool Stop ones.
When I did on the cantis on my Tricross, it made a big difference both to braking performance and squeeling.
Relatively low cost as well
Hope this helps,
Gary.

 

[moolarb]

Do you know which brake pads would fit the Avid 4 cantis? When I looked into Kool Stop pads there were so many to choose from, and most seem to be for MTB/V/Caliper brakes. Some were for smooth post and some for threaded post - what is all that about?

 

[jpembroke]

Avid shortys - and most modern low profile cantis e.g. Shimano, Tektro, Cane Creek - use V-brake pads. Beware though: Avid shorty brakes are notorious squealers. Worthing googling before you buy. I'd recommend the Shimano BR550s.

 

[gouldina]

Something else I would try if I were you is to swap the brake blocks for some Kool Stop ones.
When I did on the cantis on my Tricross, it made a big difference both to braking performance and squeeling.
Relatively low cost as well
Hope this helps,
Gary.

Thanks Gary. I just ordered some of these as recommended by someone else today funnily enough. I'll let you know how I get on with them.