Road brake problem

[Cyclist33]

Ever since I cleaned my bike the other day (with Muc-off) and fitted the new wheels, the rear brake is having problems.. I don't get it, because I didn't actually remove, adjust or otherwise touch them during this process.

The problem is that after depressing the lever, the brake arms don't snap back into neutral. They will go approx half way back then the remaining reversion to neutral is slow and sluggish. This has the effect of slackening the lever so there is approx half the lever in a "give" state. It's not right at all!

Have removed the brake cables and checked them, they aren't frayed and they seem to be sound along the length of the cable that goes through that little nut above the calipers. The cable's tension is ok. Have tested the brake arms without the cabling attached and they snap back fine so no probs with the spring tension. Have also tried operating the brakes by hand ie with the cable attached but by squeezing the brake arms to the rim with my hand and not using the shifter. This presents the same problem.

So I have deduced that brake arms and shifter are fine, and cable is fine, but barrel nut is where the problem is occurring. Got no idea what to do now to fix it though!

Any help or ideas?

Thanks

Stu

 

[baggytrousers]

I had a similar problem recently which was resolved by replacing the outer cable housing - apparantly the inner liner can wear over time and this restricts the free flow of the cable and prevents the brake from releasing fully hence the slack at the lever. Mine were about three years old and I ride to work almost every weekday. Provided you have some decent cable cutters they're fairly cheap and easy to replace

 

[Cyclist33]

Thanks, will have a look into that. If can't do it, I know a couple of the local bike blokes who can help

 

[Globalti]

Why not treat the bike to a complete set of new cables? After the wet weather we've had, I bet your gears are a bit hit and miss too.

 

[cyberknight]

Why not treat the bike to a complete set of new cables? After the wet weather we've had, I bet your gears are a bit hit and miss too.

Mine too, the rear mech is sluggish and the back brake froze up yesterday morning, methinks its time for new inners and outers for both .

 

[Doyleyburger]

Had the same issue and no clue how to sort it.....most frustrating !

Took bike for a service and explained the problem.

New cable and it's brand new. In fact there were a couple of cables that needed replacing . Job done

 

[cyberknight]

If you cant get to a shop or havent got cables at hand then a good squirt of wd 40/gt 85 down the cable outer might ease it for a bit.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Also as well as checking the cable outers, check that you didn't somehow put a bend or kink into the inner cable. I once did this (gawd knows how) with the result that there was big friction between the inner and the outer, so while my hands were strong enough to pull the brake on, the spring in the brake wasn't strong enough to pull itself back to "neutral". So as suggested above...

Why not treat the bike to a complete set of new cables?