V Brake Adjustment

[AndyRM]

After having my regular commuter written off, I'm going back to my trusty Cannondale.

It's been sat in the shed in pieces so I took advantage of the good weather yesterday to rebuild.

All sorted, but I cannot for the life of me get the brakes to work properly. I have watched a couple of videos and read all manner of descriptions but no joy.

Essentially they are always rubbing on the rim. Initially they look fine, but after one pull, one of the arms (usually the left) refuses to spring back.

The arms themselves are lubed and mounted on the centre of the three small holes where the attach to the bike.

Can post pics if none of this makes sense, but if anyone has a surefire method to stop them sticking I'd love to hear about it!

 

[Broadside]

Have you tried adjusting the tension on each arm by turning the cross head screw? You need to get them balanced by turning one side in a bit (the side that is rubbing the rim) and the other side out a bit. Screwing in increases the spring tension which makes the arm spring back away from the rim. Do it too far and you will transfer the problem to the other side so it just requires a bit d fiddling about with to get just right.

 

[compo]

I had the very same problem with a Giant mountain bike I rebuilt recently. In the end I stripped the whole lot out, undid all the adjusters and started again. They just fell together, a little fiddle with the tension screws and all was hunky dory. I think you can reach a point where you have fiddled so much you lose track of where you are in the process. Have a cup of tea then go back to basics and start again from scratch.

 

[AndyRM]

Tension screw fiddling seems like the way to go!

Cheers for the advice. I definitely reached the 'overly fiddled' point yesterday. Probably around the time I hurled one of the legs into the hedge in a wild fury.

 

[AndyRM]

I've also been toying with the idea of upgrading to mechanical disc brakes. The Avid BB7 and Hope Mini Monos seem to get good reviews.

Any thoughts either way? Or would I be wasting my money/time on something unnecessary.

 

[PpPete]

First thing to establish is whether your frame & forks are disc brake compatible.
MTB suspension forks are often V and disk compatible...rigid forks and frames less often.

 

[AndyRM]

First thing to establish is whether your frame & forks are disc brake compatible.
MTB suspension forks are often V and disk compatible...rigid forks and frames less often.

I believe that they have mounts for discs. The bike is a Cannondale Quick if that helps? Will get some pictures sorted!