Noodle Help

[steve292]

Adjust linear pull and V brakes

Youtube is your friend.

 

[alicat]

If twiddling the screw in pic 2, post 29 doesn't do it, then you need to let a bit more cable out and then wind the adjuster in a little. Either that or maybe the cable has got caught at the top of the arms (we don't have a pic of that).

Keep going, you're learning all the time.

 

[WillyWill]

Adjust linear pull and V brakes

Youtube is your friend.

Agreed; BUT I am too inexperienced to know which ones are giving the best advice.

 

[WillyWill]

see post #28. also if the gaps (left and right) are slightly uneven, you can either live with it, or twiddle the black screws in pic 2 post #29 half a turn or so to "balance" them. just watch which way the gap moves as you turn the screw!

Well, for the right brake, there is no gap at all, so me thinks some adjusting is still in order.

 

[DCBassman]

Just a thought: before twiddling further, is the wheel in dead straight? With weight on the bike, undo the quick release at the whel hub. If nothing happens, do it back up. If the wheel settles a bit, voila! Do it back up. You may then find the wheel sits more evenly between the blocks.

 

[WillyWill]

Just a thought: before twiddling further, is the wheel in dead straight? With weight on the bike, undo the quick release at the whel hub. If nothing happens, do it back up. If the wheel settles a bit, voila! Do it back up. You may then find the wheel sits more evenly between the blocks.

Rats. That was a great thought, and even I could follow the logic(!). However, I just tried undoing the quick release and nothing happened. So, although I am no worse off, I still am at the spot where squeezing the brake lever causes the left brake (when I face the bike) to move, but the right one is still against the rim.
Steve292 sent me a link to a utube video regarding adjusting vee brakes. Guess I am going to have to suck it up, and go that route. (But not now. Finally the rain has stopped and I've some yard work to do before the next rain sessions begin.)
TTFN

 

[steve292]

Agreed; BUT I am too inexperienced to know which ones are giving the best advice.

You won't go far wrong with the Park Tools clips

 

[WillyWill]

You won't go far wrong with the Park Tools clips

Good to know - for now and for the future. Thanks for that tip.

 

[Paulus]

Good to know - for now and for the future. Thanks for that tip.

R J the bike guy is very good as well.

 

[WillyWill]

R J the bike guy is very good as well.

Perfect. Thanks for that. I shall make a note of it. Like I said earlier, utube is full of videos, but unless you know what to watch for, it is easy to follow something that perhaps doesn't contain the best of advice.
Have a great today.

 

[WillyWill]

This. If the brakes are then too loose, use the adjuster on the lever to bring it back. You are ideally aiming to have the lever approximately parallel to the bars when the brake is engaged. The adjuster has two parts, a barrel and a lock ring. Unscrew the barrel a turn or two and see how that feels. When correct, turn the lockring back against the lever housing. Voila!

Need to pick your brain (again). My problem now is that the right brake pad (with me facing the bike) is resting against the rim and I can't seem to get it to back off to allow sufficient space for the wheel to spin freely. I watched the recommended utube video clip (RJ The Bike Guy) over and over to ensure I missed nothing. Now that the noodle is properly settled in the linkage. (Whew! on THAT.) But now I am stuck again. Here's a summary of what I did to try and get the right brake (:
1. Loosened the hex bolt to allow more cable through. 2. Unscrewed the barrel adjuster 4 or 5 times (the video guy said that would allow room for adjustment later). 3. Pulled the cable through the hex bolt area and when both brake pads touched the rim, tightened the bolt. (Now, I "might not" have done that tight enough?) 4. Since I had no play in the brake lever, I tightened the barrel adjuster as much as I could, and I can now squeeze the brake lever and see the left brake pad (I am still facing the bike) move and grip the rim. That guy seems almost ccorrect! 5. I then attempted to "center" the brakes by loosening the screw on the left hand side (me facing the bike). That blasted right brake isn't moving at all though. It is still against the rim.

Any suggestions, short of selling the bike?

 

[WillyWill]

Correction: It wasn't the BJ The Bike Guy utube video, but one by Park Tool Tips.
Should I start all over again - loosen the cable, unscrew the adjuster barrel somewhat, retighten cable, and then attempt to center the brakes??? I don't want to squish up the cable too much ....

 

[DCBassman]

Ok, screw the barrel adjuster right in against the lever. This should now give you space to spin the wheel, if I'm reading right. Using the two little screw adjusters on the arms, balance the distance each block is off the rim. Assuming this works, you should now have a working brake. If st this point you still want to have the brake bite quicker, start winding out the barrel adjuster on the lever, to your taste. Se how that goes.

 

[WillyWill]

It worked! (Doing a Happy Dance here ...)
The brake isn't 100% - the lever goes a bit further to engage fully, but it works!
A big thank you to everyone who has been so patient with me. I must say, I've learned some things here.
cheers

 

[Punkawallah]

Hi. Just to say ‘keep going’ - you got the clamp loose, you can deal with the rest :-)

I’ll second going back to the brake lever adjusters - you mentioned them previously, they may be the cause of the ’bound’ brakes.