V- Brake problem - suggestions welcome

[autolycus]

On Wednesday I was banging along a cycle path (luckily) at around 20mph. I braked for a couple walking ahead who were 'socially distancing', leaving no room to pass safely. The next moment i was flying over the handlebars and fending off my bike as it landed on top of me. Nothing seemed to be broken - on me or the bike - although it's going to take a good few days before we're moving properly again.

I assumed that i had braked too hard on the front but was mystified as i hadn't intended to brake particularly sharply and i'm very used to the brakes on my bike. (They are Kool-Stop pads and pretty sharp.) However, as i rode gingerly away i noticed that the rear brake had suddenly developed a large amount of travel and the lever was virtually touching the handlebar grips before having any effect.

Today, i ordered a new set of cables and overhauled the front pro-tem. The pad was binding on one side, and was much closer to the rim than the other. After rebuilding and adjusting the spring tensioner it all seems to work well. The rear seems to work OK albeit with too much travel on the cable and i'll have a go at that tomorrow.

My question is whether anyone with experience can please suggest what exactly is likely to have happened and what i should do to ensure it doesn't happen again. I'm 68 years old and these sort of excursions take too long to recover from these days!

 

[si_c]

If the rear brake suddenly developed a lot of travel at the front then it's likely that something caught the brake and caused the cable to be pulled through somehow. I'd make sure that the pads are aligned with the rim properly and when you pull the brake that it doesn't pitch towards the spokes.

I recently had an incident where the rear wheel locked up and I got pitched over the handlebars, not entirely sure what the full mechanism was as I have no recollection.

 

[autolycus]

Thanks for the reply. I can't help feeling i might have got more if my query had not been inexplicably moved here from Bicycle Mechanics & Repairs.

It really felt like the front getting away. I've had a few rear wheel skids and this was nothing like that. Having examined the rears today i can find nothing wrong other than the excess travel so i've just cleaned and lubricated for now. Barring any other suggestions i guess i'll just have to replace the cables and hope for the best.