Is it possible to make cheap V brakes work well?

[User16625]

When I say cheap, I mean on a brand new bike costing about £250 or less. BSOs usually have them and they are always crap. Apparently V brakes are very powerful but I have only ever come across them on cheap bikes. So assuming pad alignment and distance from rim is optimal, is there anything else that can be done to make them less spongy?
A friend of mine has had a new bike from Halfords and I have adjusted the pads as described. Distances from rim are also set equal. They are still spongy as hell and I wonder if its just crap components with too much flex.

 

[lpretro1]

If they r the ones with the pressed steel arms and/or resin levers then they will always be spongy as the parts flex like mad - even when set up what should be correctly. Best to replace with a decent set

 

[Pale Rider]

It's more a question of design than adjustment.

The best V-brakes have a long drop for good leverage and are rigid to prevent that spongy feeling.

 

[Milkfloat]

I have found some decent cables make a big difference, but ultimately you cannot polish a turd.

 

[I like Skol]

It's more a question of design than adjustment.

The best V-brakes have a long drop for good leverage and are rigid to prevent that spongy feeling.

I am not quite in agreement with this statement as all V-brake arms are much of a muchness in terms of geometry as they share the same pivot points, contact the rim in the same place and have arms of about the same length. The design is not the issue and here the similarities end. As has already been said, material and method of manufacture vary enormously and the results of cheap plastic levers, soggy cables and flexible brake arms together with poor quality pads will give very poor performance unless you are lucky.

If the brake arms are the solid metal variety rather than plastic or pressed steel then it may be worth trying some new cables, most importantly some decent lined brake cable outer, and maybe better pads.

 

[mjr]

Never mind the arms: I've seen the stirrup that holds the noodle flex alarmingly on some cheap brakes. That's not an easy bit to replace and decent brake assemblies aren't dear so I've replaced the whole thing instead.