brake jammed

[roadiewill]

just been doing the giant (winter bike) up a bit and have noticed that the rear brake seems rather unresponsive when I pull the break lever. It moves about 4mm inwards and then slowly moves back, as if its stuck. On closer inspection I realised the brake cable running underneath the toptube is fairly slack.

My question is, are the two related? And what can I do to get the brake back to its normal clamping self?

Heres a pic of the slack cable:

 

[Joe24]

Take the cable out the bit of outer cable that runs down from the top tube to the brake. Sprey WD40 down it. Clean the cable. See if that works. It might now.
If it doesnt, take the back brake off, unclip the spring from its hold thing and move the brake so you can clean it. Add some more tension onto the spring(just bend it abit more) then wack the end of the spring back in its place. Put it back on the bike and it should work.
Mine does it, its because the brake is crap. No idea why it does either, just gets a small bit of dirt in and it wont release properly.
Oh, and just spreying WD40 or other penetrating fluid on it doesnt work. My LBS did this and it didnt make a difference.

 

[roadiewill]

alright cheers joe, Il give that a go in a minute ;0