Tech tip websites

[plojaa]

Hey

I've been doing some work on my bike and had to do some review of suggestions tips on the web.....anyone have good site recommendations.

I've been to sheldon brown and parktool first , downloaded manuals from shimano, review branford bike - any others?

Mostly I'm having issues w/ my v brakes - for the life of me I can't get them to adjust - could I have actually bent the springs out of shape such that they are not usable? (I put new shoes on and cable (aztec and lubed that) and played w/ the spring adjust screws.....) Where the cable end sits in the lever....is there play there or is it supposed to lock in somehow?

Also...anyone ever remove the braking blocks on the levers

Thx

Jeff

[Dirt]

There are a few things that impact v-brake adjustment. I'll try and talk about a few of them.

1) Check to see if your brake pads are worn evenly. Make sure the hardware is even too. Brake pads have a series of washers that allow you to adjust for both the width of the rim and the angle of the pad. Those need to be even too. If the pads are not even, replace them.

2) Make sure the bearings are adjusted properly on the front hub and that the front wheel is installed properly. I'm enough of an idiot that I noticed after taking my bike off the roof rack that the front pads were not lined up. I went to all the trouble of getting them adjusted only to find out that I didn't have the wheel in the for ends properly. I then had to undo everything I'd just done. I know. I'm a moron.

3) There is no number 3.

4) Obviously, the adjustment screws have an effect on the centering of your brakes. I helped someone this weekend who had been tweaking on theirs to no result. I just backed both screws out 3 or 4 turns and started from scratch. That did the trick.

5) It is possible for the springs to be bent in a way that complicates adjustment. I've had a few bikes where I just unhook the springs, bend them a little, then rehook them. That works if you've got the long, avid style springs. If you've got the little coil springs like the old Shimano brakes had, you're pretty much SOL with rebending them. You'd do better to just replace the coil springs. They're relatively inexpensive. I think most v-brakes made in the last 5 years use the long springs rather than the small coils.

Hope that helps a little.

Pete

[Brizn]

Here's a few more..

http://www.jimlangley.net/

http://www.bitrot.de/bbook_intro.html

http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/wrench.html

[Dirt]

Two more things that I didn't mention but should have.... I sent these to you via e-mail, but for the benefit of any forum readers who are experiencing similar problems, I thought I'd say them here.

*****************

Other things to try: Make sure that you've got enough cable housing slack so that the brakes are capable of moving freely. Also check that the brake pivots move freely when the cable is completely disconnected. If either of those two are causing problems, no amount of spring adjustment will help.

[bikerRob]

4/16/07 >> Here's another site > http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/vbrakes.html
With V brakes the biggest problem that I wrestled with was with those blasted washers under the pad holders. If one of those gets loose it seems to take hours just to get the adjustment right. Of course it should be mentioned that all your tweaking will be in vain if you are riding with a set of rims that are really, really worn.

[plojaa]

Other things to try: Make sure that you've got enough cable housing slack so that the brakes are capable of moving freely. Also check that the brake pivots move freely when the cable is completely disconnected. If either of those two are causing problems, no amount of spring adjustment will help.

Update after chatting w/ Dirt offline and going to LBS. Grab the long springs of the VBrake and simply BEND them - creating more tension. That did the trick for the most part....now they are at least tight but they still lack the snappiness / spring back I'd like . Will have to play w/ them more. Could be old housing needs replacing. Plus I might pull out one of those stop blocks as well as lube all the pivot points....

[Dirt]

Update after chatting w/ Dirt offline and going to LBS. Grab the long springs of the VBrake and simply BEND them - creating more tension. That did the trick for the most part....now they are at least tight but they still lack the snappiness / spring back I'd like . Will have to play w/ them more. Could be old housing needs replacing. Plus I might pull out one of those stop blocks as well as lube all the pivot points....

Brake housing and cables should be replaced each year to keep your brakes feeling really good. Bulk housing and cables are just fine. Fancy pants housing and cable sets cost more and feel really awesome in the beginning, but really don't get you much more in the functionality department.

Pete

[crack monkey]

While we're talking about brakes... how the heck do I get my XT V-brakes (the multi-link type) to stop squealing like a raped pig? I've tried the usual suspects - toed-in front edge, cleaned rim, cleaned pads, tried two pad compounds (Shimano stock, KoolStop Red). Is there anything else I can try?

[Dirt]

While we're talking about brakes... how the heck do I get my XT V-brakes (the multi-link type) to stop squealing like a raped pig? I've tried the usual suspects - toed-in front edge, cleaned rim, cleaned pads, tried two pad compounds (Shimano stock, KoolStop Red). Is there anything else I can try?

Make sure that there is no front to back play on the brake posts. With the brakes installed and adjusted correctly, check and see if you can slide the brake arm forward and backward on the brake pivot post. On many stock posts there is a tiny bit more play than is needed. That can lead to the squealing that you are experiencing.

To fix that, you can either make a super thin shim or file a tiny bit off the end of the brake boss. When I'm saying a tiny bit, I really mean a tiny bit. I'd file one small swipe with a fine-tooth flat file, then re-install, see if the play is gone, test ride then try it again.

Grafton used to include micro shims with their brakes for people whose brake bosses were too short or too long. I've got some, but I'm hording them with the Grafton brakes that I've got.

Hope that is of some help.

Pete