How do I service my brakes?

[Maz]

Rear brake this morning was absolutely no good. Pressing the lever as hard as I could made no discernible difference whatsoever, so i was relying solely on the front brake.

There is plenty of rubber left on the pads, but there must be crap build-up or damage inside the cable runs or something.

How do I service the brakes? Only thing I've ever done with the brakes is change the brake blocks. I think I have a new brake cable, so I might change it if I knew how.

 

[Beebo]

It's easy, even I can do it!
Youtube is your friend.
All you need are cable cutters and an allen key.
If your outers are OK I wouldnt bother changing them, it makes the job much easier.
You will also need to remove the brakes and regrease them, so they are springing and not sticking.
Just remember what order everything came off the bike.

 

[Maz]

It's easy, even I can do it!
Youtube is your friend.
All you need are cable cutters and an allen key.
If your outers are OK I wouldnt bother changing them, it makes the job much easier.
You will also need to remove the brakes and regrease them, so they are springing and not sticking.
Just remember what order everything came off the bike.

Thanks! Will check it out.

 

[Maz]

I saw this on Sheldon Brown

Single-Pivot Sidepulls
Both brake arms pivot around the centerbolt that attaches the brake to the frame or fork. The cable housing attaches to one brake arm and the inner wire, to the other.
Single-pivot brakes have very little (downward) motion of the brake shoes as they wear, and track a warped rim well, but centering can be an issue, because each brake arm is retracted independently by a spring.

How very true.
I think the spring could be knackered too. Can you buy these separately?
I have some brakes like this:

 

[4F]

I doubt the spring is knackered but more likely full of crud. Take the wheel off, give the brake a liberal blast of WD40 and squeeze calipers together with your hand until free moving.

 

[black'n'yellow]

the spring won't be knackered, but the pivot bushes might need a clean. Incidentally, the caliper in the pic is a dual-pivot, not a single.

 

[accountantpete]

Depending on how decent the brakes are the bearings or washers at the two pivots may be gummed up with muck and are probably in need of grease and a clean.

Ideally you should take the calipers apart and service them.

If you want to do this - undo the nut/bolt at the pivot on the right and the front arm will come away.

Then undo the locknut on the central bolt at the back and undo the grubscrew on the bridging arm underneath and the rest of the calipers should just fall apart.

If anything doesn't want to undo then check for hidden grubscrews.

ps - there is nothing tricky involved but remember what washers go where.

 

[black'n'yellow]

You should not need to dismantle the caliper, and I would not advocate trying it. There's quite a powerful spring in there which could do some damage (to your hand) if you don't know what you're doing...

 

[helston90]

Use the above advice to work out what's wrong, follow youtube for step by step and don't be afraid to take it to your LBS with your hands in the air if it all goes wrong!

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Are you sure the brake cable doesn't just need tightening a bit?

 

[Maz]

the spring won't be knackered, but the pivot bushes might need a clean. Incidentally, the caliper in the pic is a dual-pivot, not a single.

You're right. Correction: Mine is single-pivot.

 

[Maz]

Are you sure the brake cable doesn't just need tightening a bit?

Hi
You could be right. Different things to try out.

Also, When I apply the brake and then release the brake lever, the brake cable remains slack along the top-tube. What is that indicative of?

 

[black'n'yellow]

Also, When I apply the brake and then release the brake lever, the brake cable remains slack along the top-tube. What is that indicative of?

In which case, it is worth checking your cable run - I have had a couple of problems where the bend in the cable (ie round the bars, under the tape) was tight enough to stop the inner cable from moving freely and releasing the brake properly.

 

[sidevalve]

OK get somewhere nice and comfy and look at the thing. 1 - pull the lever and watch what happens. Does the brake caliper move, if not either the cable is stuck or the caliper is stuck [assuming the lever moves and the cable is still connected to it].
2 - disconect the cable from the caliper, now does the caliper move in and out freely - yes and it's a cable problem , no and it's a caliper problem.
If it's the cable - you can either replace the inner [oil it first, if the bike is old enough to have sidepulls it may have old cables too].
If it's the caliper don't mess about spraying WD on it, strip it down and clean it properly, apply waterproof grease to the pivots and reassemble. You've always got the front one to look at to check how it goes together.
TAKE YOUR TIME ! Do it right and it will work better than new. It is not hard, this is a bicycle not a saturn five rocket do not be afraid of it.
Good luck - you can do it.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Tip for centering single pivot sidepulls.
Select the appropriate spanner ( number 10 )
Loosen the back nut a bit and with cable tight in place, hold the brakes at the position you would like them to be, using one hand.
With the other hand re-tighten the back nut.
With a bit of practice, you will have perfectly centered brakes: it worked for me, a pure numpty I am btw