Brakes

Brakes are a very important part of biking, they assist you in stopping—but they do wear down and need maintenance too. Brake pads wear down, cables stretch out and pads can even end up dragging on your rim. To ensure your safety this should help you keep tabs on your brake system so it is in its optimal state. These instructions are for conventional brakes if you have disc brakes then those will be covered after the conventional brakes. For your own safety, it is recommended that you take your brakes into a shop unless you are certain in your capability of doing it properly. Please remember that your wheels need to be true for your brake system to work properly. If you have any questions on your brake system, please give your local bike shop a call or stop in and they’ll be happy to assist you.

Brake Adjusters

Majority of bikes with upright handlebars have what is called an adjusting barrel, this is by the brake levers, it has a knurled edge so you can handle it easily and can be used without tools. The adjusting barrel is great for adjusting your brakes to feel like new again, and can even be used while on a ride if your brakes are wet or muddy. The adjusting barrels are used by turning the first ring counterclockwise and then just check the setting by depressing the brake levers. When you like how they feel then just turn the lockring (the second ring) clockwise until it is snug with the lever—this locks them in place.

Road bikes that have the dropped handlebars have the adjusters on the brakes themselves. You have to move the pads closer to the rims by turning the adjusters the proper direction. You will still have to keep track of your brake pads to ensure that they are still in good working condition. So if your pads wear out then you will need to replace them, adjusting them at that point won’t do any good. Just remember to turn the adjusters all the way back to start with a fresh pair of pads.
A regular problem with brakes is when a brake pad drags- that is it touches the rim or very close to it even after you let go of the lever. This is usually caused by a wheel that is off center. Commonly done when you reinstall the wheel after you’ve had it on a roof rack or, changing a tire and you happened to not get it perfectly centered with the fork or frame.

When this happens the brakes don’t work properly because they are rubbing on the frame instead of a centered wheel, and since the wheel is not centered the brakes won’t work properly. There is an easy way to fix a dragging pad in this case. Just center the wheel in the frame. Usually you can do this by loosening the wheel and making sure that it is all the way in the fork or frame, and then tighten them up again. If you happen to have a bicycle that has a rear wheel with different position options then make sure that it is between the chainstay and the seatstay before you retighten it up. This is done by either eyeballing it or checking it with your fingers-put the same finger from each hand and feel in between the frame and the rim to see if they are equal.

Centering Your Brakes

You will need to center your brakes if they are still dragging. They could have been knocked out of their spot on the frame. Begin by looking to see if your wheel is out of alignment on the frame, do this first because if your brakes are already adjusted correctly then you don’t want to undo that when it’s just the wheel that needs alignment.
When you want to center sidepull brakes, make sure the attaching bolt that is located on the back of the fork crown or the brake bridge is loose, this should loosen up the brakes and then they should move side to side when you press on them. Depress the brake lever to push the brake pads against the rim, while they are against the rim tighten up the brake bolt. If there are small adjustments then you can do that from the little screw on the top of the brakes usually an Allen wrench type. If you turn it clockwise then this will adjust the brake shoe on the same side as the screw and will bring the shoe away from the rim and vice-versa. If it still does not line up then put it back the way it was, and double check the alignment of the wheel- this will more than likely be the problem.

Off-road and hybrid bikes usually have center linear-pull brakes. You would want to find the small screw on the side of the brake arm. Turning this clockwise moves your pad away from the rim and vice-versa.

Brake Binding

Do your brakes stick or operate when they want to? Your cables and brake pivots could be dry- making your brake system bind up. To lubricate the pivots very lightly administer lubrication to the brakes right where the arms pivot and then depress the brake levers many times to make sure that the lube gets worked into them—Be very careful that you don’t get any lube on the brake pads or the rim. If you do happen to get some on the rim or pads then make sure you wipe it off really well with rubbing alcohol.

If applying lube to the pivots doesn’t help then it is probably the cable that needs to be lubricated. Most of the time you just need to lube the rear cables that have split housing. Split housing is when the middle of the inside cable shows and the housing is in two pieces. When you are looking at the housing sections and they are split it will be easier to take the housing off and lubricate almost all of the cable.

When the housings are not split then you would need to raise the bicycle up so that the lube will be drawn down into the housing sections. Place a few drops of lube directly onto the cable that is showing, and then depress the rear brakes so that it will draw the lube into the housing. You can do the same for the front cables if necessary.
When you have split housing stops you want to open up your quick release system with sidepull brakes, or on linear pulls just undo the noodle. After doing this there should be enough slack in the cables to remove them from the frame of the bike and lubricate them. If you still think you need more cable slack then depress the brakes and work from there. Once you free the housing then you can move the housing around the cable so it will be lubricated. After you are done lubricating your cables there should not be any more binding and then just reconnect your brake cables and your brakes should feel like new again.

Keep Your Pads Clean

To get the best braking results the rims and brake pads must be spotless. When you use your brakes they pick up any dirt or debris that is on the rims and then transfer rubber deposits onto the rims. As the pads gather up even small deposits like sand or gravel pieces these end up grinding the sides of the rims and wearing out your brake pads before they should be. This is why you should keep your pads and rims spotless. Rim and pad replacement can get very costly.
When cleaning your rims use a rag dampened with rubbing alcohol and rub down the rims to remove any debris or small mineral deposits. Then use a clean side of the rag and rub down the brake pads with rubbing alcohol also. Make sure that you watch for the face of the pads, it is much easier to see this part of the pad if you remove the wheel first.

Occasionally you might find pieces of aluminum from your rims, or some small embedded pieces of gravel or debris stuck in the pads. You can use an awl to remove these pieces and shouldn’t hurt the pads very much; it will also help your braking and keep you from spending a fortune on new rims.

Brake Pad Replacement

Do you know how often you should replace your brake pads? It all depends on how much you ride and where you ride. But a more important point is that you know how to maintain and check your pads so you always have them. The pads will wear down each time you use your brakes, and the more they wear down then the more you will have to pull on the levers to get your brakes to contact the rim to stop you. You will notice that when your pads are worn down badly, you’ll depress your brake levers and the pads will take more pressure to actually grip the rim the way they did when they were new. At this point you should be replacing your pads. Please don’t procrastinate on this, it is a very important part of your maintenance. Without your brakes you can end up in some very dangerous situations. When your brake pads are totally gone and the metal holder for the brake pad is all that is left and is skidding along the rim—it won’t help stop you at all and will ruin your rim at the same time.

Try to always glance at your brake pads before taking a ride. Pads that have the grooves in them are still pretty new and the grooves assist in moving the water away from the rim to help you stop in wet conditions. When your pads have no more grooves left then you should replace them.

Pad types

Two kinds of brake pads exist; they are cartridge and bolt-on. Cartridge pads are so much easier to replace because all you do is slide the new one onto the holder and you’re done. Bolt on pads have to be aligned just right while you are installing them, this takes some work to master.

Cartridge pads have an open side on the back of the pad holder. When working with linear-pull brakes there is usually a pin, with sidepull brakes there should be an Allen bolt that keeps the pads in their holders. When replacing the pads, take the pin or bolt out and remove the old pad, put the new on in and put the pin or bolt back in place if needed. If you are having difficulty inserting or removing your pads then double check to be sure they are in the right way, they only fit in one direction. Some pads have been marked for easier installation, but only replace one pad at a time that way if you are unsure if you installed it correctly you can look at the other side. Some pads get tight over time, so if you are having difficulty removing it then push a small screwdriver in between the holder and the pad and pry to get it out. The new pad might also be a little tight, if it is then wet it with a bit of rubbing alcohol or breathe on it to get some moisture on the surface so it will slide in easier, neither will harm the pad at all.

Bolt-on pads have one piece in addition to the post or bolt. You have to loosen the bolt first and then you can remove the old pad and put the new one in. Next you have to align the pad so that it will hit the rim just right when you use your brakes. You will probably have to adjust the washers or spacers so the angle of the pad is correctly hitting the rim. Occasionally the parts will have some corrosion which might cause it to be harder to angle them properly. If you apply some lube it can make it easier to adjust them.

When you are done with your brake pad replacements they should look alike. If they don’t you may have one installed incorrectly. Double check your work if necessary, better safe than sorry.

Pad alignment

The main goal of aligning your new pads is to get them to hit the very center of your rim when you use them. This includes setting the correct height and if you have post pads, depth. You want the whole flat side of the pad to hit the center of the rim when you depress the brakes. If you happen to get them off center then you could be decreasing your braking power. If you get the center really off then you could have the pad rub on the tire and cause a flat, ruin your new pad, or even worse possibly go under the rim and right into the spokes and cause some major damage with your wheel. So don’t rush, make sure you are taking your time so that it’s done right.

Squeaking Brakes

Do you wonder why you never see any of that beautiful wildlife while you are out cruising? Do your brakes squeak? There is an adjustment called “toe-in” that can solve this problem. This adjustment angles the front edge on the brake pads to contact the rim first. When your pads wear down it wears the toe-in off first so looking at your old pads you might not even see it anymore. When replacing cartridge brake pads, the toe-in is already there when you install a new pad, but with bolt-on brake pads you have to reset the settings each time you install new pads during the alignment process.

Adjusting the brake pads for a toe-in angle can be difficult; when the front of the pad touches the rim the back edge should have a 5mm gap. Some shops use a piece of cardboard as a guide to get the angle right at the back edge of the pad. If you are having trouble getting the angle right then either call or stop in to your local bike shop and have them assist you. This is important for your brakes to work properly.

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