Using in-line adjusters for brakes

[Slioch]

I've got in-line adjusters for the gears on a couple of my road bikes and they're really handy things to have to tweak the gears on the fly.

But I was reading an article somewhere where the person referred to having in-line adjusters on their brakes as well. I'd not thought of doing this, but can see it could be a useful thing to have.

What are your thoughts re' this. Does anyone have them on their bikes? Are there any pitfalls that need to be considered?

Thanks

 

[cosmicbike]

I have them on my CX with BB7 disc brakes, handy to 'tune' cable stretch, same as the barrel adjusters on calipers.

 

[Paul.G.]

Got them on my cross bike, they work well and makes it nice and easy to slacken off the cable to remove a wheel.

 

[Slioch]

I have them on my CX with BB7 disc brakes, handy to 'tune' cable stretch, same as the barrel adjusters on calipers.

Got them on my cross bike, they work well and makes it nice and easy to slacken off the cable to remove a wheel.

May I ask what brand of CX bikes you have, 'cos if a reputable brand is fitting them to their brakes then that would suggest they're ok from a technical point of view.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I thought, perhaps wrongly, that they were pretty much standard for both brakes (where the cable goes into the brake) and gears (on the underside of the down tube).

EDIT: woken up a bit now. I guess you didn't mean barrel adjusters.

 

[robjh]

I thought of it but was told by LBS that, as in-line adjusters are designed for gears, the fit of the cables and cable housing might not be quite right for brakes. I couldn't see the mismatch would be far off myself - so no-one who's tried it has had a problem with the cable fit then?

I was thinking of using them on my tourer, where I have V-brakes with road-style levers, and no micro-adjustment facility at all.

 

[Paul.G.]

May I ask what brand of CX bikes you have, 'cos if a reputable brand is fitting them to their brakes then that would suggest they're ok from a technical point of view.

Kinesis Cross Light but I put them on, bike didn't come with them sorry.

 

[Slioch]

I thought, perhaps wrongly, that they were pretty much standard for both brakes (where the cable goes into the brake) and gears (on the underside of the down tube).

EDIT: woken up a bit now. I guess you didn't mean barrel adjusters.

No worries

Just for clarity, what I'm referring to is the barrel-type adjusters that are fitted to the cable close to or abutting against the gear/brake/brifter levers on the handlebars, and not to the adjusters that are at the other end of the cable down by the brake calipers on the wheels.

 

[cosmicbike]

May I ask what brand of CX bikes you have, 'cos if a reputable brand is fitting them to their brakes then that would suggest they're ok from a technical point of view.

Boardman CX Team.

 

[Nigeyy]

I have brake specific ones on my old Raleigh Supercourse. I do like them -as the Supercourse has the old style "U" brakes it was nice to have a bit more slack if I need to remove the wheel. However, after I bought them, I changed to Cane Creek brake levers that allow you push in a catch and give you a bit more cable slack -I don't think I really need the inline adjusters anymore, just can't be bothered to remove them. I also haven't got them for any other bike -and none of my other bikes have this kind of brake.

Downsides? A bit more fiddling.... a bit more expense but still cheap.....another component...... have to cut housing to install..... Good to have if you need them, just make sure you really do need them -usually the barrel adjuster is sufficient or brake levers have some kind of slack adjust built in. If you haven't got either, than I'd certainly recommend them.