V-brakes with narrower rims ?

[Alan Frame]

I'm currently using a Claud Butler 300 for my 15 mile return commute. It does the job, but the wheels are extremely heavy, the spokes are creaking almost as much as my joints and the freehub doesn't sound too healthy.

These are very cheap standard wheels which came with the bike from new, the rims are 21mm wide according to the label and V-brakes cover the stopping.

I have a spare set of better quality wheels, but these have 13mm wide rims and when I did a trial fit this left the brake blocks miles off the rim [ and looked a bit ].

So my question is, do V- brakes have sufficient adjustment to take up the slack, and if so, how do I go about it ?

Many thanks,


Don.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

I suspect the 13mm you referred to is not the outside width of the rim, but the inside width. Even so your rims are nearly as narrow as they come.

For each V brake pad there are two sets of curved washers, one on each side of the brake arms. Usually one set is thicker than the other, with narrow rims the thicker set should be on the wheel side.

The other thing is that the pads need to be orientated correctly. This is a great guide for that.

If the pad fixing bolt is long enough I don't see why additional flat washers shouldn't be introduced on the wheel side if necessary.

 

[Alan Frame]

I suspect the 13mm you referred to is not the outside width of the rim, but the inside width. Even so your rims are nearly as narrow as they come.

For each V brake pad there are two sets of curved washers, one on each side of the brake arms. Usually one set is thicker than the other, with narrow rims the thicker set should be on the wheel side.

The other thing is that the pads need to be orientated correctly. This is a great guide for that.

If the pad fixing bolt is long enough I don't see why additional flat washers shouldn't be introduced on the wheel side if necessary.

Thank you for your reply, RAFN.

I was hoping that additional washers might be an option and will give things a try when I don't need the bike for commuting purposes and can risk one of my usual mechanical cock-ups !

Thank you also for the link, very useful stuff.

Regards,

Don.