bent caliper brake?

[leemo]

I was just tuning up the front brake on my old 3-speed. Took in for a test and used the front brake as hard as possible. Then I noticed this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8790167@N02/5669861324/
http://www.flickr.co...N02/5669859894/

The right hand side (as you look from the riding position) caliper seems to have bent.

Basically 3 questions:

1. What caused it?
I think it occurred after my 'tune up' which just consisted of tightening the nut on the cantilever slightly and shortening the cable a little. But it could have been bent already and I just noticed it for the first time.

2. Can it be fixed easily?
I tried to hammer it back into place but as soon as I braked hard again it bent back. This is my old beater bike and I'd rather not spend much money on it. Maybe I can swap with the back cantilever, so at least I have one decent brake at the front where it counts.

3. Is it safe to ride?
The brakes are old technology on steel rims so I don't expect supreme stopping power. But they still seem to work ok. I just dont want a catastrophic failure to occur e.g. when Im in heavy traffic.

 

[TheDoctor]

Looks to me as though the brake block has twisted - so slacken off the nut, twist it straight and re-tighten.

 

[bad boy]

+1 above that's all I could see from the pic just turn the pad which is not in line with the rim, loosen first then straighten it and tighten back up.

 

[leemo]

Doesn't look too bad in the pictures now but you can see it in the second - look at the nuts holding the shoes: one is half an inch forwards of the other.

Anyway guess it isn't too bad - i tend to be a bit meticulous with brakes - so I'll just sort out the shoe alignment.